If you’re a beginner, a plastic clarinet is recommended. A Buffet B12 or Yamaha 255 are both popular models, but stick to a plastic first instrument as wood clarinets can be more difficult to play and maintain. It’s usually common to use a soft reed; 2 to 2 and a half will most often work. You can use higher strength reeds (like a 3 or 4) once you have been playing for a while. [1] X Research source Avoid no-name clarinets (clarinets from manufacturers that aren’t very common). Professional clarinets players and repairers tend not to have good things to say about clarinet brands they haven’t heard of. If you have an old clarinet you want to use, take it into a music shop to get it fixed up. The pads will likely need to be changed, to make sure you get a clear tone from the horn.
The bell is the bottom component of the horn, and it fans out like a megaphone. The bottom stack makes up the main body of the clarinet, and it will have a cork connection piece on only one end of the section. The top stack makes up the other major section of the main body of the clarinet, and will have cork on both ends of the section. Line up the straight metal hinge on both pieces to orient the barrel properly. The barrel should be a short piece, 3-4 inches long, and slightly more flared at one end than the other. The mouthpiece is the top-most section of the instrument, and should come with a metal or leather ligature, which is used to hold the reed in place. Line up the bottom of the mouthpiece with the long straight octave key on the instrument.
Don’t put the reed higher than the mouthpiece, which makes it extremely difficult to produce a note. The tip of the reed should fall even with the tip of the mouthpiece. The tip of the mouthpiece is very fragile. So make sure to cover it with a mouth piece guard when not in use.
The clarinet should be held with your right hand on the bottom stack, your thumb on the thumb-rest on the back of the stack. Your other three fingers should rest on the three corresponding keyholes. Your left hand should hold the instrument on the top stack. Your thumb should rest on the octave key on the back of the instrument. Your other three fingers will rest on the three main keys on the bottom of the top stack. When your fingers are not in use, keep them very close to the holes to make it easier for them to get to the keys when they are needed. If you keep your fingers too far away from the clarinet, it will make it difficult to play fast things.
Try to start with a softer reed, between sizes 1 and 2. 5. As your mouth muscles get stronger, you will start needing harder reeds. You will know when to bump up reeds when your clarinet starts sounding like a person talking with their nose plugged. Your teacher will also tell you if you need a softer or harder reed.
Most horns should come with a cleaning rag, which you can draw through the body of the horn after each use. One end should have a string attached, which you use to pull through each section of the horn. It only takes a minute, but helps to keep your horn in good working order. Every now and then, it’s also good to use a Q-Tip to clean around the connection points, where little particles and saliva can accumulate. Grease your corks regularly. It can make it hard to put together and take apart your clarinet if you let the corks dry up. Once you play your clarinet a lot you can grease the corks about once a week. If you grease the corks too much they may slide off.
Keep your jaw flat. Your top teeth should be planted firmly on the top of your mouthpiece, opposite of the reed side. If you just push the horn into your mouth and blow, it’ll be hard to make a note. It takes a little work in making the right shape with your mouth, called the embouchure.
This may be hard to get used to at first and you will probably learn it best by taking lessons.
If you squeaked, don’t be discouraged. It’s hard to get used to the clarinet mouth shape. Just keep trying, and experimenting with different amounts of air to put through the horn.
At first, this may make you squeak much more. If you squeak a lot, check where your mouth is on the mouthpiece. Make sure it is not too high or low on your mouthpiece. Your teacher can help you with this. Also make sure your reed is lined up correctly.
When you are playing, always cover the holes completely. If you don’t, the notes won’t come out. Especially when you are using the register key, be sure that all holes are covered completely.
It’ll be hard to go very far on clarinet without learning to read sheet music. The clarinet is a treble-clef instrument in the Bb range, so you’ll need to learn the basics of the treble clef to learn more about playing the instrument. The best way to do this is usually school band or private lessons.
These will probably be taught to you eventually by your teacher eventually, if you have one.
Bad habits can develop without you even knowing, which can make it hard to get past a certain skill level. If you want to play clarinet the right way, take lessons.
Prepare for the long haul! You aren’t going to become a good player overnight. Start with the basics then move on to more advanced things. Playing an instrument is a life-long learning project.
