Anyone know anything about clarinets? My daughter is going to start fifth grade band, and the school has a contract with a local music store to rent them for $29 a month. This seems excessive to me! It does include a service agreement, but I just can’t see forking over all that money to learn.
Maybe later I’d pay for a nice new one, if she seems inclinded to stick with it. But right now I’d rather buy a nice used one. However, the school discourged buying a cheapie one (such as at WalMart) or “on the internet” HEAVILY. I just googled and found this site, Nearly New Clarinets that at least sounds good. Money back guarantee and all.
By the way, no instruments are provided; this is parochial school.
I was in band, in high school, and I know not everyone had an expensive new instrument. Surely a Bundy (was that the brand?) is good enough for a 10-year-old!
Does the $29 include reeds, cork grease, etc.? Does the school provide these? Young ones tend to eat through reeds like crazy (they chip them on their teeth, split them tightening the ligature, etc.)
I second what Mr. Blue Sky said, however the cautions against cheapo instruments are for the benefit of the kids! Often times the bottom of the barrel instruments parents want to get are much, much harder to play. The kids get frustrated that they can’t move air through the instrument and that it sounds bad, and eventually give up. I’ve seen many kids on the brink of giving up music forever due to a really crappy instrument. Learning an instrument isn’t easy, kids don’t need a P.O.S. adding to that frustration.
That being said, at the beginning level you definitely don’t need a masterwork clarinet. Lucky for you and your daughter, many kids start on clarinet, and many kids quit. There should be a good supply of used instruments around. Perhaps rent the instrument through the school for a month or two so you and your daughter can become familiar with a “standard” student level clarinet and its parts, and so that she can develop a feeling for just how difficult producing a sound should or shouldn’t be. That way when she tries out a used one she has some standard by which to gauge the quality, and you both can make sure all the necessary parts are there and undamaged.
Whichever route you go, encourage her to keep the instrument clean (follow the teacher’s instructions on that) and to remove the reed before tossing the mouthpiece back in the case! (this will avoid you replacing reeds twice a week.)
Also remind her that clarinets have lots of small keys that can get bent easily. Believe it or not, one of the most common mistakes I saw kids make was opening their cases upside down or not laying flat. Clarinet parts tumble out, and suddenly one of the keys doesn’t quite cover one of the holes completely, and the player can’t figure out what’s making that note sound funky. Simple mistake, easy to avoid.
Good luck, and I hope your daughter enjoys the clarinet!
I started out on a cheapie plastic one- it sounded awful and was sooo hard to play. When I got to 7th grade, my mom got me a wooden Normandy clarinet from ebay for $112. When we got it, it stank like old man :). We took it to the music store, had it recorked, repadded, DEEP cleaned. They said it was worth a nice chunk of change; which I would believe, because the instrument plays wonderfully.
I don’t use it anymore- I’d love to, but I wasn’t in band in high school and I’m certainly not in college. I was going to sell it, but I’d love to help out a young music student (I’d rather she gets a good home :)). Email is in the profile.
I played clarinet from 5th grade through 8th grade. I started with the cheap plastic variety, which was fine for getting the fingerings right and sounded somewhat bad. Around 8th grade I got a wooden clarinet, which sounded better. After 8th grade I never touched it again.
I didn’t notice that one was easier to play over the other. I think they’re about the same. The chief thing that makes a clarinet easier to play is getting the right reed thickness. Start with a very thin reed. It sounds worse, but it is easier to play. The wetter you get it, the easier it is to play. As the student’s pucker gets stronger, she can move up to a thicker reed, which will sound better.
Now, when I say “sounds worse,” it isn’t nearly as serious as the “sounds worse,” that you might get for a cheap violin. The tone quality will be worse, but it’s not going to be out of tune or horrifyingly grating.
If you can find a cheap used wooden clarinet, I’d say go for it. But go with the thin reeds, and buy plenty. They break.
A trumpet player I knew had pawned his horn. He went back to the store to buy it back. There was a different guy at the counter so he quietly took out a valve and turned it around and replaced it. Then he complained that the horn didn’t work and got it for five bucks.
**Ellen Cherry, ** the musical repair people in my family would agree that a cheapie is not the way to go because they are too hard to play. I hope you and DiosaBellissima cut a good deal!
