| At the Clarinet Fest in 1997 it was indicated to us at
Quodlibet that our product might be helpful in reducing loss of beginning
students by making it easier for the student to learn proper hand position,
fingering, posture and breathing by not wrestling with the weight of the
instrument on it's thumb and not experiencing the subsequent pain associated
with it. |
| To evaluate this suggestion, Quodlibet established a
field study of the FHRED Student model to determine it's effectiveness in
helping beginning students to better enjoy their instrument. The study was
conducted using four teachers, a private teacher in Mill Valley, California, a
private teacher in Wheat Ridge, Colorado and two who taught in store studios in
Denver Colorado. |
| The study period was from September 1997 to June
1998. |
| The study cohort was 42 students of ages ranging from
grade school to adult. The teachers were asked on a quarterly basis to
indicate: |
| 1. |
|
Any students lost to the study. |
| 2. |
|
Any students with injury and its progress. |
| 3. |
|
How many students were progressing better, same
or worse than before. |
| 4. |
|
How many students were progressing better, same
or worse than expected. |
|
| To give a perspective to the situation, the graph below
shows the typical student class attrition over a nine month period It shows
losses of 30%, 45% and 60% in each of the respective rental periods from the
starting level. |
| This represents a loss of teaching and instrument
rental income of 31.4% |
|
|
| 1. |
|
The loss was reduced to 2.4%, 1 student quit
during the study period. |
| 2. |
|
At three months, 71% of the students were
progressing better than expected. |
| 3. |
|
At six months, 55% of the students were
progressing better than expected. |
| 4. |
|
At nine months, 48% of the students were still
progressing better than expected. |
|
| The result of our study showed: |
| The improvement was attributed to longer
practicing which resulted in more rapid progress and enjoyment. |
| The teachers experienced a positive impact on
their income and the rental stores had a better return on their instrument
rentals. |
|
