Registering for a new school year

While several students and parents stood in lines or clustered around tables to register for school, outside a few students were practicing musical instruments. For those of us who once took band, remember how easily it became obvious whether we’d taken a vacation from practicing?

I played a clarinet. At our school, you could either buy or rent your instrument. A lot of parents opted to rent, perhaps reflecting on their past or the characteristics of their child who was “certain” about wanting to be in band.

Mine probably considered whether I had sufficient supply of talent and discipline.

We rented my clarinet until a cousin graduated. Then we bought his.

My brother apparently remembers how beginner clarinetists sounded. My unpredictable squeaks must have etched themselves in his memory. When his children were choosing instruments, I distinctly remember him saying they could not play a clarinet because he didn’t think he’d ever be ready to put up with those squeaks.

I think part of the reason I was never “first chair” was because music is not my forte.

I remember the director singling us out to play a “C” which was to match first chair’s “C.” He’d wait while I wiggled the mouthpiece. He probably thought I knew whether I was sharp or flat. I didn’t. His frown or cringe would let me know I needed to jiggle it a little more.

I can sometimes tell when notes are wrong, I’m just not sure what to do about it.

But a lot of people overcome obstacles in life with enough determination.

Another factor for me? I wasn’t really disciplined about practicing, especially over the summer. Basically my clarinet vacationed in the closet until I scrambled to find it before the bus pulled into our yard.

If you were like me, do you remember how hard it was to fit the mouthpiece, or to get a lip in shape to last through those first days of band practice?

When I “graduated” to the bass clarinet, that problem was even larger.

The bass clarinet did have one advantage, though. Its parts were often syncopated, and while its notes were important, the music had lots of rests.

We were required to practice 15 minutes a day. I thought I was really clever practicing songs with lots of rests, especially because I could do something else while counting them out.

It kind of worked. I got first chair with the bass clarinet.

Oh, that’s right. Our band only had one bass clarinet.

Marge Warder is a general assignment reporter. E-mail her at news@redoakexpress.com.