Q&A for How to Get a Good Sound on the Clarinet

Make sure that your fingers cover the right holes completely, and that they don't touch any other holes. Also, make sure your embouchure is right. Avoid biting down on the mouthpiece too much.

This is probably because when you breathe, you take your clarinet out of your mouth too much, and this changes your embouchure. When you place the clarinet back in your mouth, though you blow the same way, your mouth is not in the correct position and a squeak is produced. Try keeping the clarinet in your mouth in the same position when you breathe, this may help.

Your new clarinet would be sounding worse because your old one has been played/practiced on for a while. If your new clarinet has only been played on for a little bit, it just means it has not adjusted to being played. Keep practicing on it for a while, and over time it gradually should gain a better tone quality.

A more expensive mouthpiece would certainly help, but there are cheaper ways. Firstly, make sure your embouchure is correct. That's something I can't explain in a short answer, so try looking it up and asking your teacher. Also, another factor that greatly helped me is getting a harder reed. If you're using a 2 or 2 1/2, try moving up to a 3 or even a 3 1/2. Another thing is to play really long notes and try to focus them so that you have clear, well-supported notes. Use lots of air and try low-ish notes below the break.

You can focus more on using throat/lung air rather than mouth air. To practice, you can put your hand in front of your mouth and blow with correct embouchure onto your hand to test whether you're breathing warm or cold air.

This could happen if you sized up or started using a new reed, are nervous of playing outside of the band room, or the clarinet was dropped/damaged. It could be related to humidity and air pressure, but this is highly doubtful.

Your embouchure isn't firm enough (but make sure not to bite down hard as this causes squeaking) or you're moving too much while playing.

Try to flatten your chin and tighten the corners of your mouth more. Use the muscle in your cheeks and practice, practice, practice! I know it's cliche, but the more you practice and strive to improve your embouchure, the better you will become.

Try breathing with your diaphragm, not your shoulders. That way you will have more support and the sound will be fuller and less airy. To breathe with your diaphragm, you need to take in a deep breath, but keep your upper body relaxed while you do this. DON'T tense or lift your shoulder. (If it helps picturing it, your diaphragm is just below your lungs.) You could also try listening to a well-known clarinetist (e.g. Emma Johnson) on YouTube and try to imitate the way she plays.

New clarinets usually need to be adjusted and broken in. Take your clarinet to a music shop and see if they can adjust it. It will improve over time.

You may have missing pads. Have a music store to fix your pads. It may also mean you need more practice.

Probably. You may also want to try fixing your embouchure and reviewing it. Did it ever happen with your other reed?

The clarinet is in the key of Bb; not all instruments are in this key. Some people are able to transpose these instruments, but if you receive music it should be adjusted to fit everyone's key.

When your reed starts to get frayed and used, you have to get a new one. You will go through reeds fairly quickly, so make sure to buy new reeds regularly. You should keep 3 or 4 in your case at a time, in case they break.

Make sure that your reed is high up enough on the mouthpiece-- you should only see a tiny sliver of the mouthpiece between that and the reed. Also, think about the thickness of the reed. If you are a beginner, a 1.5 or a 2 is probably best to start with. Anything thicker would be harder to play if you're just starting out. And, try simply blowing harder! But remember to not only 'blow harder', but keep it controlled. No puffed cheeks.

It would be harder to get air out and make sound, and could just feel weird to play. Go to a nearby music store and they should be able to fix it.

First, the clarinet needs to be cleaned and checked for the right number of reeds. If that's good and it still sounds weird or you can't play certain notes, then check your instrument to see if it's in the correct position. Make sure all the pieces are lined up and there's only a sliver of black left on the top of the mouth piece, while the rest is covered with the reed.

Take it to the music shop and see if they can help. If you tried to fix your embouchure and posture then it must mean either a screw is loose or a key is bent.

Long tones help your stamina and air. I play long tones at a tempo of 60 BPM. On long tones, I do 3 notes. First, I start on the lowest E, use the register key (B), and do a 3rd note, which is an octave above the E. I go up chromatically until the second lowest F. Now, I do 8 counts for the first 2 notes and as long as I can for the last 1. I also recommend doing sit-ups at the same time. To improve tone quality, squeeze your core, sit at the front of your chair, and sit up straight. I also use a breathing tube, which opens my throat. Use warm air by doing an "Ah" sound. Use TE tuner, and adjust the settings. Keep your feet flat on the floor and take a breath that goes into your stomach.

Not usually. If you can get a good sound on a clarinet, it should be consistent whether you are in your home practicing or playing in a large concert hall.

This is the reed. Every reed has different strengths depending on the air quality or thickness. I would recommend trying to find a new reed or giving this reed more time to “soften”.

No, you do the same position as you would as a right handed person. It may be harder but you can do it.

Most likely, no. It is probably not your clarinet. If you are letting air out from your fingers, it will not play right. A tip to help you is that "leaks make squeaks."

It shouldn’t change the sound much (if any). Sometimes it could sound different, but there’s nothing to be concerned about, it’s still a clarinet.

It could be your reed, if it is new, you may need to “break into” it. This can take a few days.