lol ok ill try. But my embechure would already make me sound like crap >.<

Haha, with practice, it will be good. Don't worry.

Play your oboe for 10 minutes, then take a break, then 10 more, then a break ect.

Don't over stress your lips though!

You need to build up strength for your lips SLOWLY.

Oh, and get a teacher/private instrutor. It'll make it A LOT easier.

O heck no. XD Im first clarinet at my school and the Drum Major (this year and next). Im also the only Clarinet DX but im really good. I have my own marching band I direct and this kinda of trouble has come up a couple of times. Some of the kids think there good but there not, and it escalades. I just handed out HARD music and they shut right up we went from grade 2 to 4 XD. I know this dosent help muchbut just saying i can relate. We have 10 clarinets all think there a First Chair. The only thing you can do is get even better so your teacher cant say SH$t and you get your way.

But the thing i hate is that they all WILL think they are "good" enough to be first clarinet. They jump take it up there you know whats like if it were a slap to the face. For me, i think 2nd clarinet is most important followed by 3rd then 1st. 2nd because it makes a chord sound nice, 3rd because it has a lot of low notes and then 1st because of the balance the band should have keeping the high notes at a minimum. There should be 1 first clarinet, if not 2, 2-4 seconds, and the rest 3rds. Just even it out in a 1st-1 person, 2nd- people, and 3rd-3people way. But the clarinets at my school take it like if we're treating them like crap, which we're not. It just makes the band sound nicer, but they only care about themselves and only themselves. And thanks furretdrumsolo, because its VERY true.

That must suck x_x.

In our band it's 3 people on first, rest on 2nd O-o.

Have fun.

I'm really sorry that you have to deal with all of this. My band is kind of the same (accept fot the butt director cause my director is amazing and doesn't take crap from anyone). We have very mean flute players that love to disrupt class, i mean, some of them can play, but a few of them just never shut up. The clarinets are almost the oppisite of your band, i mean, we have a problem with people NOT wanting to play 1st. Everyone wants to play 2nd or 3rd, but we have chairs and that usually solves the problems plus we have a thing called challenges in our band, where if you don't like your chair, you can challenge the person ahead of you and if you win you get there seat, but you can only move 1 chair at a time. But we have a different problem- we have 2 bands, one band for anyone-symphonic, and one band that requires an audition- wind ensemble, and all the people in symphonic are really loud and obnoxious and they don't know when to shut up and we don't get much done in there and no one from wind ensemble wants to join symphonic band (we're allowed to be in both if we want) because they think it's going to be bad because of behavior, but since wind ensemble is more well behaved and controlled than symphonic, we think (even my director) that if people from wind ensemble joined symphonic, the behavior in symphonic would get better. I dunno, it's confusing and sometimes hard to deal with. I just worry about myself (i know it's selfish, i really do) and i only worry about my part and how well it blends with the section and the band as a whole.

-ash

Well everyone, i had the worst day of my whole life yesterday because not of the flutes thisw time but my freakin section! I literlly broke down completely. We had a concert yesterday and 5 of the 6 clarinet were there so i was kinda pleased with that. And i worked so freakin hard just to make this section better and ive been acting like a section leader to them even though im not. I did so many things for them and i seriously DID work my butt off. And when the concert was going to start, one clarinet was not going to play because she was sick and it was okay for her not to play because she went to the hospital yesterday so i excused her and told the director to excuse her. So then when we were going to start i saw only 3 clarinets were there. And i got real confused because for one of the songs i gave up first part to have someone else play it, so i had thrid part for that one song. I went outside to look for the sick one to ask for the part because she also had 1st part and when i did she told me the clarinet player left because suppodivly she had problems, so i was a little annoyed. We played the first song and my band members told me to go get the first part so i just left and went looking for it and when i did my "friend" who had the first part was there, outside, TALKING!!! I got extremely !***!ed off! I went towards them and i was turning very VERY red. I just ignored it and asked for the part. ANd they started talk about their problems and then my friend left running. This really made me break. I just left cussing at them and went running to the band room. I got so upset i started crying and mostly from anger. I did so much for them to help the section to help the band and this is what i get in return. NOTHING! I threw a couple things around in the band room and got mad because i couldnt find the part. SO when i returned the band started playing without me and i was outside unable to know what i needed to do. When they finished the song i went in and i felt like crying in front of everyone. I just held it in and played the rest of the concert and at the end i just sat there and put my head on the stand and cried. My friend, who i was pushing and pushing to sing a song and gets a nervous breakdown when she sings in front of people, sang her song in front of everyone. She sang Hallelujah from the shrek movie and when she did i cried and cried and cried. I got out of the concert and most of the sectio nleaders came to me. I couldnt stop crying at all. I did so much for them, and i couldnt handle not having them there in the concert. Two of the section leaders got sooooooo !***!ed. And the director also wants to talk to them, ABOUT TIME!!! So now i dont know what to do because now i have no one to hang out with and i have nothing else to do in the band any more. I felt like quiting because this is the only thing im good at and this is somthing i want to do when i grow up. So now that i know i wont be able to do, what will be the big deal of me being here? Im just really tired of this. ANd i really dont know what to do...

WOAH, you put SO MUCH into your band, and they treat you like THAT?

Really, I would quit. Get a private instrutor, and get moving. Those clarinets are just draging you down.

You have great potential, and you put so much effort into making your own band sound good.

Now you need to put all that energy into making yourself sound as good as you possibly can.

I'm sure your a great clarinetist, and you really should put your talent to work.

Band is probably just weighing you down, it's just draging you down.

I hope you become a GREAT clarinetist.

Well yeah i think im good enough. My parents don't support me so i wont be able to get a private instructor and a senior said that im probably the only one that cares the most about band, and that i AM one of the best clarinetist she's ever heard out there, and i am just a freshman. When i grow up I want to be a musician but im more than certain my parents will stop that dream. I seriously had the worst days of my life this month. And to make it all worse...i just lost my girlfriend. She left for some reason. I had thought of quiting band. I didn't care about my friends or almost anyone, AND ive been treated like crap. Life was meant to be crappy. And the band practically say they need me.

what the heck that is so lame u should tell your band teacher that if u don't get first part that u and the reast of the clarinet people will quit and the whole band will sound like crap!! lol that should work

Your parents aren't supporting your clarinet?

That's really crappy. I hope they will come through, because lessons ain't cheap.

I really hope you can find some money to get them though, some teachers may let you go on scholarship for a bit.

I hope you feel better, and don't let this part of your life ruin your clarinet playing.

It will get better, don't let people get to you.

No, my parents arn't understanding people. They just don't really like how I am because they want me to be whatever they want me to be, a lawyer or a docter. But what ever it is, its somthing i dont want to me. Im just really !***!ed off right now and extremely sad. And to make things worse theres a weeks vacation...

Hi Gordo. What a todoo!!
Why don't you start your own band/group. You don't have to play with twits, even if they are in your school. Get a few guys/gals who are serious about their music and form your own group. What's so big deal about a school band with big problems??? The (so-called) director should be kicked out!!!!!!! Tell him/her I said so...!!!!

;o Start a trio!

Clarinet, Violin piano?

Clarinet, oboe flute?

Clarinet oboe bassoon?

Or Bass clarinet, clarinet and alto clarinet?

Well Dicktona, 1.) There are only like 2 people in the band who are serious with the band and that other person doesn't very much like me (Except the time I got !***!ed off at the clarinets and cried from frustration). 2. I wish i could make me own band whatsoever. 3. Kicking the director out would be the best in the world for us. I bet even i can be a better director >.< Well and Canadian...a trio won't work or dou or anything like that. The piano player said i sound like crap, but i ignored him because he is the BEST clarinet player out there even though i have NEVER heard him play (WTF?) so i bet he isnt all that good. We don't have any bassoon players (except for me) or any clarinet players that will try or an alto clarinet player (except for me, again). So i try hard enough how it is, and i have no where to go because the director LOOOOOVES the guitar group which i have heard and sucks because he hasnt taught them well and he is a strings person and we're a concert group. So him leaving the band is a spLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLendid idea.