Damaged reeds are a leading cause of clarinet squeaks. Make sure to keep your reeds moistened and place the reed and ligature on your mouthpiece correctly. Hand Position. If you or a student have a difficult time covering the tone holes of the clarinet, it can cause squeaking.

On all clarinets the written compass ranges from E3 – C7. The clarinet in Bb has a range from D3 – Bb6 (to G6 in orchestral playing). The clarinet in A has a range from C#3 – A6 (to F#6 in orchestral playing).

For example, when a musical score for the clarinet reading C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C is played on an A clarinet, the actual notes played will be A, B, C♯, D, E, F♯, G♯, A, while if the same score is played on a B♭ clarinet, the actual notes played will be B♭, C, D, E♭, F, G, A, B♭. Let’s listen to the notes.

The most common problems that cause a fuzzy sound are due to the mouthpiece or the reed, incorrect embouchure or air support, low tongue position or a leak or crack in the clarinet. Dealing with a fuzzy or airy sound can be frustrating, but it’s generally easy to resolve once you know what’s causing the problem.

if your G is raspy your reed might be too hard or your placement of it on the mouthpiece might be off(reed is sideways, too far out etc.) check the pads and if anything is inside the clarinet.

every 12 to 18 months

Pull the corners of the mouth in. If done properly, the chin muscles should be flat and pointing down. A useful analogy is to think “flat as a table”. If you are able to balance a pencil on your chin, that means that you are engaging the small muscles for the clarinet embouchure.

Typically your cheeks will puff out because of a loose embouchure; try to like, pucker your lips/contract your cheeks in as you play— basically tightening your mouth in order to more effectively move air into your instrument rather than having it overflow into your cheeks.