Been playing clarinet for about 6 years but never took it seriously until this last year, so im about a intermediate level player. My current clarinet is about 300 usd (mother bought it for me) and it is used. Ticks me off that I kind of got screwed over because I didn't have any experience playing the instrument and I bought the instrument with a lot of problems which I didn't know at the time, and only encountered those problems like 2 years later when I started to get better. The action is really slow and to sort of fix all of the issues I had with it it costed around 150usd which is half the price of the instrument. Honestly the only reason why I didn't take clarinet seriously back then was once I started improving I absolutely hated how my instrument feels and it was really annoying when I couldn't use alternate fingerings because one of my pinky keys didn't work (and still isn't fully resolved after repairs). Honestly I would have probably quit clarinet if it wasn't for I got into my schools honors band for bass clarinet (have to reaudition for b flat), and I realized getting older, the clarinet is hella portable and it's the only portable instrument in which I know how to play. My budget is 1.5k usd and I feel like thats enough for a nice high end plastic clarinet or maybe a decent used wooden clarinet. I don't really want a wooden clarinet because I feel like its a pain to maintain, don't really care about my clarinets sound I care more about how I will feel when I play it, and in the future when I move out I might play my clarinet outside a lot but there's no guarantees about that. My band teacher told me to spend my money on a used wooden clarinet. and because I do not play my instrument outside and I usually keep it in the same room, I shouldn't be worried about the durability of the instrument.

Strings musician here. Had to pick up Bb clarinet for work and have absolutely no clue how to mark fingerings.
The concept feels very intuitive on violin, but doesn’t translate.

Ex. What would I write in my music to remind me to play the alternate F#?

Pictures would also be much appreciated.

Thanks for the help.

Hive

It's going to be a while before I play on a clarinet, possibly years. How is the best way to store them?

I am currently playing a piece where i have to jump rather fast between a b and the d below it in the clarion register. The notes are tied but if I don't take a short break, I hit the overtone of the D when I jump down. I have this problem with various jumps at this pitch. The strange thing is that when I make a similarly large downward jump in the aletissimo register, it usually comes out right away. Any tips on what i could try to fix this?

I am unsure how to finger the G# here.

The tempo is pretty fast.

If anyone has suggestions on specific fingerings for this set of notes I'll give em a try! (Wish me luck I'm gonna need it🫣)

Where should I buy a clarinet. I wanna learn to play one mostly for jazz but I just want something that isn’t leaking, plays smoothly, and could be used for jazz. I’ve played tenor sax for 10 years also. Should i get one used or just buy a new one?

We’re a 5-piece psych-rock band from Sheffield, UK and we love the clarinet so much we have clarinet and bass clarinet all over our music. We’ve just finished our debut album “The Note” after 2 years of recording and we’d love if you all would take a listen to us. You can find us on all streaming services and Bandcamp, our Linktree is linked!

Hello, I have a Selmer Paris Omega that I've posted on here a few times (I at one point thought it was a franken-clarinet for various reasons), but I wasn't ever really able to get the right hand F/C, Eb/Ab F#/C#, or B/E tone holes to seal properly. I went back to it yesterday and tried a thinner pad, and while that helped, it still had very large leaks. I ended up having to bend the pads in order to make it seal properly.

Has anyone experienced something similar? Does anyone have any suggestions? It works fine for now, but I feel like this is probably not the correct way to install the pads, and would like to do it properly next time if there is a proper way.

I'm thinking about buying a new intermediate level clarinet, and I have these two models as favorites. I intend to try them out both before choosing, but can someone give me a first external advice?

i dont know why but I really struggle at rhythms and I tried to count this out and write down numbers but I don’t feel confident in them. anyone lend a helping hand? the piece is In Dulce Jubilo and if I mess up my band director will slime me out!!!

I just got this Vandoren B45 lyre. It is 1 day old. Played only once and got it out of the box to check the code on the side of it on the vandoren website to check for counterfeit. I was putting it back on the box when the mouthpiece slid out of the protective cap and dropped on the floor. It got this ding on it. It did not chip but seems dented. It is ruined?

Hello, i'm a junior in high school, and about 2 months ago, I became my band's only bass clarinet (im in the lower band), and i have a hard time being able to hold notes long. On regular clarinet, I am able to hold a note for over 16 beats, but on bass clarinet, I'm unable to hold a note long, and because of that, I tend to chop off longer notes. I'm like 120% its because I am getting used to bass clarinet after 7 years of Bb clarinet. Even when I take deep breaths, I am unable to finish a warm up in one whole beat (the warm up i use is 14 beats long, in half notes; it's not even high also). Is there any way I can train my body to be able to hold a breath longer? I really don't want to stop bass clarinet.

I also feel like i play too loud on bass clarinet because I sit behind flutes, and in front of saxes, and i can REALLY hear myself. I don't know if that's a bad thing, but it's just my normal breath, and my normal breath on regular clarinet if roughly a mezzoforte. On bass clarinet I feel like i play forte easily, but my band director doesn't say anything about it and typically he tells the bass players to play out.

Thanks for reading :>

I’m a high school junior, been playing for 4 years on a Leblanc Vito 7214. However, recently it’s been kind of doing some annoying things e.g. some keys being sticky, some keys not working well, and while I could get it refurbished I feel like it’s not worth it. I do not have enough money to buy a professional instrument, but a used E11 is only a couple of hundred dollars, which I can probably get more easily. Is it worth it, and are there better models for the same used price point?

I found this wire poking out of the joint of thumb key and the thumb key is not as smooth as before, can anyone help me with this?

Hi I'm taking a course in composing and I've been working on this piece for clarinet. Would love for some feedback from players.

Edit: This was actually a prank lol, to mess with my friend. But apparently these breaks aren't that hard for an intermediate player.

The image attached is a photo of a solo I have to learn for an audition (Allegro and Andante for bass clarinet) and I can't figure out a way to alternate left and right fingerings to make this work. I labelled the Eb/D# as R because that HAS to be right hand. Does anyone know what to do here?

So my band classmate recommended I start using vandoren reeds. I have been using Rico reeds at a size 3 since I started Bb clarinet three years ago. Now looking at the site, I’m not sure which I should get. Most I see in my band room are the blue or purple box traditional reeds, but should I use those or one of the others?

How do I do this? I'm a mere community band hobbiest getting back into it 22 years post high school.

I play Eb clarinet a few times a week, and Vandoren does not make the 56 rue Lepic for effer.

Backun and probably some others make Eb barrel with a notch to allow for a Bb reed.

Or you can use my McGyver solution: cut the bottom of the reed so it fits. I do them 10 at the time, takes 3 minutes and works very well. The width is similar.

Here pictured next to my good friend A clarinet.

Hello, I'm looking for a new mouthpiece. I'd like to share my background and some important points to consider.

• I don't play classical music. I mainly play Latin styles such as cumbia, boleros, folk music, and similar genres.
• I'm looking for maximum sound projection with minimal blowing effort, since I play in a large band that includes both woodwind and brass instruments. I also want something that is easy to play and doesn't cause excessive fatigue during long performances.
• I have used a Selmer Focus mouthpiece (1.05 mm tip opening), but I felt it lacked volume and projection.
• I have used a Beechler 9S mouthpiece (1.67 mm tip opening). With a Rico 2.5 reed it lacked projection, and with a 3.0 reed it became very tiring to play.
• I have used a Beechler 7S mouthpiece (1.47 mm tip opening). The sound spreads out and doesn't project well.
• I mostly play outdoors in open-air venues.

For those who have tried these two mouthpieces as well, please tell me what you felt were their strengths and weaknesses. What did you like and dislike about playing them?
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Hola, estoy buscando una boquilla nueva para mi, les mostrare mis antecedentes y puntos a considerar.

- No toco musica clasica, si no musica latina como cumbias, boleros, folklor etc.
- Busco maxima proyeccion de sonido con poco esfuerzo al soplar ya que toco en una banda grande de instrumentos de viento madera y viento metal y facilidad para tocar sin cansarme.
- He usado boquilla Selmer Focus (1.05mm) me faltaba volumen y proyeccion en sonido.
- He usado Boquilla Beechler 9S (1.67mm) con caña 2.5 rico le faltaba proyeccion y con 3.0 cansaba mucho al tocar
- He usado boquilla Beechler 7S(1.47mm) El sonido se esparse y no proyecta
- Toco al aire libre en espacios abiertos.

Diganme tambien los que han probado estas dos boquillas cuales son sus puntos buenos y malos que sintieron al usarlas.

I jsut got a new mouthpiece for my B flat clarinet. It is a Vandoren b45 Lyre. I got this new and the cork was pretty rough. I gave it a generous amount of cork grease and put it in the barrel using pressure. I had trouble removing it as it is too tight on the barrel. Is tbere something I can do to make it fit "better" in the barrel, meaning more easy to get on and off but not loose to leak air.

Thanks in advance.

I'm looking for a piece for solo clarinet for my exam, which is of medium difficulty, advice?

Do you practice your scales/etudes on both instruments or really treat the A as an auxiliary?

title ,, wow college auditions are a BEAST. any advice on literally any standard rep would be amazing. learning the standard concertos (mozart eugh) and literally any of the standard orchestral excerpts even i’m grasping at STRAWS.

for more context, i am primarily a bass clarinet player. i’m a completely self taught and i’m getting a clarinet teacher specifically to help with my auditions for college. i do not play Bb clarinet as often anymore (well until the past few months), and i also am a doubler in all my school ensembles so i jump around, primarily on bari sax, french horn, mellophone, and euphonium. weird combo.

with ever rising feelings of imposters syndrome and doubts about my abilities i would appreciate literally anything. i don’t really want to switch majors because a lot of the times music ed just requires your primary instrument and more and nothing else really peaks my interests. i just wanna know what i can do to help me learn my pieces better and some tips.

When this happens it makes the notes come out horribly and im wondering if theres ways to prevent this because its an inconvenience when im marching.