And the Clarinet Players Keep Forgetting to Play F Sharps
By Dr. Steven P. Katzenmoyer

It’s Friday afternoon, the last period of the day in Lower Upper Northcentral Cupcake Junior High School , time for band class. The students file in, you begin your rehearsal with a carefully thought-out warm up followed by a few announcements about a pizza sale and auditions for an upcoming festival. You then turn your attention to a concert march in the key of F. The students start to play, and the clarinet players keep missing the F Sharps. After three tries at the same sixteen measure passage, you start to lose your patience.

Susie is the best clarinetist in the group. She is frequently becoming frustrated that her fellow students keep playing wrong notes, almost to the point where she’s ready to quit playing the clarinet. Your anger is not helping her situation.

Jack is an average clarinetist, average student, average at pretty much everything in school and in life. Some days he remembers to play the F Sharps in this piece, some days he does not. You have, of course, instructed him to circle the F Sharps, to mark his music appropriately, to perhaps even circle in (gasp!) a colored pencil, but he sometimes still misses the F Sharps. Your anger is not helping his situation.

Alicia and Felicia are best friends, almost seemingly joined at the hip. They’ve been neighbors and best friends ever since they can remember. They both signed up to learn to play the clarinet in elementary school. They each put in an honest effort, and usually perform fairly well. They can communicate just by looking at each other, and they both agree-with their eyes-that your anger is not helping their situation.

Karen has worked very hard to become a good clarinetist. She’s not going to pursue a career in music, but she’s the kind of student who’s going to be a valuable member of the band all through high school. She’s a leader, and the other students look up to her. Her facial expressions tell you that your anger is not helping her situation.

Michelle is a learning support student who reads at second grade level. She has great difficulty decoding the notes on the staff, so you’ve taken the time to accommodate her needs by writing letters below the notes on all of her music. This has helped her so, so much, and band is the highlight of her day. She takes it personally when you get upset, and your anger is not helping her situation.

Scott is the student council president. Handsome, tall for a middle schooler, athletically built, he’s a straight A-student who, for whatever reason, struggles with music. For all the ease at which Scott learns in his other classes, music is difficult for him. He plays rather mechanically, and focuses only on the notes on the staff. He often ignores key signatures, dynamics, articulation, and the like. Your anger is not helping his situation.

Etcetera. Etcetera., Etcetera.

Is it acceptable for the clarinet players to keep forgetting to play F Sharps? Of course not - is it important to keep all of the above mentioned students and situations in perspective? Of course it is. Do the students intentionally try to make mistakes? In all likelihood, they do not

Have you ever “lost it” during a rehearsal? I sure have. It wasn’t helpful. A former music teacher once told me, “You have to yell and scream at them at least twice a year, whether they deserve it or not, just to let you know you’ve got that side to you.” Thankfully, that teacher is now retired.

Teaching is hard work. It’s challenging, demanding, fulfilling, rewarding, and at times, frustrating. Remember that very, very few students intentionally make mistakes. Even when they make the same mistake thirty-nine times in a row, they might finally play or sing it correctly on the fortieth time. Most kids want to do well, to make beautiful music. And when your pot is ready to boil, that anger, in all likelihood, won’t help the situation.

Dr. Steven P. Katzenmoyer teaches 4th and 5th grade band in the Fleetwood Area School District, and he, like all of us, has to struggle sometimes with keeping it all in perspective, too.

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