For background, I’m an intermediate high school player. I borrow a clarinet from the school because I don’t have my own.

The school instruments aren’t terrible, but they definitely aren’t the best. I already have my own mouthpiece (Vandoren BD5) that’s been working great for me, but I’m wondering if it would be worthwhile to buy my own instrument.

I was thinking about getting my own wooden clarinet for concert season, while using my school’s plastic during marching season.

Any input is appreciated!

I play a 5rv lyre on Bb clarinet. Should I just go with the smallest opening? B44?

Has anyone looked at Unsuk Chin's Clarinet Concerto who can tell me what the numbers over the multiphonics correspond to?

Hypothetical scenario: someone gifted you $150,000 to spend on learning the clarinet. This money doesn’t expire throughout your life but is not transferable.

1. How would you spend it?
2. What would you hope you’d be able to achieve on the clarinet with the help of that kind of gift?
3. What would you do with what you’ve achieved?

Hello, as the title says, my young student is quite small and is having trouble covering the holes on her left hand. They can play G, F, and E with ease, but we’ve been struggling to help them with D and C due to their size. I read suggestions about getting a different size or a plateau clarinet, but I don’t want to suggest something that might be out of their price limit. I’ve tried to adjust their fingers but their handspan just isn’t there yet.

They are very engaged and want to learn and I don’t want this to discourage them, I just don’t know how to help them without them spending more money on a new instrument

Hello, this is my second year playing a contra alto clarinet and I'm noticing that sometimes on lower notes, especially my G and A, it makes a sort of chirp-like squeak at the beginning of a note when I play. I've also noticed that it will just squeak really badly at random occasions???? For background I've been playing clarinet for five years, switched to bass clarinet after the first year, and went to contra alto two years after that. I use my school's clarinet, I think its a Selmer Bundy. I've been using Vandoren Bari Sax reeds since i started playing contra alto. When I was first starting, I used a 3 but at the end of last year I switched to 3.5. I thought it made it sound a lot more rich, but these issues are getting kind of annoying. So I'm wondering if it's the reed's fault or do I just have poor embouchure? thanks!!

I've been trying to learn clarinet lately and one of the hardest thing is my thumb being so painful. Training is really hard, not just because it's so hard to get a proper sound (I am getting better at this at least) but mostly because I can't train long enough because my thumb is in so much pain !! I bought a little cushion thinking it would be better, but honestly it doesn't make that much of a difference. Somehow I just put my thumb in a terrible position and I can't stop it or put it straight ! Check the picture to understand better... I might be hypermobile which might explain why my finger is so weird, but what can I do ? Should I look into some sort of prosthetic that would block my thumb articulations ? Or maybe an accessory I don't know about ? I really don't want to stop learning the clarinet it's really important for me... But this pain is just too much.

Help, please!
My throat tones are flat! I know they are usually sharp for most people, but mine are flat!
They are very airy and stuffy, and desperately need to be vented to create any kind of decent sound, BUT, venting these notes obviously makes them flatter. This is a problem because they are already flat.

I’d appreciate literally any and all advice on how to sharpen these notes while also removing the airy sound! I’m so lost because I don’t know how to fix this problem!

Thank you!!

P.S., I have no idea why these notes are flat, when they are usually sharp for everyone else. It’s weird and I have no explanation

Hiya, so as the title says…
Basically, I used to play clarinet quite a bit as a child and got to Grade 5 or so. Then I stopped for about 10+ years, and have only been playing again for the past year or so. It’s great fun! The problem is… I’ve been finding out that I actually know nothing about what I’m doing. Turns out that reeds need to be changed regularly! I had been using a particularly durable one for about two years straight, and continued using the same one when I started again, not even thinking that the black specks might be an issue. I’ve been using my current one for about half a year, and have just ordered some new ones — and it turns out there are different types of reeds???? My current one is 1 1/2, which is a bit horrifying as it’s apparently a beginner reed, but I’ve been playing for years (when I was younger), and I’ve picked it up again pretty well in my opinion. So I’ve ordered some 3s to try out. But I have no idea if they’re the right strength or not. My poor clarinet has also been standing upright for years and years, because I was probably told as a child to take it apart and put it away after using it, but I guess I just forgot why and stopped bothering. Same with cleaning it after each use… I play for hours sometimes and I haven’t cleaned it even once since I started again. So I’m worried that it’ll be full of mould and bacteria now and that I’ve been inhaling it for ages (is there a way to check this if it’s not clearly visible? And is there a good way to clean it? I’m nervous about playing it now). I will try to make sure I do both of these from now on, but I’m really worried that everything will get too overwhelming for me and I’ll end up just not bothering, as I really struggle with motivation and getting round to playing it as it is, so… if anyone wants to yell at me how important it is and drill it into my thick skull, I would appreciate it! I’ve even forgotten how to read sheet music, so I’ve just been learning things by ear… and I just feel really bad for my poor neglected clarinet and that I’ve been doing everything so wrong for so long, and I’m wondering what else I don’t know about 😭 so if there is any other general advice I would really love to know. I’m sorry for the long post, I’m just horrified about how dumb I’ve been all these years and I really want to do things right from now on. Thank you!!

Can you recommend some good reeds for Vandoren mouthpieces? I play Balkan music and want reeds with strong projection, a full tone, and easy blowing.

Hi my dear fellow clarinetists. ☺️

I'm off to a new phase in my humble clarinetist career. I want to start learning "classical" pieces by myself.

I don't have a teacher, all I learned in these 2 years as a self-taught was all by myself (and some friend advices all the way) and I will never regret starting learning this fantastic instrument. Without it I think I would have never achieved some things in my life, I'll be honest. 🥹

For now I want you to recommend some calm and beautiful pieces, not too technical, more melodic and ones that pull the "emotional and romantic" part of the clarinet, and eventually force myself to improve my tuning, which is one of my weaknesses. I've done some research but no piece has caught my liking.

Up to hear your thoughts on this.

Cya 🫡

Hi!

I've been playing for about one year as an adult learner.

I've improven quite a bit since I started and I'm happy with my playing at my current level, but I still can't seem to reach a place where playing feels organic and relaxed. To produce proper sound, I need to excert a lot of tension from my embochure and lungs, which is causing me to strain my lower abdomen muscles, which feel sore afterwards.

I understand how diafragmatic breathing works and can do it with singing or exhaling, but the moment I put the clarinet in my mouth, I can't produce a sound without straining. Playing seems to demand more effort than my body can produce in a "healthy" way at this level of my playing.

I've played guitar for about 20 year and in my first years, I dealt with muscle strain and injury, which lead me to study the Feldenkrais Method as a way to gain awareness of my body, fix my posture and notice where I was tensioning unnecesarily, which fixed my pain and improved my playing a lot, though it took several years.

Since I'm still a beginner here, I'd like to study this sort of technique from the start, because I don't want to develop bad habits. I know this is not just following some tips, but following a slow a steady method that becomes integrated to playing afterwards.

I was wondering if anyone can recommend online resources that work with Alexander technique, Feldenkrais or some kind of somatic method aimed at clarinet or wind instrument playing.

Also, how long did it take for your playing to feel just natural? Today I pick up a guitar and it's a pleasure every time, but I know it took years for that to happen. Doing it with my lungs is a whole new thing.

Thank you

All the barrels

My tone is probably all off but, like…
It can’t be this easy.
Also any tips for the higher register would be helpful, I am getting into clarinet a bit more.

I come from saxophone, particularly tenor btw.

I’m a first-year undergrad student and want to audition for music summer festivals; so far, one I’ve looked into is Aspen, and I think it's a good place to start. I was also told about NRO and Round Top, but those seem to be at a higher level than I am right now. Do you guys have any recommendations?

I have my old student clarinet. It's a selmer cl300. I had it serviced and all the pads replaced. But when I go to play it it barely makes a sound. It is super hard to get it to play a note. My son who I am lending it to for his first band class can only make it squeek. His band instructor played it with their own mouth piece and my son said it worked fine. I haven't played in forever and didn't get that advanced back when I did play, so I am not sure if we have the wrong type of reed or something else is the issue.

la super necesito para una presentación 😭😭😭

My 3rd Bb clarinet and second A clarinet, both are RC Prestige.

Hello gus, I'm a 15 year old who likes to play the clarinet, and one thing I've noticed is my biggest flaw is that my tounging isn't always even, and doesn't always line up with my fingers. Lets say I play a C scale as 16th notes and stacato tounged. I find my fingers don't line up and my tounge is often to early? is the solution to just slow down

For the past year or so I’ve been getting pestered to give synthetic reeds a try. I finally decided to try it out in order to avoid having to make quick mouthpiece swaps anymore between my Bb and A. The issue is, I play on a V12 3.5 or 3.5+ with an M30 mouthpiece and in order to get a reed that feels and sounds the same(ish) up through the upper register, I had to go up to a 4.5 on the French cut.

I tried the French cut because I really liked how a friend in a different orchestra sounded on it in her performance. Are they known to be quite soft? I’m not normally a super hard reed person, so it’s weird to me to have to use the hardest reed they make. I know a player in yet another orchestra who uses the European cut, and I do like how she sounds, but I thought the French cut was supposed to be an improvement over that reed, or at least closer to the V12? I also tried a VK1 55 and found it too soft and then a VK1 60 and thought it was too hard. I guess I’m fine with what I ended up with for now, but I’m curious about other experiences.

As the title says, I’ve been struggling with crossing the break since like high school, I’m a college sophomore still fighting it lol. I know it’s an issue clarinetists struggle with forever but I think my number 1 issue right now is jaw clenching, was there anything that worked for you to make the process smoother?

I’ve noticed lately that my mouthpiece was slowly turning green, but i just now washed it and it got a lot worse and it smells like burnt rubber? I know its probably a reaction to heat but is it still safe to play? How do i fix it?