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RE: B-flat basics

Author: Ralph G
Date: 2002-12-11 15:09

Someone can give you a better read on this, but the clarinet is a transposition instrument. On a Bb clarinet, when we play what we know as a B natural over the break, what we're really playing is an A at 440 Hz. The piano is your reference. On a piano, the same note is both a true and a written A.

If you know a little about the piano, you know that a C major scale is very easy to play; all the notes are naturals, you don't use any of the black keys and the fingering pattern simple and intuitive. That same standard is applied to the clarinet -- the C major scale is likewise simple fingering-wise. The confusion comes in how the standard clarinet of today came to be pitched one whole step lower. Someone else can give you a better history lesson that I can, but at some point the clarinet pitched in C (just like the piano) was much more prevalent than today. The instrument's standard pitch evolved, but the fingerings remained the same (save for differences between the fingering systems).

Think of time zones. There is an absolute reference for time (Greenwich Mean Time) that the entire world can use, but the earth is divided up into time zones to make local time more sensible. Here in Corpus Christi, Texas, when Letterman's over, it makes more sense to say "It's 11:30 p.m." than to say "It's 5:30 a.m. in England." Likewise, when playing that note with all tone holes covered, top right paddle key fingered and the register key open, it's easier to think "C natural" than it is to think "Bb on the piano."

By the way, when you play your B natural, your tune should register an A and not some other note (if you're on a Bb clarinet).

Hope this helps.

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