[HANASHIR:16322] Re: Clarinet piece for my daughter's Bat Mitzvah.

[Meris Ruzow <meris...>]

Ros -
I have worked with many instrumental bar/bat mitzvah aged kids as I used
to have a "Klezmer for Kids" band at our synagogue.   It is wonderful
when a student WANTS to do this and is able to.  My first step would be
to talk to your daughter's private teacher and see if he/she feels your
daughter can handle this.   Has she ever played a solo in front of an
"audience" before?   When is the bat mitzvah?  If she has never played,
you might want to assemble 10 people or so, and have her do that.  Or
perhaps, play during Sunday school (ask your principal) so she can just
"get the feel."

Depending on her playing level, there are a few books I'd recommend.  Go
over them with her teacher and decide on one piece.   The easiest is
from Tara;  "The Israeli Band Book," a blue paperback which is great.
Very easy -- If she's what I'd call a nyssma level IV or higher, take a
look at these two books, also from Tara:  "The Simcha Songbook," and,
"From the Repertoire of Giora Feidman."  They have wonderful short
pieces.  I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND that your daughter be ACCOMPANIED on
piano.   I would not have her play by herself.  All you need to do is
improvise whatever she plays with chords; but give her a good background
rhythm.  It's really hard to tell you all this without knowing her
level.  One of the most beautiful pieces which I've done with
instrumentalists (and vocalists) from the  "Simcha Songbook" is a song
called "Talit," which simply states, "And through the commandment of the
Fringes shall be delivered my soul; and my spirit, and my prayer from
outside evils; and may the talit deliver them as an eagle that stirs up
her nest and hovers over her young."   I've had groups sing this (nice
harmony) or have just used it as an instrumental solo.  If she can carry
a nice phrase, work on her breathing and articulation this could be
quite remarkable!

I've also had beginner players perform Jeff Klepper's "Oseh Shalom" with
piano accompaniment.  It's part of the service and is not difficult for
an intermediate player.

I hope this is somewhat helpful.  If you'd like to discuss it further,
please feel free to email me or call me.
Meris Ruzow
meris (at) nycap(dot)rr(dot)com


Meris (at) nycap(dot)rr(dot)com


-----Original Message-----
From: owner-hanashir (at) shamash(dot)org [mailto:owner-hanashir (at) 
shamash(dot)org] On
Behalf Of Jacqueline Guttman
Sent: Saturday, December 27, 2003 4:34 PM
To: hanashir (at) shamash(dot)org
Subject: [HANASHIR:16319] Re: Clarinet piece for my daughter's Bat
Mitzvah.

Ros,

Actually, the sound of the clarinet works so well with so many Jewish
tunes
-- thus the popularity of the klezmer clarinet sound. Also, a lot of
stuff
is in a minor key, the tonality of which works especially well on the
instrument. If your daughter is a relative beginner, I'd suggest that
you
look at your song books and have her try a few. Much better to have a
simple
melody played well than to come across as struggling with something more
complex. (So why am I drawing a blank?) Hmm...something readily
recognizable, like Goldfarb's "Shalom Aleichem" would work, I'll bet,
even
unaccompanied. What about a medley of folk tunes?

I'll bet there are lots of people out there who can come up with even
better
ideas.

Good luck - and Mazel Tov!

Jackie Guttman

> From: Ros Schwartz <ros (at) hn(dot)dancinginthewind(dot)ca>
> Reply-To: hanashir (at) shamash(dot)org
> Date: Fri, 26 Dec 2003 13:31:15 -0500
> To: hanashir (at) shamash(dot)org
> Subject: [HANASHIR:16312] Clarinet piece for my daughter's Bat
Mitzvah.
> 
> Hi to all of you & happy last-day-of-Chanuka!
> 
> We're gearing up for my daughter Melody's Bat Mitzvah, in March.  She
> chose the Bezalel portion - about the artisan designated by G-d to
> design the Mishkan - because of her artistic abilities in many
different
> fields - so we thought that having her play a solo on her clarinet
would
> be a lovely contribution to the service.
> 
> We're looking for something appropriate to the mood of the service,
> either music from the liturgy (traditional or modern), or a nice
> contemplative instrumental piece.  She is a relative beginner, but can
> already play simple folk songs with a lovely sound.  We could, of
> course, go with sheet music from the song books that I have, but I
> thought that someone out there might have knowledge of / experience
with
> / music that would sound particularly good on the clarinet.  Info as
to
> sources would be helpful too.
> 
> Thanks for any help you can give,
> 
> - Ros
> 
> 




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