Clarinet

A single reed on a cylindrical bore, which makes it overblow at the twelfth instead of the octave — the reason its fingering system looks so strange.

Woodwindstransposing

At a glance

Role
Melody — one line at a time, out in front
Range
E3 – C7 (as written)
Transposition
Written C sounds concert B♭ — everything sounds a major second lower than it is written.
Sits well in

Pitched in B♭: written C sounds concert B♭. Flat concert keys become easy written keys.

How it works

A cane reed beats against the mouthpiece and drives the air column. Because the bore is cylindrical and stopped, only odd harmonics sound, so the register key jumps a twelfth.

Where it sits

C1C2C3C4C5C6C7C8
what you read what sounds middle C

Against a piano's 88 keys, A0 to C8. The gap between the two bars is the transposition — the same music, read in one place and heard in another.

Drills 2

A session's worth. Each one has a single point — do that, not the whole list.

  1. Over the break8 min

    The B♭-to-B transition, which is where clarinettists stall for months.

    1. Slur from throat A to third-line B and back, slowly, ten times.
    2. Keep the right hand down on the throat notes so it is already in place.
    3. Then run a chromatic passage straight through the break.
  2. Long tones, twelve semitones6 min

    One sound across the whole instrument.

    1. Start on low E, eight beats each, ascending chromatically.
    2. Voice the throat as if saying 'ee' for the high register and 'ah' for the low.
    3. Stop where the tone changes character and start there tomorrow.

Tips

Heard on 0

Nothing linked yet. The pipeline never measures who plays what, so this list is human-curated: add recordings to the 🎙️ Recordings relation on this instrument's row in 🎻 MUSIC INSTRUMENTS [DB] and they show up here.

Worth practising on it

Suggested from what the pipeline measured — key, meter, tempo and the chords as played. Each one says why it is here. Keys are concert pitch; the written key is next to it.

Sultans of Swing★★★★★Dire StraitsConcert F major — you read G major · · · · The Drugs Don't Work★★★★★The VerveConcert C major — you read D major · · · · The Irony of It All★★★★★The StreetsConcert C major — you read D major · · · Walk On the Wild Side★★★★★Lou ReedConcert F major — you read G major · · Pure Morning★★★★★PlaceboConcert E♭ major — you read F major · Let's Push Things Forward★★★★★The StreetsConcert G♯ minor — you read Bb minor · In Limbo★★★★★Concert C major — you read D major · · · House of Cards★★★★★RadioheadConcert F major — you read G major · · · · · Idioteque★★★★★RadioheadConcert B♭ major — you read C major · · · · · Hearts A Mess★★★★★GotyeConcert F minor — you read G minor · · · · · Clint Eastwood★★★★★Gorillaz, Del The Funky HomosapienConcert E♭ minor — you read F minor · · · Elle donne son corps avant son nom★★★★★IAMConcert C minor — you read D minor · · · ·

Roster and “heard on” links from 🎻 MUSIC INSTRUMENTS [DB]. Breakdown, drills and tips are written into the site — craft knowledge, not measurements. Practice suggestions come from the same enriched recording data the song pages show.