Hi there

Greetings from Denmark. Sorry if my english is not the best. It s self taught. Anyway I hope you will be able to understand some of it and maybe get the drift of it.

I always loved the sound of the clarinet. And always wanted one, and then when I finally got it one day.I would hopefully be able to practise a lot on it, and then who knows. With some luck over skills one day I will be able to make that awesome sound. So years passed by and then yesterday. I just went out to buy me one, spontanously.

So here I am with a clarinet. (An instrument I know nothing about. All I know is : I love the sound, plus + you put the parts together and blow air into it and then voila.)

It is an Yamaha 250. There is 2 years warranty and service on it within 6 months. He showed me in the shop how to put the parts together and gave me instruction how to maintain the instrument and gave me little advices how to blow. I was able to make a little sound. And once back home I just keep blowing and blowing. I can produce a sound now. But it s not that nice tone yet..

I am well aware it is not all fun to learn to play a little on an instrument.
It requires work and patience too.

Then I went to get me some books for the absolute beginners + plus a clarinet fingerings chart.
Yet the books and the owners manual does not answer some of my questions. ( very basic questions I guess, maybe too obviously lol) So I hope you will be able to help me here.

First When you blow without any holes pressed it should be the tone G. but how do you tune it?
Let s say pitch = 440. and there is a hole on the back side too. What is this for? and how to see it on the clarinet fingering.

Do you play with right hand down and left hand on top? or visa versa? Is it a matter of taste and style?
I am right handed.

Also how hard are you suppose to attend the reed? Can you make it too hard?

I am hoping to find a teacher around here who can open up some doors for me on this awesome instrument.
But it would also be great to get inspiration from other players around the world. With suggestion for online sites.I looked up clarinet lessons and advice. But I only found sites that sale the instrument.

My goal for now is to make it sound a little more nice and then learn some fingerings. And then hopefully within some months or ½ a year. I can play some simple songs. Like Bad Moon Rising by Creedence Clearwater Revival. ( I am sure it has got to sound great on the clarinet lol) And hopefully I can also practise some tunes by the great fab four. The Beatles, within some couples of months or whatever it takes.

I love and like all genre of music. Classical. Jazz -Folk- Reggae- Rock- Pop- Heavy etc, etc.
Mozart and Bach is my favorites but I guess it s not adviced to play for the beginner ha ha ha.
So going to stay to some pop and rock songs. But I love that too. Lol

What do you guys started to play. What was you first real song/tune or melody?
Any sites or books or dvd you would recommend for a complete novice. I was very happy when I found this forum.

Hope you can help me with some new-bie and suggestions and recommendations.
And some information of the clarinet. In advance. Thanks you so very very much:-)

Rock On: Vicz

Dear Vicz

Welcome to the forums.

Yes when you blow with no holes covered it is the note notated as G. But the Bflat clarinet is a transposing instrument, such that the note notated as C actually sounds as Bflat (that is it sounds a full tone lower). So the note you get when you plan with no holes covered, notated G, sounds as F. A is 440 and to get A from the clarinet you have to play what is notated and fingered as a B, OK?

Left hand at top and right hand below

The reed should not move about, attach it firmly enough to keep it stable.

as for hardness of reed, mostly people begin with quite soft reeds, say 1.5 in strength


I really really recommend getting a teacher, but good luck!


Twiddle

Thanks for your help and reply. I found a teacher recommended by my shop.I called him and planned to start asap. Now Whats funny. I had the mouthpiece turned the wrong way- so my upper teeth could contact the reed. The man in the shop gave me little advices on how to blow. But I had forgot which way the reed should turn. I guess it is down. back side of the instrument. I had it on top. and the guy in the shop said:"try to contact the top with your front teeth". Then back home I wonder when i put teeth on it goes CRAZY. ha ha ha. Funny nothing about this in my books. Guess to simple. I had to look at pictures online. I hope I got it right now. Thanks again for your help and advices.
Vicz
Then suddenly I remember .lol

Hello vicz, welcome to the forums, and welcome to the clarinet.

twiddles' advice is all good, and I hope it makes sense to you. I'm afraid I don't know what books are available in Danish, but when I started learning, I had "A Tune A Day", which I found to be a good book. Your teacher will probably have their personal preferences.

To tune a clarinet, you have to physically alter the length of the instrument, usually by pulling the tuning barrel (the piece between the mouthpiece and upper joint) in or out a little. Make sure you've got lots of air support and that your embouchure (the way you hold the clarinet in your mouth) is tight, as these can affect the pitch, often causing it to go flat.

Yes, the reed goes at the back of the instrument, with the flat side directly touching the mouthpiece and the thin end at the top. There should be just the thinnest black line of mouthpiece visible. Your bottom lip should be curled over your bottom teeth, with your top teeth resting gently on to top of the mouthpiece. When you put your clarinet together, have the ligature already on (but loose), and lower the reed into position before tightening the ligature, as this helps to protect the very delicate curved edge.

I hope this all makes sense, but feel free to ask away if you have any further questions. We're basically harmless around here!

Hi there Deborah

Thanks for your help and reply. I can play 3 notes now C D and E. Guess only one who can hear it, is me lol.
I am playing along a learning cd. And it sounds almost like the recording. Yet so close still so far away.
I am trying to make my lips right, but got no idea if it s the right direction or not. But sure the teacher will be able to tell me. I start on monday. Anyway one friend of mine playing flute said. " say O and E and then when you say O try to say E without moving the lips." Well not too sure about it something like that.

So this was my first day with the clarinet. Now I will take a break till tomorrow.
Thanks again for your help and advices:

Vicz

Hello Vicz


Here's a link to an online lesson

http://www.movieflix.com/movie_info.mfx?movie_id=3383

I bought a clarinet off ebay recently- didn't have a clue how to assemble or play it (still don't!!) - this vid got me going

Good luck

David

Hi There David

Thanks a lot for that link. It is a great video. just what I have been looking for. I can see,
I have done some mistakes with putting the instrument together. I have not hold the keys up. But the man in the shop told me to be carefully with the two keys part. and the keys parts should be turned on so the keys doesnt touch each other. How simple in the video. just hold the keys up and then when together slip the keys. ha ha ha.

I only realized the function of these keys now lol. I have only played E D and - C now.
Hopefully I have not done any harm to the instrument. Yet there is a service on it.

Also with the cork grease. He did it in the shop. Perhaps I should do again. since the instrument is new and "dry" I guess lol. Anyway: It is really hard to put together and apart.

Also the reed she place it in a cup of water. I only had the reed in mouth for 15- 20 seconds. I thought it would be too wet if in water. I noticed she doesn t dry it or "shake" dry it before putting it on. I tried this. And : ( Guess it is luck). But my notes seems much better now. I use 1½ reed by the way.

Also the embroucher or the way to blow can be seen easily in this video. And this helped me a lot.
Still long way to do it right I guess. But so much better tone/sound now. And I can hold the tone much longer than yesterday. And now I can easily hear that it is 3 notes I am playing.

So much great to say about this video. I was spending an hour searching for stuff like this yesterday. And didn t find anything close to this. I cannot thank you enough for it, the video has really helped me a lot.
Amazingly I bought 2 books for the absolutely novice. And the songs are really really simple.
But there is nothing about these things in the book. How to put the clarient together, etc etc. I guess because the books are based on student + teacher. And the teacher is suppose to show and tell the student these simple, but yet so very very important things. I start lessons next monday. Yet I am sure this video will continue to be very helpful for me. What I like about it. This is really for the novice and the beginner.
The video and lesson start before the clarinet is taken out of the box. It guide you with the assembly of the instrument, the grease and the embroucher, all easy to see, understand and follow.
Even for a noob like me lol. And you can always rewind if you want to see it again.

I will continue to watch it daily, everytime I start playing to refresh and remember it.
Thanks a lot for your help David and the link to this video. I see you are also new to the clarinet.
I wish you good luck and many happy hours and enjoyment with your clarinet and your music.

Thanks a lot. A million times. Vicz