Find the Right Beginner Clarinet.

Where should you begin?

There are a number of good beginner's clarinets out there - the Buffet B-12, Vito 74XX, Yamaha 34, are the most popular, and are reliable entry instruments.

I have heard nothing good about most Chinese imports. I'd stay away from them for now, though the quality is improving on some brands and they may be recommended in the near future.

Buying or renting is a personal decision. One of the above clarinets can be bought for around £350 ($450) from any major mail-order company .

Buying a used clarinet is also an option. But here you have to be very careful that the clarinet is in good working order. Many times the clarinet isn't in playing shape or is "barely" playable. There's nothing like a badly adjusted or leaking clarinet to dampen a beginner's enthusiasm for the instrument, since all problems will be blamed on the player rather than the instrument.

Your best bet when buying a used clarinet is to buy from a reputable shop that has it's own repair shop. Then you can be fairly sure that the instrument will have been set up and tested before you purchase and of course if you have any problems you can bring it right back again.

Prices for a good used clarinet start at £200 ($300).

Most beginner clarinets are made of plastic. This makes the sound a little thin but it does mean that the clarinet can stand up to a fair amount of misuse!

A plastic clarinet kept in reasonable shape, and provided with a good mouthpiece, can provide many years of fun. When/if the times comes to upgrade to a wooden professional instrument, the plastic clarinet can be kept as a spare or "marching band" instrument.

Here is the talented Julian Bliss playing the Mozart Clarinet Concerto. Something to aspire to...

Clarinet Reeds.

Reeds are the bane of every clarinettist (and oboist and bassoonist!). The problem is that you have a piece of cane that used to be growing in the sun drenched waters of France being asked to work in a very hostile enviroment (your MOUTH!) and to behave the same way every time you get the instrument out of the case.

Now because a piece of cane is just like a very thin piece of wood it changes whenever the temperature or the humidity changes or when it becomes just too waterlogged to work anymore.

So what can you do? Not much really. Depending on how much you play and what kind of playing you do, the reed could last a few days or a few weeks. You'll have to resign yourself to the fact that you'll be buying boxes of reeds from now until eternity.

But making sure your reed doesn't have last night's dinner or the latest shade of pink lipstick does help the reed last a little bit longer...

Recommended Brands

Beginners

Rico-Poor quality but inexpensive; only appropriate for beginners.

Intermediate

Mitchell Lurie or Rico Royal

Mitchell Lurie reeds are lighter and easier to use. They are slightly softer than a Rico Royal of the same number.

Advanced players

Vandoren V-12, Olivieri, others

These are generally the reeds used by professionals. They are premium quality and longer-lasting. However, they require an extensive break-in procedure, and most pros adjust them using a reed knife and other reed-working equipment.

Reed Strength

Reed strength is indicated by a number (or designation) printed directly on the reed. Typical strengths are 3 or 3-1/2 (or a designation such as medium or medium hard). The strength needed depends on the individual player and the player's mouthpiece. A reed should provide resistance in order to achieve control and a good tone. However, a reed which is too strong will not respond adequately and may be breathy sounding or too hard to blow. A good private teacher can help you decide which reed strength is best for you.

Reed Rotation

Use a reed holder which can hold four reeds. Number the slots of the holder. Each time you rehearse or practice, use the next reed in the holder. For lessons, auditions, or performances, use your best reed.Replace one reed at a time in your rotation rather than all of them at once. A reed should be replaced if:

* the tip is chipped or split

* it sounds bad or is hard to play several rotations in a row

* it is more than three months old

Always keep new, extra reeds in a safe place. The time to buy more reeds is when the supply of extras runs low.



For more information about reeds check out the clarinet-now.com

The mouthpieces supplied with most clarinets (and on most pro instruments!) are notoriously bad. There are a number of mouthpieces that are good matches for the clarinets mentioned earlier.The Vandoren 5RV, and 5RV Lyre and M-13are very good choices.

The best thing to do is try out a few different mouthpieces and decide for yourself which suits you and your playing style the best.

Clarinet Cleaning and Maintenance

The most frequent cause of damage to a clarinet is due to improper assembly and dis-assembly.

This is because the keys are made of soft metal and bend very easily. If the keys are bent even slightly, the pads in the keys will no longer cover the holes with a perfectly airtight seal. If the seal is broken then the clarinet will either play poorly or not at all.

Therefore, the biggest enemy of any clarinet is the hands of the player. This is because many players do not even realize that they are bending keys as they are handling their instruments. Its amazing how few people actually know how to put together and take apart a clarinet CORRECTLY. Check out this website for the correct way to put a clarinet together

Clarinets don't need much cleaning as such. A wipe down of the keys after playing will remove any sweat from the keys and help prevent corrosion of the metal. And swabbing the clarinet will remove the moisture from inside the clarinet. You don’t want it to get mouldy, do you? Swabbing the clarinet helps protect the pads, corks, keys and body of the instrument

Occasionally leave the swab outside the case to dry thoroughly and leave the case open to let the clarinet air dry. That's all the practical information but don't forget your Music Theory Too!

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