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Playing The Clarinet Essay

453 Words2 Pages

Alto saxophones and clarinets mostly have different fingering combinations. However, there are some similarities between the two instruments. Often, someone who has the ability to play clarinet can quickly pick up the saxophone. This is due in part to the embouchure that is required for playing the clarinet. Clarinetists need a stronger embouchure than a saxophone player. The embouchure is the muscles and position of the lips that help to play an instrument. Range The clarinet is capable of going much lower than the alto saxophone. The alto saxophone does not have the capability of playing most of the written pitches in the lowest register of the clarinet — the chalumeau register. However, the clarinet and the alto sax both have the ability to play notes in the center of the range known as the clarion register on the clarinet. The chalumeau register starts on E below middle C and ends on B-flat below middle C. The lowest note on the alto saxophone is an A below middle C. Low Register In the first octave of the alto sax from A below middle C to D-flat one octave above middle C, the fingerings for alto sax and clarinet do not match up at all. You will need to learn a completely new set of fingerings for this register if you would like to learn to play the clarinet and alto saxophone. The best way to learn new fingerings is to consult a …show more content…

While each instrument will sound in a different register, the actual written pitches for all of the saxes use the same fingerings and the same is true of the clarinets. For example, the soprano sax actually sounds a whole step lower than the alto saxophone. But it is given the name soprano sax because of its shrill timbre. The same is true of the clarinets. This makes it possible to easily switch between any clarinet type, whether it is soprano, alto, bass or contrabass. For the saxophones, there are soprano, alto, tenor and baritone saxes that all share the same

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