Techniques Used by Clarinet Players

If you were to go back to the 15th century, it would be easy to recognize the predecessor of the trombone. Previously the sackbut, this Italian instrument was originally intended to accompany a church organ, so it didn’t have music written specifically for it. This fifty hour process involves lots of shaping and torching in order to get a beautiful outcome with a powerful sound.

Like any stringed instrument the player must be able to easily adjust the height of the strings, tune their instrument for pitch, and know how to check and adjust the pegs. They must also know how to change the bridge of the instrument and what the effects of changing the bridge will have on the music quality and tone.

It was in my ninth grade year when I finally became the first chair clarinet.

According to the classification system of Hornbostel and Sachs, they are classified as ‘trumpets with finger-holes’. They flourished mainly in the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, but began a decline in popularity from the second half of the seventeenth; from 1700 onwards their use fell off dramatically, even though in some parts of Europe they persisted until the early 1800s. Their modern revival dates only from the second half of the twentieth century;

This paper will explore the early instrument known as the chalumeau and the various types of instruments that have evolved from it. The chalumeau group of instruments were folk instruments that were played with a single reed and the chalumeau itself is most commonly known as the predecessor to the modern-day clarinet. The instrument has only eight tone-holes on its cylindrical bore. There are many other single reed instruments that resemble the chalumeau and were in existence during the same time period. I will be discussing the history of the chalumeau and its repertoire, similar instruments of the time, and the evolution from the chalumeau to the modern day clarinet. My sources will include scholarly articles from online databases, such

So what exactly is a clarinet? The clarinet is a woodwind instrument and has the largest range of pitches in a woodwind section.There are thirteen different kinds of clarinet in the clarinet family. Clarinets come in many different sizes, with different pitch ranges but the most common clarinet is the Soprano clarinet or commonly known as the b flat clarinet. Johann Christoph Denner is given the most credit for making the clarinet which he made around in the sixteenth hundreds. J.C. Denner added two more keys to the chalumeau which was the first original clarinet by him doing this it increased it’s octave range. A chalumeau looks like a large recorder. The pitch of a clarinet can very from the musician, music, instrument, and mouthpiece. It is unknown where the clarinet was first made but resources say that it was either made in Germany or France A clarinet consists of eight different parts. The single reed, ligature, mouthpiece, barrel, middle joint, bridge key, lower section, and the bell. The clarinet is made out of a pingo tree also known as African Blackwood. Most modern day clarinets are made out of plastic.

The first group of clarinets are the hard workers; ones who do more than expected. Clarinets have many keys on our instruments so, it takes a huge amount of memorization to know all of the notes. The instrument has twenty four keys, and can play fifty two different notes. Some people do not all of the notes right away. Like the third octave, or the extremely high ones. Most

This is a short, cylindrical joint with no keys or rings. The barrel is to be connected to the top tenon joint. The last piece is the mouthpiece. The mouthpiece is the small joint with a rectangular hole; it is located at the top of the instrument. The reed fits onto the mouthpiece, in front of the opening facing the player. The thick, blunt end of the reed should aim towards the ground, while the thinner, curved side should be on top. It should not hang over the top of the mouthpiece, nor sit too low. The reed must be moist prior to playing, and it is held in place by the ligature. The ligature is the circular attachment with fastening screws, and is made with leather or metal. Fit the ligature over the reed and mouthpiece, and tighten the fastening screws; it should be snug, neither too tight nor too loose. Now the clarinet can be tuned. Clarinets are typically tuned to a concert B♭ and the pitch is adjusted by pushing in, or pulling out the barrel. If the clarinet is sharp (pitch is too high), pull out the barrel slightly to lower the pitch. If the clarinet is flat (pitch is too low) push in the barrel; if it is already pushed in all of the way, make sure all other joints are completely connected with no gaps. Now the clarinet is ready to

The history of the bagpipes is as unique as the music that was written for the bagpipes. The bagpipes consist of two tenor Drones and one bass Drone that extrude from the bag in a vertical position and produce rich harmonic tones. The Drones are tied together with a long cord with a tassel on the end. Generally, this cord is made of silk and is tied approximately six inches in between each Drone, making the instrument approximately eighteen inches in width. The bass Drone rests on the player’s left shoulder and the bag is held firmly between the player’s left side and arm. The player uses the arm to push the air out of the bag. This produces the resonant sound as the piper blows into the blow pipe thus keeping the bag pressurized. The bottom

Trying to understand how the trumpet works is a very difficult task that many trumpet players goes through every day of their lives. What if I told you that there are ways to help you come close to achieving this? Some of us think that trumpet has nothing to do with the mental aspects of life. Some feel playing old things does not help develop new skills. Some think when we play the trumpet we buzz into the mouthpiece. I will guide you through an approach that not only helped me but helped many trumpeters today. The Bill Adam approach to trumpet playing requires the student to understand how air is produced on the trumpet, how the embouchure plays a role in proper trumpet playing, the routine and

Entering 6th grade, I decided to join beginning band at Torch Middle School in La Puente and chose the clarinet as my instrument. Out of the eight clarinet players that were in band, I was the worst. I became determined to become a better clarinet player and dedicated my time to practicing my instrument at home. By the end of 8th grade, I was impressed with my improvement and became third best out of six clarinets. However, freshmen year came along and I felt newcomer again. I was bent on becoming one of the best clarinet players.

The first models of the trumpet were found all over the world in places like King Tut’s tomb, Asia, and South America. These primary models were valveless, and barely resemble a trumpet at all. There were made mainly of wood, and its design was a single cylinder that extended into a cone at the end of the instrument. It's later use in medieval ages led to a design with metal, called “natural” or “Baroque” trumpets after the time period they were in. It still had no valves and was a continuous cylinder that extended into a cone, but was now folded, or looped.

The clarinet is a single-reed woodwind instrument with a cylindrical tube. The clarinet is a very interesting instrument that plays good music. It is typically used in band ensembles. It is made out of either plastic or wood. The reed is a part of the clarinet that it can't be played without. The clarinet was originated a long time ago and it has an interesting manufacturing process.

The saxophone was invented in 1840 by Adolphe Sax,a Belgian instrument maker,flautist,and a clarinetist. The first saxophone that was patented was on the 18th of June 1846.The place the first saxophone was played was Brusother Assembales sells then Mr.Sax moved to Paris and sold saxophones there. He also made several improvements to the bass clarinets. Mr.Sax wanted the saxophone to be at an octave unlike the clarinets, that rises in pitch.The saxophone rises in pitch by a twelfth if overblown. Overblown instruments have identical fingering for both registers. Mr. Sax invented a quartet of saxophones including the alto, soprano, tenor and baritone. The clarinet and saxophone are very much alike even though they don't look anything like.

When played correctly, the saxophone creates a sumptuous sound that is able to fill a whole room. Sound has to be produced just right though, or else the result will be a high pitched squeak. The sound from the saxophone is made when one blows air into the mouthpiece, which causes a wooden reed to vibrate. Different pitches are produced when the air column is lengthened or shortened by pushing the keys up and down. The book Music: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, written by Neil Ardley, illustrates the importance of having keys, or buttons, on woodwind instruments such as the saxophone. “…woodwind instruments can produce more than 40 notes even though the player has only eight fingers and two thumbs with which to get them [keys].”(29) Being able to produce so many notes is a great benefit to saxophone players because they can undulate between notes and octaves more easily than other instruments.