E A R L B A T E S - C L A R I N E T T E A C H I N G M A T E R I A L S

These materials (known to his students as “Earl’s Sheets) were used by Earl Bates to teach

orchestral excerpts and topics of clarinet technique or musical interpretation.

Earl Bates was born in Marshall, Arkansas on October 29, 1920. In 1941 he received the Bachelor

of Music degree from Oklahoma A and M (now Oklahoma State University). He then studied with

Daniel Bonade at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. After serving in the U.S. Navy during

WWII he received the Master of Music degree from the University of Michigan in 1947.

In 1947 we was appointed principal clarinet of the Houston Symphony. In 1948 he was principal

clarinet of the Kansas City Philharmonic. From 1949 to 1963 he was principal clarinet of the Saint

Louis Symphony. For many years he also performed and taught at the Aspen Music Festival. From

1963 until his retirement he taught clarinet at the Indiana University School of Music. He died on

March 14, 1991 in Bloomington, Indiana.