Have finally prised out of my 13 y.o. what she would like for her birthday (having got past the " There's no point saying because it's too much money" bit). She wants to play the clarinet .
At school orchestra they swap instruments & I know she gets to play her friend's clarinet. So she has tried playing and knows that she likes it.
Apart from me wondering whether there are enough hours in the day to fit another lot of instrument practise into, the children know that I would never discourage anyone from learning to play an instrument that they really want to. I would be grateful for some advice about what I should look for in a student clarinet. Have looked at the Hanson site. I know they are well regarded. Would I go too far wrong if I ordered direct from them?

...and no, I am not going to start playing the clarinet.........even if there is one in the house......

With a student instrument, I don't think there would be too much of a problem with ordering it straight from Hansons without her having played the model, as she is unlikely to notice any difference between models. Of course, this theory only works as long as you know that the instrument you are buying is going to be reliable, and certainly with a hanson you can't go too far wrong. I have never had any experience of them, but when I come to upgrade my clarinet I am certainly considering their instruments on my short-list, and I have heard very good things about them.

I wish her all the best.


P.S. I do also think though that with a clarinet in the house you will not be able to resist learning it for yourself!

When I tried the Hanson, I liked the fact that the register key was closer to the thumbhole than on many other clarinets and that made it much easier to play the throat Bb than on the clarinet I had at the time. I think the A key was also in a better position as well, but it's a while since I tried it and I can't quite remember. This may not mean anything to you if you're not familiar with clarinets, but if you have a look at a few in the shops, have a close look at the different spacings of the register key at the back and the A key at the front. And although the difference might appear miniscule, it can make a big difference as to how easy it is to play. Anyway, back to Hanson - I'm pretty certain they'll send one out on trial (I think you pay in advance and then get a refund if you don't want to keep it).

Personally I think the position of the thumbrest makes a big difference to how easy it is to play - the thumbrest on my old clarinet was too low, and it made it awkard to play the RH alternative fingerings. If this doesn't mean anything to you, have a look at the fingerings for the Bb soprano clarinet on this chart... see the E key and the F# key at the bottom? - I found those keys particularly difficult to use on my old clarinet, but now with a higher thumbrest on my new clarinet, I find them quite easy. On any any clarinet you try, make sure you can reach those keys easily. If you do get a Hanson, ask if they can supply an adjustable thumbrest to go with it as you and your daughter may need different positions

Hope you ooops, she enjoys

The thumb rest is adjustable on a Hanson clarinet.
You can also order VAT free through school if your school does this.

Just make sure they have them in stock and are able to give you a delivery date.

Ps you might have more luck phoning the workshop number.

If the money is a problem, you could save a bit by getting a secondhand student clarinet, though it would be best to get one from a reputable shop which will have serviced it properly. I don't know about the Hanson range, but the teachers in this area recommend Buffet (eg Buffet 12) or Yamaha (eg YCL-250), both of which are around £260 new and under £200 secondhand.

I started out on a Buffet B12, but later upgraded to a Hanson T5 clarinet. I now also have a Hanson 'ebonite' student model that I bought off eBay (partly out of curiosity and partly as a 'stunt double' for the T5). Having played both I would say the Hanson was better than the Buffet. It has a stronger, warmer sound, and more life in it. This may be because the student Hansons are machined out of solid ebonite rods, in a similar way that the wooden models are machined out of sticks of wood. They also come with a better mouthpiece than most student clarinets.
Other advantges of a Hanson are the 5 years free servicing; and I think they do a full-value buy back scheme for their student models if you later want to updgrade to one of their more advanced range. The only problem is they can be a bit difficult to get in touch with. You will need to phone them, no point in e-mailing.
Finally - don't buy a clarinet second hand off eBay. I know I did, but I knew what I was getting into and was able to do the work necessary to fix it up. If you want a good one, buy new, whatever the make.

I passed my grade 8 on an E11 many, many years ago

The Hanson clarinets I've seen have all been uniformly good (both student and advanced) - they're well worth considering.

Gone up to the R13 now noodle. Have always been quite fond of Buffet clarinets.

I'd say the Hanson is a good bet I have a T6, and they are good about servicing it and so on, the thumbrest is also adjustable.

Noodle - out of all the Buffets I tried (I think I tried most of them...) I liked the E11 best