yep... i go along with you all.. music is the greatest thing, especially if you`ve got other musicians to rap with... I`m usually alone with no one else enjoying my music (and I must admit I`m a pretty bad player) but the buzz i get out of it is still enormous and it opens the world of everyone else`s music to me... like i just heard this amazing pianist the other day... how do they do it?

I have played the clarinet for 7 years, and have neva practiced for 3 hours in 1 go, how do u people find the time to, i do 1/2 hour practice most nites a week if im lucky.
Im from England and it seems like its taken soooo seriously in the US. im not sayin its a bad thing tho. We dnt have marching bands, it seems like a weird thing to do plus we dnt have the weather for it.
Im in a symphonic band that meets up once a week and we play lots of concerts and stuff, and its fun, cos i have time to do other stuff too.
I love music so much and cnt imagine not bein able to play the clarinet or other instruments, but there r so many other things i like to do besides music, sum of u guys seem to over work ureself wiv practice and rehearsals etc sumtimes u need a break for other stuff!

Joanna, some of the people on this forum are interested in becoming professional musicians and in this competitive musical world, you HAVE to do a LOT of practice if you want to stand out in auditions or to an employer - you can`t become a professional musician if you don`t have this obsessed attitude, I think. Some of us do have other hobbies (ie. sport, socialising with friends or whatever) but music has to take priority and when you have this focused attitude, it`s possible to MAKE time to practice a lot. Just as someone who wants to become a pro-athlete, dancer etc will make time to practice steps, train in the early hours of the morning etc, a musician will make time to put in the `hard yards` of technical practice etc. It just depends on what your priorities are and what you want to get out of music in the future.

Lets continue the talk on practicing. From the posts that I`ve read on this sight, a lot of people are practicing way too much (in my opinion). I agree that if you want to be pro, practicing is a must but 6 to 8 hours a day on your horn is ridiculous. If you practice on your horn that much then either you have no life or you don`t know how to practice correctly. Locking yourself in a practice room wont make you a musician only a robot.

My practice routine consists of 3 or 4 hours on my horn (this varies with my schedule of course), an hour of solfege, and a lot of listening. By listening I mean everything: voice, string quartets, opera, etc.

But I think the most important thing for us students to do is enjoy life. Go to concerts, museums, read (not magazines), hang out with friends, or just anything except music or school work. If you never experience life outside a practice room you`ll never be able to connect with an audience that has.

Atleast now I know im not the only one that loves clarinet. Ive been playing for 1 year and 6 monthes and i think in obsessed too! From about 24 clarinets in my school, im the section leader. By the way im 13 years old.

Buddy, I agree with you. 6-8 hours practice is neither productive, nor healthy. No-one can practice properly (with the correct embouchure, correct air support etc) for more than about 4-5 hours without doing some serious damage to your lips, mouth and hands and pretty much your entire body if your breathing is done correctly (RSI, stomach problems and arthritis in the long run, guys, are not what you want if you want to have a career in music). Not to mention that after a few hours, the human brain is said to have trouble taking in NEW information so really, any more than a few hours practice is just counterproductive and a waste of time.

If you still need to fill up those extra few hours with music, use it productively - go to listen to OTHER PEOPLE play the pieces you may be studying live, listen to recordings of all music (not just clarinet music), watch documentaries, go to masterclasses and demonstrations, do relaxation classes like yoga which benefit playing the clarinet IMMENSELY. But also, theory, solfege, ear training (sight singing as well as aural) and history of music are just as, if not more, beneficial than an overdone practice session.

And it won`t kill to have a hobby outside of music as well.

Al

lolz how cool i`m 13 .. play the clarinet too :D bflat and eflat rox lolz ...

I love the clarinet it my baby My Clarinet name is Andante Jr.

compared to you guys!!! you know AND have all the best kinds of clarinets and peices and everything! man you guys must be rich, im lucky i even own one. my parents are paying 600 bucks for me to go to music camp and now i dont even know if i should go our not! im gonna be the worst player and embarres myself with my litte clarinet thats a cheap brand

Clartinets are awsome! I have a Buffet E-11 named Nepolian and a plastic one I got in fourth grade before i knew anything about clarinents named Rose but I don`t really play her anymore. I`ve got an M-13 Vanduran mouthpiece. I go to an arts school where we`re all band geeks that love playing.The sad part is we`re proud of it too!! Clarinets rule!:-)

Don`t worry, I nicknamed my clarinet "baby clarinet"!

Wow! It`s really awesome that everyone is soooo dedicated to music and the clarinet.

First off, I agree that those who aspire to become professional musicians must practice a lot. And for those that complain that we have no lives... well, if you love something like music that much, then it`s absolutely OK to be obsessed over it.

I just turned 17 four days ago. I`ve played the clarinet for 7 years, and the piano for 8 years. Personally, hate to break it to all of you, I love the piano more, but I still love the clarinet. I also LOVE to compose

For all of the high schoolers out there... yeah, high school is tough, especially the junior year (I just finished it this year). But I still managed to find time to practice. I practiced about an hour and a half a day on the clarinet, and about two hours on piano a day. I play in my school`s Wind and Jazz Ensembles, pit orchestra, a select Wind and Jazz Ensemble outside of school, and a college jazz ensemble (I play clarinet in the wind ensembles, and piano in the jazz ensembles). I`ve performed in All County and Area All-State groups, and I just received qualifying scores for possible admission into All State on both clarinet and jazz piano Plus, I`ve composed about 30-40 pieces for various groups.

I love music soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much!!!

I play on a R-13 Buffet with a Rovner dark ligature. I own two mouthpieces: A Vandoren B-45 (classic mouthpiece for anyone looking for a new mouthpiece) and a Vandoren M13 Lyre (This has a nice darker tone when played with appropriate reeds).

I have two different sets of reeds: Vandorens and Mitchell Luries. I switch combinations between the reeds and mouthpieces. For Vandorens I use both strength 3 and 3 1/2. For Mitchell Luries (and I also use Mitchell Lurie Premiums) I use 3 1/2s, but I`m going to switch to 4s soon, because the 3 1/2s are starting to feel weak for me.

For advice on reeds: Vandorens are less consistant (you may only find 1 or 2 really good reeds, 5 fair reeds, and 3 or 4 crappy reeds in a box), but they have much longer lives. Mitchell Luries may only last a week if you`re even lucky with that, but they are more consistant and playable.

Happy practicing to all!

I wish you could see the postings when you are composing a reply - I forget the names of the people and the exact things they said...

But I want to say to Nicole, was it?, that she should go to the camp and play on... music is very, very personal and all this guff about instruments and reeds and barrels and whatever misses the point... if you can get off on what you play then okay.... do it.

Don`t forget in this world of ours there`s millions more musicians playing on junk instruments than playing on top quality ones.

Don`t forget in this world of ours there`s millions of people getting off on music that other millins wouldn`t listen to for a minute.

So it`s okay to do your thing on your horn.

But that last poster - forgot the name - about reeds - I really liked it. Because it happens to me and I thought I was the only one and some kind of freak. I can buy a box and only find a couple of reeds that work for me. I can buy another box of different brand and find none!

And it just gives me some reassurance and makes me feel less lonely when I read about people experiencing what I experience. And isn`t that what this forum is for?

Of course there`s other guys that can blow for a year on any given reed out of any given box at any given time...

Just the same as there`s concert pianists... some kind of superhuman creature that can remember totally an hour or more of incredible music and play it faultlessly...

Not the average dude.

We don`t all have to be superhuman. And we`re lucky that the superhuman exist amongst us. But our own thing is valid and right and a buzz...

play on....

To the previous poster...

Thanks! Yeah, you`re definitely not alone on the whole reed thing. I bet that many of these people experience the same problem with reeds. Perhaps we haven`t found the "ideal" reed yet... and there may be none.

And that could be why some professionals make their own reeds.

By the way, here`s a clarinet joke that some of you probably heard somewhere before pertaining to reeds:

"How many clarinet players does it take to change a lightbulb?"

"Only one, but he/she goes through the whole box until he/she finds one!"

Get it? Reeds... you will search through the whole box to find one?

But if any of you have questions concerning some reeds and Vandoren mouthpieces, I`ll be pleased to try to answer them.

I refer to my clarinet`s by their names... YES I NAMED THEM!!! I have a plastic one named Benny, a wood one named Woody, and another wooden one name Larry... They`re named after the famous clarinetists Benny Goodman, Woody Hermand, and the ever popular principal clarinetist in the CSO Larry Combs... I am not only in love with my clarinets, but I see them as real people... Call me crazy if you wish, I KNOW I AM!!! I`ve only been playing clarinet for about a year now, but I`ve estimated how many hours I have practiced since I started... came out to about 400 hours...that`s around 7 or 8 hours a week... Doesn`t sound like much to me, but to some people it would be a lot... one time I practiced for 10 hours in like one day... I`m crazy I know...

Neways, I`m going off into another world... About reeds, hmm... yeah is a size three vandoren reed easier to play on than a size three vandoren V12 reed? OR vice versa?

that`s about all I have to say for now...