[JfW]

I have a 10-11 year old Nephew looking to start Clarinet this fall. We have the clarinet situation figured out, but I was looking for some educated opinions about what would suit a young first time player in a school environment.

I have a few things in my mouthpiece BIN that might work out:

Sumner Acousticut 3 - hard rubber
"Precision" 3 - plastic
"Educator" G8 - hr

Other than that, I suppose I could get him a Yamaha 3c, Hite Premier, or Fobes Debut.

What would be a proper reed for a beginner of this age? I was thinking the orange box Rico, but what hardness??


Thanks

 

[Pete Thomas]

What would be a proper reed for a beginner of this age? I was thinking the orange box Rico, but what hardness??

You didn't say what clarinet and whether it actually had a mouthpiece with it. I like the Fobes, but if you have some already, then try them and see how they are. At this stage they just have to be basically easy to play. You can refine things if/when he decides to stick at it. A lot of 10/11 year olds don't so you don't want to be wasting money.

I would always recommend a Legere, with the disclaimer that I am an endorser so bear that in mind. They are of course expensive but do a return policy to test out hardnesses. It does of course depend on the mouthpiece - when we do clinics you can try them and I think for most kids maybe a 2 is good. See what works best with cane and go down about 1/4 for Legere.

I say synthetic because for kids once they have one that works its less faffing, they are less prone to damage but still you must treat them carefully of course.

 

[JfW]

Thanks Pete

The clarinet is an old Conn plastic stencil. Interesting history, its been played by four of my six siblings so there is a bit of family legacy my nephew is inheriting. I'm currently in the process of servicing the instrument. Kid lives in Idaho so I'd just like to throw one or two mpc in the case andtoss the old chewed through nameless plastic thing in the trash. It top is so eroded, I am afraid even if the facing is good he'd never be able to get a good position for his teeth on the thing..

 

[dirty]

I would second the Fobes Debut. Those are very solid and won't hold a beginner back from developing a good foundation on the instrument. For the price, I don't think there's anything that is clearly better. The Behn Overture might be another low-cost option from a great mouthpiece maker, but I don't have experience with it.

If you throw some Rico 2.5 reeds in, that would probably be a reasonable place to start. Nicer reeds and synthetics (anything with a higher price-per-reed) might make more sense once he knows how to handle reeds without breaking them. I'm sure there will be a few broken reed incidents from putting the ligature on or putting the clarinet down on the bed or snagging the reed on that new sweater in the first few months.

 

[Lambros]

I’d recommend a J D Hite Premiere mouthpiece; quite possibly the best student mouthpiece made.