Reply To: Sax Key Extensions?

[nafmeadmin]

Hello,

This past summer I encountered a situation similar to yours, but mine involved a beginning clarinet student. The student had just begun playing the clarinet in her high school marching band (being her first time ever involved in band!). As a college student, I was fortunate enough to get to assist the clarinet section during this band camp.

The student understood all musical concepts taught to her and absolutely loved being involved in band. There was one problem… her hands were too small for her fingers to cover the holes (similar to your situation). Having gone a whole week helping assist this student, it was apparent she was not going to be able to continue playing the clarinet, at least not until her hands got bigger. An easy solution to this problem was offering the student an option to play a different instrument. Luckily, she was using a school instrument and hadn’t bought a clarinet yet. At first she was hesitant, but the director had convinced her to switch to the flute.

I know you mentioned your student loves music and is excited to play an instrument. You can use this to your advantage and hopefully convince him that playing the trumpet isn’t that bad! You mentioned he can make a sound on the saxophone mouthpiece, but maybe trying to see if he can buzz on a trumpet mouthpiece can be a step in the right direction!

Good luck!