Many years ago I was teaching clarinet to a 12 year old girl. She clearly did not want to be there; her mother made her do it. She didn't show up one day, and I didn't think anything about it. The next week both she and her mother appeared. The mother asked me how my friend was doing, and I had this puzzled look on my face. It seems the girl had invented a story--she told her mother the prior lesson was cancelled because one of my friends was in a car wreck, and I had to go to the hospital to deal with it. I didn't have the heart to rat out the girl, so I just said, oh, he's doing much better. She never came back. Oh, the joys of teaching.
Wow, what a story! I don’t think I would have the heart to rat her out either, but yikes, quitting was probably for the best if she was willing to go to such great lengths 😅
Wow, if I didn't care enough about my students to check up on them if they didn't show up they'd probably figure out that I didn't care and stop caring themselves.... mission accomplished? We've all had students who didn't want to be there ... at first. Most come around, don't they?
I want to apologize to my old clarinet teacher for (not even) half-assing my practice. There would be weeks after weeks where I came into his lessons and the last time I had played a piece was the week before, at the lesson... After a couple of years of this he finally pulled me aside and told me that he would not continue teaching me. Truth be told, any passion I had for the instrument was long gone and I was more than happy to spend my time playing video games instead.
Well you certainly weren't alone in not practicing! Not everyone is interested in practicing an instrument and that's ok, there are plenty of other activities on which to spend your time! If you got more joy from video games, you made the right decision.
@@ParkHouseCreations after a good many years I start to get nostalgic for it. I brought over my old clarinet, a leblanc sonata, and spent the last two weeks restoring it. Did have some trouble when a 12 euro leak light from amazon gave me an electric shock! The clarinet is almost finished and.. who knows, maybe I can get back into it...
Honestly, prices on new instruments have gotten absolutely ridiculous. With the Tosca especially I would really look for used instruments, prices have been plummeting lately. There are some deals to be had!
@@ParkHouseCreations what places near Washington DC would you recommend looking for used instruments? I know I want to buy used but it's just so hard to find 'em lol
Honestly, I think the two best places to keep an eye out for used clarinets are the Clarinet Bboard “for Sale” section and some of the various Facebook groups like, “Clarinet Equipment.” Being on the East Coast is good because there is such a concentration of clarinetists out here due to the major cities in close proximity and all the D.C. military bands. Eventually an instrument will pop up that should be close enough to try out!
