 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Philip Caron
Date: 2026-06-20 18:07
Yesterday a plumber arrived while I was practicing. He heard me through the screen door and looked at the clarinet where I laid it on the table. He said, "Oh, you play the flute?"
He's not the first acquaintance who has referred to clarinets as flutes. Co-workers and others have done so in the past. Even after correcting them, they'd later repeat the mistake. (I don't think the plumber listened when I answered, "clarinet.") It seems a not uncommon error.
Some people aren't interested in music or music making or music having wind instruments. Everyone has ignorant spots. I've been corrected for applying the word "cow" to any bovine farm animal, but it's still the first word that comes to mind for them. I'll use "car" include most small 4-wheeled road vehicles, even light pickups. Etc.
But why "flute" specifically for clarinet? Do people recognize and recall flutes more easily? Does flute also represent oboes or other instruments to them?
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Author: kilo
Date: 2026-06-20 19:02
Once, while my tenor sax was still hanging around my neck, someone asked me how long I'd been playing the flute. Yeah, what gives?
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2026-06-20 19:42
I've had the same when people have called an oboe a flute. Or call a bassoon an oboe.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
Independent Woodwind Repairer
Single and Double Reed Specialist
Oboes, Clarinets and Saxes
NOT A MEMBER OF N.A.M.I.R.
The opinions I express are my own.
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