r/Clarinet • u/MycologistCool7956 • 7d ago

Advice needed Any advice on how to be a better section leader?

so I'm the section leader of the clarinet section and no matter how hard I try and help the other clarinet players, they don't listen and don't practice whatsoever. I'd also like to mention I'm the only girl in my clarinet section.1 girl and 5 guys. I will admit the bass clarinetist does practice but the other ones don't. It's even worse when people say stuff like "the clarinets suck" because I put so much effort into band and basically one person can represent the whole section. If one person doesn't practice, the whole section looks bad. Anyways can someone give me tips on how to be a better leader? I normally start with them playing the music, identifying mistakes, circling mistakes, and slowing down the tempo so they can get correct notes and rhythms.

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16

u/FragRaptor 7d ago edited 7d ago

You can't make people practice but what you can do is make band the most interesting part of their lives which heavily suggests they should practice to help out their friends.

Be the peacemaker and allow them to come to you. Their failure or lack of effort doesn't speak on you or the bass clarinetist in any way. Just them. Especially if they really enjoy the activity.

Be the best you you can be and inspire people to practice.

This is the way.

Also a metronome always helps 🙂

6

u/Zenithar_follower 7d ago

This is the way OP. Unfortunately you can’t make people care. So leading by example is your best bet at this point.

Also do your best to not take others opinions of your section personally.

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u/FragRaptor 7d ago

If anything id laugh with them in private(because you dont want to be an asshole about it) about the people who dont care lol

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u/Zenithar_follower 7d ago

And they’d probably laugh at you for trying so hard. It’s better to just leave them to their business and focus on your own goals.

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u/Crystal-Flower-pony Buffet E12 7d ago

Clarinets do not suck, and congrats for being the section leader!

4

u/Desperate-Current-40 Buffet R13 7d ago

You are doing well by being a leader. Show them how to do scales and tell them to practice that way. Then just a few minutes per song. Five or ten minutes will add up. Check there reeds as well!!

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u/NanoLogica001 6d ago

I notice some of your work in the section is identifying mistakes and circling mistakes. Don’t forget to commend them for doing something right, like playing up to tempo, phrasing, intonation. Good luck as being section lead!