What makes the clarinet unique

This register is named after the chalumeau instrument because the chalumeau's lower register was quite beautiful. The chalumeau register produces its best sound when the clarinetist has an open oral cavity and a laserbeam airstream.

The throat tone register, from written G4 to Bb4, is called throat tones because they resonate at the throat of the clarinet. The air doesn't have to travel as far down the clarinet to make the note speak. These throat tones are known for sounding stuffy and always out of tune. It takes a lot of oral cavity and embouchure control to make throat tones sound good.

Clarinetists also use resonance fingerings to help with throat-tone intonation. The clarion or clarino register is named for its trumpet-like characteristics. The clarion register starts at written B4 goes until. In my opinion, the clarion register sounds very sweet and pure. Unlike the chalumeau register, the oral cavity should be positioned high and the top lip of the clarinet embouchure should be more firm.

The airstream should remain strong. The notes that are higher than C6 are part of the altissimo range. Altissimo is Italian for "extremely high". The notes in this range have a variety of different fingerings.

There are multiple fingerings for the altissimo notes to either make the fingering easier or to make the note more in tune. It is a situational decision to know which fingering to use.

The clarinet is a transposing instrument. This means that the notes they produce won't sound the same on the piano, a non-transposing instrument, even if they are technically playing the same note name. For example, if the piano sounds a concert Bb, the Bb clarinet must play a major second up, a C, to sound the same pitch. An important concept every clarinetist should learn and understand is clarinet transposition.

All of the clarinets have the same fingerings, but the notes being produced will be different for each instrument. If a clarinetist sees a written C in a piece of music, the clarinetist will play the fingering for C.

However, the C on the Bb clarinet won't sound the same if it were played on an Eb clarinet. Unline brass instruments, the clarinet does not have a spit valve.

Spit and condensation should be removed via swabs after each time the clarinet is played. A swab is a very essential clarinet accessory. The clarinet is used in more genres than just classical music. The clarinet became popular in jazz music during the early s.

The clarinet has also been used in rock and pop music. This means that lowest notes on your clarinet will overblow at the twelfth — a low E becomes a middle-register B natural when the register key is applied, etc. The lowest notes on your clarinet are known as the Chalumeau register, named after an ancestral version of the clarinet see fact 3. The clarion or clarino register, named for its trumpet-like characteristics, spans from the first overblown fingering, a middle-of-the-staff B natural, up to a C natural above the staff.

Notes in this highest register often have a large variety of alternate fingerings available. The clarinet descended from a French instrument known as the Chalumeau or Chalumeax. This cylindrical instrument typically had eight open tone holes, much like a recorder, but was played with a mouthpiece and separate single reed, much like a modern clarinet. Chalumeau were popular primarily during the 17th and 18th centuries; they were most often played in the lower register, because it was very difficult to overblow.

Most of us are aware of what is known as the Boehm fingering system — the standard system for most modern clarinets — adapted from a very similar system for the modern flute. Clarinets keyed in this system often have a smaller bore and narrower mouthpiece as well. Although new Albert system models are no longer produced, the style of instrument is still frequently used in Eastern European music, Klezmer and Dixieland jazz.

The Rubank Elementary Clarinet Method , a classic staple for beginner clarinetists, still contains an Albert system fingering chart, along with the fingerings for a typical modern Boehm model.

The modern bass clarinet owes its design to Adolphe Sax, who revolutionized its design before going on to invent the saxophone.

The smallest commercially-available clarinet is pitched in Ab, a minor 7th above the standard Bb instrument. While not very common, the Ab piccolo clarinet is available to special-order from the LeBlanc company in France. The Vandoren company produces miniscule reeds and mouthpieces for the instrument.

The largest clarinets relatively commonly produced and played are contrabass instruments; these sound an octave below the Bb bass clarinet. However, some manufacturers opt for an extremely long design, the majority of the body constructed of rosewood or plastic.

Though never in widespread production, three octocontralto clarinets have been produced by the G. Leblanc corporation of France. These instruments sound two octaves below the modern alto clarinet. You may already be aware of the Eb alto and Eb soprano clarinets. From its long history to its composition, there are many interesting facts about the clarinet that few people know but every music enthusiast should learn!

As with many instruments we are familiar with today, the clarinet was a modification on an older instrument called the Chalumeau. The chalumeau was a wooden reeded folk instrument played during the Baroque and Classical periods that had two keys and eight tone holes.

Part of the motivation to develop the clarinet was the addition of an upper register by way of an overblow key, a key that you press to open an airway in the instrument allowing certain notes to be played between one octave and 12 notes higher.

When looking at the history of the clarinet , it is widely believed that Johann Christoph Denner invented the first clarinet in the mid s although his brother Jacob is also credited. A larger bore and flared bell were two additional differences between the first clarinet and the chalumeau. This key allowed for play between the lower chalumeau register and the upper new registers of the first clarinets. With each addition, clarinetists could achieve new registers, better tone quality, and more dynamic fingering options.

We have already covered the altissimo register, which is the higher register that was added when the chalumeau transformed into the clarinet. The lowest register is referred to as the chalumeau register, as this was the register the chalumeau was able to play in. The clarinet family is large and diverse, playing a very important role within the larger woodwind family. The clarinet most commonly played and showcased is the B flat clarinet which is also the instrument that the vast majority of new clarinetists start on.

The B flat clarinet is also known as the soprano clarinet due to its tonal range but there are several clarinets built to play in various other keys. For example the E flat and A clarinets are the two most commonly used for this purpose today and they are also considered to be soprano clarinets.

The D and C clarinets are very early versions of the clarinet that are sometimes used today when playing music from their eras for a more historically authentic sound. The G clarinet is built in the Albert keywork system, a system of fingering designed specifically for ethnic and folk music.

Also known as the Turkish clarinet because it was originally created in Turkey, this clarinet is most commonly produced and played today in China.