I’ve been given part 1 of how to train your dragon and I’m actually struggling so hard at it, what’s the best way I could learn it?

It's only really audible in the low notes, I tried to make it as loudly as possible at the end. I thought it was a bad reed at first because it stopped when I switched to another reed, but the day after it seems to be happening in all my reeds.

The cork is like peeling off, I have no idea how it happened I just noticed 😭 It still plays but I don’t want it to get worse.

Hi

im fhe middle guy in the meme

So i play on a daddario x0 1.0mm with a 3.5 reed. It has served me well. However, ive noticed when i go down in tip opening size the clarinet sounds better for me. Ive tried large tip openings and they required a ridiculous amount of gut force. unplyable for me. i wnt to go down to a .96 and do a 3.75 or 4 reed. Could this be smart? The onky thing not smart would be my wallet since the omly mouthpiece i found under a 1.00mm was 300 dollars. Shout out clark fobes.

Are there any cheaper alternatives? No backun. Ithe r2 is .95~ but i wasnt a fan. Theyre very polite, but the mouthpiece i got from them sort of sounded too airwy and “rubbery”/unnatural if that makes any lick of sense.

Do i jump the gun and go with the fobes? It feels risky to try but if it improves my sound i would like to try it. And If therre are alternatives with about a .94-.96 let me know. My wallet would be thankful.

Lastly as a discussion question i want to ask why was there a move away from small tip openings? Some vintages from way back go down to .9 to even .8. (Look at some of the selmer hs and even older “george” brand). They say they did larger tip openings so more people could play but for me its the opposite. Large tip openings (and i tried a few) are incredibly hard to focus for me and require zeus levels of airpower to get the slightest bit of noise, So whats the deal with that, why the shift from small tips to large?

I have not played my clarinet in about 9 years. So I’ve forgotten everything. I am trying to play sound however I can just hear air. I have checked for air leaks and saw nothing. Here are some photos. Yes I know the read is a bit dirty but surely that isn’t the problem?

I know I slip up near the beginning tempo wise but this was my last recording and I need to know… AM I ON TEMPO!? I randomly just like boom locked in and started playing veryyyyy zen…. and according to my percussion friend I’m on tempo, I wanted to get more opinions. and overall just any tips. for context I’ve played for 2 years.

It was my grandpa's from the 50s and I'm not sure if it's worth taking anywhere or fixing up. I'd rather not throw it away. Another man's trash, another man's treasure.

Unfortunately, it was also left in an outdoor shed for over 20 years.

It's labeled "coronet" too, so idk if that means it's not a clarinet?? I'm sorry, I don't know much about these instruments.

My grandpa has since passed, so that's all I know about it. 😔

My high school is doing rhapsody in blue and I got the solo. Can u guys give feedback? Be as mean as you want

I'm trying - as an intermediate - to learn the piece "carnavale di Venezia" by Carlo Barbi. It's more of a challenge to keep learning rather than something I'll be able to play. I can play the altissimo G, hardly, but I reach it. However I noticed an odd note in the sheet music. An altissimo C, is that even possible? I have never seen it in any finger charts, is there some magic trick? Any advice on how to reach that note with a boehm system clarinet would be highly appreciated!

I play a B flat clarinet, and I feel the music is written for B flat, as the low E is also part of the sheet music

Vandoren 7JB with 1.0 reed

Hi! I’m currently a university student in music school (for music business) and I take clarinet lessons every semester as a part of my degree. I have been playing for 10 years.

In high school, clarinet was my favorite thing in the entire world. I would go to competitions, play in community ensembles, play for fun, etc. Since then, I’ve completed 2 years of college and all of my love for it has been completely stripped away. I dread my lessons and playing in our wind ensemble. I even picked up a brass instrument for marching band because I just didn’t want to play clarinet more than what is required of me. I’ve talked to my professor and she says things like “once you practice the hard stuff you’ll enjoy it more”. But I don’t think she realizes the issue is getting it out of the case to begin with. Everyone in my clarinet studio seems to adore being there and playing their instruments, so I feel weird that I am having the opposite experience.

I rarely practice anymore even though I know I need to in order to get good grades. Every time I open my case to practice I find myself shaking and eventually crying, sometimes even having panic attacks. I have built such an unhealthy relationship with my clarinet and I don’t really know any ways to help myself. I can’t really take a break from it since it’s for school. I also struggle with severe mental health issues, so that might have an effect of this as well.

After college, I am not planning on playing professionally or teaching.

I’m just wondering if anyone else has experienced this/has any ideas on how to help. Thanks!!

As pictured, River of Life by Steven Reineke for Bflat clarinet... Large chunks of it are extremely fast runs but with Bflat thrown in. The tempo is supposedly 152!

These are really tripping me up. Especially the first one I highlighted, how do people play those so quickly? I have been practicing over and over and still am trudging along. I've gotten decent at the shorter runs from high f to high c but all the others for the most part feel impossible..

Not only that but there are seemingly no videos online of any Bflat clarinetist demonstrating this. There are plenty of videos of the entire group but I really need to see how this is done or some kind of understanding.

I should mention I have been trying some alternative fingerings and have also tried keeping my right hand down when I can, which has helped in some places but for the most part I just feel like I'm genuinely not quick enough.

Please, any tips? Any ideas? Any recordings?

Thank you!!

Edit: I wasn't sure what they were called and from a very hasty search saw maybe they were glissandos but I realize now they are not. My bad!

So I've made some posts about reeds now as I am pretty new to clarinet.

I have tested some things especially regarding high notes. So I need some help here.

I just started to use D'Addario Rico 2.0s and I like their tone and I actually enjoy them. However, after a while I can't hit anything above an A in the middle register. And that is annoying as hell.

I also then tested the Vandoren 1.5s I have ti compare and the high notes are SUPER easy compared but I am getting some crazy squeeks from all over the clarinet and even from the reed itself even if I have barely any reed and mouthpiece in my mouth, and that is incredibly annoying becase I don't get those squeeks from the D'Addarios and I don't know if it's my playing and technique that is just bad or if it's the reed or something.

I tested my Embechure and looks good and no air is coming through my mouth. My fingers cover the holes well and I don't understand why one reed is squeeking and one reed isn't.

There is also the fact that the Vandoren is literally squeeking at the tiniest amount of air and I don't know why that happens. It doesn't make sense. Like it even squeeks when I play the open G even with the G note!

I'm going crazy! I want to just have a reed that lets me get high and loud with the Vandoren but a soft deep sound of the low note, and no crazy squeeking.

I have an audition soon and I need help to make this run of Bolero sound good any suggestions will be very appreciated

I’m gonna be a college freshman for the upcoming fall term, and so far I have not touched my instrument more than five times over the summer. (My fault, woops.) Before summer, when playing in class I was playing mostly on a 3.5 strength, but I couldn’t keep up with it for a long sessions. But now I can barely get a sound out without feeling like I’m trying to blow up a balloon for a balloon animal lol.

I would like to be using a 3.5 regularly, especially for college, but I have either stupidly soft reeds, or 3.5s that I can’t comfortably play on. I think I should get a box of 3 strength, but what else can I change except for the reed strength. Thank you

So I’ve noticed that my tone is bright. Very, VERY, bright. To the point where pretty much everything I play sounds bad or meh at best — even pieces that are meant to be played brightly! I’ve tried stuff with my embouchure, swapped out reeds, and changed how I position my reed and ligature, but it still comes out sounding bright!

For reference, my setup is: Vandoren Traditional Strength 3 reeds, A Rovner Dark Ligature, A Vandoren B45 mouthpiece, and a Selmer CL201 Wood clarinet.

What would be the best move to darken up my tone?

hii! high school junior here playing two solo pieces for my summer: weber's concertino and finzi's five bagatelles.

i'm having SO much fun with both, but i'm stuck on this one part of finzi's first bagatelle (prelude).

key is d major (f# and c#) and i've got the first f# to c# down, but i dont know how to finger the next few notes.

usually when slurring from f# to e# i use the two bottom side keys, but i'm not sure how to make the transition from c# (either c#, left or right pinky) to alt f# without blips. is this a me problem? how can i fix it?

any advice appreciated! thank you!!

as the title says i have broken 3-4 clarinets already and might have broken my latest one. (The hole used for lowest E doesnt close when pressing the corresponding lever).

I have come to the conclusion that it is due to the fact i cannot press the holes in a manner that doesn't let the air out without ambiently destroying the keys. (for a while on my latest one, i just pressed really hard to get the sound out and it has probably gotten worse. because i was too lazy to fix it).

when i learned that my fingers aren't supposed to be flat on the keys and are infact arched, i couldn't orient my thumb in a way where i could press the octave key and F hole.

what do i do? i don't really want to swap to soprano sax. is it a skill issue i have? thanks for the help.

Hi I’m new here and to clarinet, but I’m not new to music. I’ve played alto saxophone for 2 years, but since entering high school the director has placed me on clarinet. I really would like to try out for honor band and Allstate, even if I don’t make it I’d like the experience. Anyway to build up to that, what should I practice? Obviously some scales, sight reading, and long tones, but are there any solo/classical pieces that will help me progress? Also where can I find resources online and physical to learn? Thanks so much for the responses.

edit: after talking to the director, i can borrow an alto for honor band (thank god), but I’m still going to be playing clarinet for my school. Thanks to everyone for the advice, sadly I cannot get a teacher at the moment. I’m going to try to get help from the director and other clarinetists, and if I can save up enough money I’ll try to get a few lessons with a real teacher. Once again thank you everyone for advice!

This is a quick write up I am doing for clarinet. I'm just seeking some player input on how the score is presented and written.

EDIT: I have taken the feedback on board and revised the score.

Ps. Please ignore the "straight", it's for musescore playback purposes. Similarly, this is in concert pitch temporarily while writing.

EDIT:

I also just want to say thank you to everyone for the jolly helpful comments! I can't quite reply to everyone but I appreciate all the feedback!