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Today is 100th anniversary of the birth of jazz legend Benny Goodman.
Benny Goodman is the reason I became a clarinetist. When I was in second grade, my family was watching the movie "The Benny Goodman Story" and I got so taken by the idea of playing clarient that I wouldn't stop talking about it. My older sister Sue happened to play clarient, and so she let me try to play a bit, and I puttered around for a while on her instrument. If you've never heard someone who has never played clarient before try, imagine a sick goose hacking and coughing while honking. Yeah, that's about how I sounded, but I was hooked. When it came time to choose an instrument for the school orchestra, clarinet it was. My older sister got a new one, and I got her old one. That was fine with me. I played and practiced, and didn't do too bad a job. By the time I hit Junior High there were only two guys in the clarinet section. Me and vinny Pagan. Now folks might have had no problem deriding me for being a guy playing a "girl's" instrument (I might have known who Benny Goodman was, but in the early 80's big band jazz was not something most young kids knew), but no one talked smack to Vinny, which probably saved me from a lot of gruff. It would have been tough to give me lip about that, sitting right next to Vinny.
By 8th grade, I was offered the chance to switch over to the bass clarinet, and frankly as someone who had been sliding down a bit in the seating, I went for it. That year would be the only year I marched with the bass clarinet in marching band. After that, I'd split my time between clarinet for concert season, then percussion for marching season. (Mainly bass drum.) I liked the bass clarinet, as an instrument it has an amazing range and versatility, and at an octave lower than the "standard" clarient (properly the soprano clarinet) I often found the tone more pleasing, and the parts I was getting rarely went up into the third register change. By 10th grade, I was given the chance to change instruments again, and I took up the Contra-alto clarient. This was the first time I was no longer playing a Bb instrument, and the change was a bit weird for me. At the time it was referred to as the Eb Contra-bass, and it still sometimes is in more common parlayance, but the true Contra-bass is even lower and is also a Bb instrument. This was the largest instrument I ever played, being even taller than I was when I sat down to play it.
I haven't played clarient with any seriousness since graduating high school. I loved the lower clarients, and wish I could go back and do something with it, but the instruments I played were rentals, and I only own a soprano clarient. In honor of Benny's centential, I pulled the old instrument out, and tooted around for an hour or so. Wow, what twenty years does to one's embrasure. Getting up over the break (changing registers) was hard to do. I suppose the reeds might be no good. I was able to get up there, but the middle B and the C still gave me a lot of trouble. One thing an hour tooting on an instrument showed me, was how my lung capacity has dwindled compared to the days when I was playing sports daily, in band and choir daily. These days, the most work out my lungs get are going up and down stairs. *sigh*
If I had a way to join up and play clarinet again with some kind of amatuer ensemble, I'd most certainly enjoy it. I'd want to play one of the lower instruments again, as I enjoyed playing the supporting lines far more than trying to take on the high melodies. Besides, I'm rather well aware that I'm not quite capable of mastering the high registers, so I'd rather enjoy an instrument that takes advantage of the lower ranges. I'd especially love a chance to play the true Contra-bass, though I'm not sure where I'd be able to rent even a standard bass clarinet these days.
In any case, here's to you Mr. Goodman, for many a year of enjoyable playing.
Benny Goodman is the reason I became a clarinetist. When I was in second grade, my family was watching the movie "The Benny Goodman Story" and I got so taken by the idea of playing clarient that I wouldn't stop talking about it. My older sister Sue happened to play clarient, and so she let me try to play a bit, and I puttered around for a while on her instrument. If you've never heard someone who has never played clarient before try, imagine a sick goose hacking and coughing while honking. Yeah, that's about how I sounded, but I was hooked. When it came time to choose an instrument for the school orchestra, clarinet it was. My older sister got a new one, and I got her old one. That was fine with me. I played and practiced, and didn't do too bad a job. By the time I hit Junior High there were only two guys in the clarinet section. Me and vinny Pagan. Now folks might have had no problem deriding me for being a guy playing a "girl's" instrument (I might have known who Benny Goodman was, but in the early 80's big band jazz was not something most young kids knew), but no one talked smack to Vinny, which probably saved me from a lot of gruff. It would have been tough to give me lip about that, sitting right next to Vinny.
By 8th grade, I was offered the chance to switch over to the bass clarinet, and frankly as someone who had been sliding down a bit in the seating, I went for it. That year would be the only year I marched with the bass clarinet in marching band. After that, I'd split my time between clarinet for concert season, then percussion for marching season. (Mainly bass drum.) I liked the bass clarinet, as an instrument it has an amazing range and versatility, and at an octave lower than the "standard" clarient (properly the soprano clarinet) I often found the tone more pleasing, and the parts I was getting rarely went up into the third register change. By 10th grade, I was given the chance to change instruments again, and I took up the Contra-alto clarient. This was the first time I was no longer playing a Bb instrument, and the change was a bit weird for me. At the time it was referred to as the Eb Contra-bass, and it still sometimes is in more common parlayance, but the true Contra-bass is even lower and is also a Bb instrument. This was the largest instrument I ever played, being even taller than I was when I sat down to play it.
I haven't played clarient with any seriousness since graduating high school. I loved the lower clarients, and wish I could go back and do something with it, but the instruments I played were rentals, and I only own a soprano clarient. In honor of Benny's centential, I pulled the old instrument out, and tooted around for an hour or so. Wow, what twenty years does to one's embrasure. Getting up over the break (changing registers) was hard to do. I suppose the reeds might be no good. I was able to get up there, but the middle B and the C still gave me a lot of trouble. One thing an hour tooting on an instrument showed me, was how my lung capacity has dwindled compared to the days when I was playing sports daily, in band and choir daily. These days, the most work out my lungs get are going up and down stairs. *sigh*
If I had a way to join up and play clarinet again with some kind of amatuer ensemble, I'd most certainly enjoy it. I'd want to play one of the lower instruments again, as I enjoyed playing the supporting lines far more than trying to take on the high melodies. Besides, I'm rather well aware that I'm not quite capable of mastering the high registers, so I'd rather enjoy an instrument that takes advantage of the lower ranges. I'd especially love a chance to play the true Contra-bass, though I'm not sure where I'd be able to rent even a standard bass clarinet these days.
In any case, here's to you Mr. Goodman, for many a year of enjoyable playing.
