Exploring the
ORCHESTRA
Clarinet
Musical Section:
Woodwinds (Instruments that produce sound when air is blown across a reed or through a hole. Other instruments in this family: piccolo, oboe, clarinet, bassoon) . Other instruments in this family: Bassoon, Flute, Oboe
About the Clarinet
What it looks like
A clarinet is a long, black musical instrument that may remind you of a big piece of licorice!
The clarinet has many personalities. It can sound like a goose honking, or slither like a snake through the grass. It can sound smooth and calm or fast and jumpy. That’s why it’s used in jazz music a lot. Once you hear it, you may want to get up and jump around!
Did you know? Some clarinetists can play a single note for over 40 seconds using a technique called circular breathing.
How to Play
Mini Maestro
You play the clarinet by blowing air through a wooden strip called a reed. When you blow, the reed vibrates and makes a note. You use your fingers to press keys on the clarinet to change the notes.
Young Maestro
You play the clarinet by blowing air through a wooden strip called a reed. When you blow, the reed vibrates and makes a note. You use your fingers to press keys on the clarinet to change the notes.
The clarinet has different registers depending if the notes are high, middle or low. The low register is called chalumeau, the middle is called clarion, and the high, altissimo. Moving between these registers can be tricky, requiring precise fingerings, air pressure, and mouth adjustment.
The Most Famous Slide in Music
When bandleader Paul Whiteman announced in a newspaper that composer George Gershwin was writing a “jazz concerto,” Gershwin panicked—because he hadn’t written it yet!
At the first rehearsal, clarinetist Ross Gorman jokingly slid up to the opening high note as a warm-up. Gershwin loved it and said, “Do that in the performance.”
That slide became the most famous clarinet glissando in history—and Gershwin never even wrote it down in the score.
