(Taken from "How I Became a Cornetist" by Herbert L. Clarke)

Joseph L. Huber on Herbert L. Clarke ...
I had studied with many good players before studying with Mr. Clarke, but  no one ever taught the idea of breath control and extreme accuracy as he did.  Mr. Clarke's motto always was "Ninety-nine percent right is one percent wrong and it must be one hundred percent right before it is consistent."

In Mr. Clarke's first letter to me, he said "An easy solo played well is musical and a credit, but a difficult solo played poorly is miserable and unintelligent."

Frank Holton on Doing Good Business...
In the hope of lending encouragement to those having business problems, I will say that my experience has given me a firm assurance that honesty, promptness, diligence, perseverance, self denial, and above all, a Christian spirit, will carry one through the deepest waters.

Herbert L. Clarke on Learning from those who went before...
How little do we of the present generation really appreciate what has been done for us by the brave, thinking men and women of the past!

Herbert L. Clarke on Professionalism...
..permit me to say that I am an enthusiast in music, especially in band music, always was and always shall be and yet with all my long professional experience as a cornetist I am still and amateur - that is, one who loves the cornet and tries to improve himself in its playing each day.

We know tha many celebrities in music have risen to distinction without having given much thought to the end in view.  Such ones, however, probably possessed an instinctive feeling of fineness in doing things that led them to conquer self by overcoming wrong habits in their daily practice, together with a certain amount of natural ambition, and these, when combined with tenacity of purpose and carefulness in work, usually will bring results in any line of endeavor.

..everyone who has made a sure and solid success in anything started from the bottom of the ladder and gradually worked up by their efforts, exerting pereseverance and systematic application in overcoming obstacles at the very beginning.  I often used to think and ponder over the old motto which has helped me greatly during my life - "Well begun in half done."

Herbert L. Clarke on Talent vs. Hard Work...
Many an aspiring young player is often told by his friends that he is a "born cornetist."  This is a mistake, for after a while he really begins to believe it himself and stops his regular practice routine.  As a result his career does not last very long, and after perhaps a few years of disappointment and discouragement he adopts some other line of work to make a living.

Herbert L Clarke on Choosing a Career...
I believe that every child is born into this life for some definite and good purpose and that later on instinct will more surely map out his way than will the arbitray "must" of the parents, if education and environment are right.  It is a profound problem which demands the  deepest study on the part of the parents.

Herbert L. Clarke on Meticulous Work...
During my boyhood I was educated to become an architect, because of certain talents displayed as a youngster.  I studied it from the bery bottom up and the application of its teaching has helped me wonderfully as a guide in correcting my cornet playing.  In the beginning it was necessary to overcome handicaps in the way of mathematical problems and mechanical drawing, and I well remember how hard I worked to correctly draw a perfectly straight line free-hand without a rule.  It required long practice but in time I mastered it, and what seemed so difficult at first became easy after a while.  Through this I learned that it is being perfect in the elementary work that gives us a firm foundation upon which to base for final perfection.

How often do we think that our work is satisfactory when, after all, we merely blow into the cornet and make a noise without being perfect in every detail.  One hundred percent alone is perfection.  Niney-nine percent only proves that one percent is missing in perfection, thus making the whole imperfect by just one percent;  Therefore, when in his practice a player does not correct the slightest mistake immediately he logically is practicing to be imperfect.

I have heard many pupils play page ofter page of the instruction book, missing the notes here and there and making all manner of mistakes without correcting them, then say;  "Well I played fifteen pages of the exercises today."  There was no realization that even if only one mistake was made they had not played the fifteen pages but simply "played at them."

Herbert L. Clarke on His Father...
My father, who, in my opinion, was one of the best men on earth, forbade me to practice the cornet.  For one reason, he did not want me to play a wind instrument, for another he was particularly against permitting me to belong to a band, as the thought that association with band musicians was too rough for a boy.

Mrs. Clarke on Work...
"A thing worth doing at all is worth doing well."

Bill Dishman
Gainesville, Florida