 General Information
The clarinet
is a comfort instrument. Its warm, round tone is inviting and friendly.
Unlike the oboe and English
horn, the clarinet blends
well with most instruments.
The clarinet section consists of two clarinets
and one bass clarinet. The clarinets provide great warmth to the
overall orchestral sound.
Notation
Clarinet parts are written in the treble clef. This single
reed instrument comes in several sizes and types such as the Eb clarinet
and the A clarinet. However,
the Bb clarinet is the standard clarinet for the orchestra, and that
is the instrument we will limit our discussion to.
The Bb clarinet
is written a whole step above its actual sounding pitch. For example,
if you notate Middle C, the clarinet
will actually sound the Bb a whole step below
Middle C.
(Note that all the clarinet
parts in this chapter are written at concert pitch.)
Range
The clarinet's
lowest written note is E3 (a below Middle C). Its highest written
note varies, depending on the player. It would not be wise to write
above A6 (two octaves plus a above Middle C). A safe range would end even a few notes lower
than that.
|
