The Clarinet FamilyBy Prabhath Chandanala

The Invention of the Clarinet…

The Clarinet was invented by Johann Christoph Denner.

Johann was a German woodwind instrument maker, and was born on August 13th , 1655 in Leipzig, Germany to a family of horn-turners.

History of the clarinet…

The clarinet was invented by Johann Christoph Denner in 1690.

He improvised an early form of the clarinet, called the chalumeau to create many variations, and then created the clarinet.

Types of clarinets…

First of all, there are 7 main categories of the clarinets: the common B-flat Clarinet, the Bass Clarinet, the Contra-Bass Clarinet, the Alto Clarinet, the Contra-Alto Clarinet, and the unusual Saxonette.

B-flat clarinets…

The B-flat clarinet is the most common in the world. It is mainly used in many middle-school, and high-school bands and orchestras.

This clarinet is light and needs no extra accessories to support it.

Bass Clarinets…• The Bass Clarinet is

pretty large and also heavy, requiring a neck strap to play it.

• As you can see in the image, this clarinet has a larger bell (the bottom piece of the clarinet) and a curved neck.

• This clarinet plays an octave (8 notes) lower than the B-flat soprano clarinet.

Contra-bass Clarinet…• The Contra-Bass Clarinet

is one of the lowest (in tone, and, to be precise, it is 2 octaves lower than the B-flat Clarinet) Clarinets in the family.

• It is so big that it needs a peg leg and a neck strap to support it.

• Also, as depicted in the image, this clarinet has a very large bell, which is also curved, along with the neck.

Alto Clarinet…

• This Clarinet has the E-flat pitch. It is 1 octave lower than the sopranino E-flat clarinet, also known as the baby E-flat clarinet.

• This Clarinet is very similar to the Bass Clarinet, although the neck isn’t as curved as the bass’s.

The Contra-Alto Clarinet…

The Contra-Alto Clarinet is a lower (in pitch) version of the Alto clarinet. It is actually 1 octave lower than the Alto Clarinet.

As you can see, it looks very similar to the Bass Clarinet.

The Saxonette…

The Saxonette is a mix of the clarinet and the saxophone, as the top and bottom part of it resembles the Saxophone and the body (middle) resembles the Clarinet. It is commonly called the French Clarinet.

This “French Clarinet” plays on the C pitch and uses the “Albert Key System”, which is the Clarinet key work and fingering.

Photo Credits…http://gallery.photo.net/photo/6891089-md.jpg

http://www.grahamnasby.com/misc/images_concertband/bass-clarinet.jpg

http://hem.passagen.se/eriahl/images/selmer_BBb-contrabass.jpg

http://www.yamaha.co.jp/english/product/winds/product/wood/clari2/ycl631/img/ycl_631ii.gif

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/25/48517465_0226324289.jpg

http://www.grahamnasby.com/misc/images_concertband/contra-alto-clarinet.jpg

http://hem.passagen.se/eriahl/images/clarinet-family.gif

http://wpcontent.answers.com/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5e/Johann_Christoph_Wagenseil.png/250px-Johann_Christoph_Wagenseil.pnghttp://www.adamsonband.co.uk/images/clar-family.jpghttp://www.instruments-de-musique.org/img/instru/chalumeau.jpghttp://hem.passagen.se/eriahl/images/Saxonette2.jpg

Bibliography…Richard, Cicely. "Types of Clarinets." Musical Instruments. Not Available. eHow. 6-6-2010 <http://www.ehow.com/facts_4868534_types-of-clarinets.html >.

Estrella, Espia. "Types of Clarinets." Music Education. Not Available. About.com. 6-6-2010 <http://musiced.about.com/od/beginnersguide/a/clarinettypes.htm >.

Not Available. "Albert System." Clarinet Systems. 4-4-10. Wikipedia. 6-6-2010 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_system>.

Not Available. "Clarinet Family." Clarinets. 13-12-2009. Wikipedia. 6-6-2010 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarinet_family >.