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Instruments & Voices

Clarinet

Definition

The clarinet is a single-reed woodwind with a mostly cylindrical tube. The common B♭ clarinet sounds a major second lower than written, and its written range runs from E3 to about C7.

The clarinet is a woodwind with one flat cane reed held against its mouthpiece by a metal or fabric ligature. When you blow, the reed vibrates against the mouthpiece and sets the air in the tube vibrating. Its tube is mostly cylindrical, which gives the clarinet a very wide range and a surprisingly different color in each register: dark and hollow at the bottom, clear and singing in the middle, brilliant at the top.

How a clarinet makes its sound

Keys and rings cover the tone holes to lengthen or shorten the air column. Because the tube is cylindrical and closed at one end by the reed, the clarinet does something unusual when you press the register key: instead of jumping up an octave, like the flute or saxophone, it jumps up a twelfth (an octave plus a fifth). That is why the clarinet needs different fingerings in its upper register and why crossing between the registers, called the break, takes practice.

The registers have names: the low chalumeau register, the short throat register around written G4 to B♭4, the clarion register above the break and the high altissimo register.

A transposing instrument

The most common clarinet is in B♭: when you play a written C, it sounds B♭, a major second lower. Clarinet parts are therefore written a major second higher than they sound, and in a key with two more sharps (or two fewer flats) than the music around them. Orchestras also use the A clarinet, which sounds a minor third lower than written. The bass clarinet in B♭ usually reads treble clef and sounds a major ninth lower than written.

Two treble-clef panels in 4/4. Top, labeled Written: a key signature of two sharps and the melody D5, F-sharp 5, A5, F-sharp 5, then E5, G5 and a half note F-sharp 5. Bottom, labeled Sounds: no key signature and the melody C5, E5, G5, E5, then D5, F5 and a half note E5.
The same melody twice. Top: as the B♭ clarinet part writes it, in D major (two sharps). Bottom: what the audience hears, a major second lower, in C major. Press play on “Sounds (concert pitch)” to hear the sounding pitch.

Range

The B♭ clarinet's written range runs from E3 up to about C7, which sounds from D3 to about B♭6. The top notes belong to advanced players; school music usually stays below about written G6.

Two panels. Left, labeled Written: a treble staff with E3 below three ledger lines and C6 on the second ledger line above with an 8 sign. Right, labeled Sounds: a grand staff with D3 on the middle line of the bass staff, labeled D3, and B-flat 5 above the treble staff with an 8 sign, labeled B-flat 6.
Left, as written: E3, below three ledger lines, up to C7, printed as C6 with 8 above it (8va). Right, as it sounds, a major second lower: D3 to B♭6, printed as B♭5 with 8 above it.

Its role

The clarinet is a core instrument of the orchestra, the concert band (where it often plays the role the violins play in an orchestra), jazz (especially in New Orleans jazz and the swing era), klezmer and solo and chamber music.

Tips for beginners

  • Moisten the reed before you play, and rotate between a few reeds so each lasts longer.
  • Cover the open tone holes completely with the pads of your fingers; a tiny leak makes squeaks.
  • Keep the corners of your mouth firm and your chin flat, and use plenty of steady air.
  • Practice crossing the break slowly, keeping the right-hand fingers down where you can.

Common questions

Why does a B♭ clarinet sound different from what is written?

It is a transposing instrument. Its written C sounds B♭, a major second lower, so the same fingerings work on every clarinet in the family. To play with a piano from a C part, a clarinetist reads every note a major second higher.

What is the break on the clarinet?

The break is the change between the low (chalumeau and throat) register and the clarion register, around written B♭4 to B4. Because the clarinet overblows a twelfth, the fingering changes a lot across it, which makes smooth crossing a key early skill.

Practice it: free worksheets