By Alex Buck

The clarinet is in the woodwind family for those who nothing about clarinets, and is a popular choice of instrument especially in schools in the UK. There are a vast array of affordable beginners instruments available on the market. The first recommendation I have when choosing any instrument – always buy from a music instrument specialist. Okay you can get cheap instruments from places like Argos – but they will not be able to advise you and in some cases will sell you something bearing more resemblance to a toy.

For anyone buying a clarinet, you basically have two choices – plastic or wooden. For beginners though you have no need to shell out lots of money on a wooden clarinet. There are plenty of plastic clarinets that produce good consistent tones, and will also stand up to fairly rough treatment. Especially useful for the younger players. The thing you need to look for in a plastic clarinet is ‘resonite’ plastic.

Things to Check on a Clarinet

•Check the seals on the keypads. The seals will come in varying thicknesses on beginners instruments. You need to make sure they are airtight. Any leakage will affect the pitch and tone produced. I would also be vary of clarinets that have thin pads. It is common for pads to be replaced, but you shouldn’t have to do this for at least 6 months to a year.

•Check that every chrome plated key moves with ease and doesn’t stick.

•Listen for accuracy of pitch changes (if you are a complete beginner you obviously need to bring someone along who plays already – preferably your clarinet teacher).

•Invest in some decent reeds either Vandoren reeds or Rico reeds

•Mouthpieces can dramatically change the quality of the sound a player will produce and they come in a vast array of variants. We would recommend a Vandoren B45 Manufacturers Whilst Yamaha and Buffet are the popular choices amongst students these are sometimes a little expensive. There are other choices though and we would definitely recommend the Ashton CL10 Beginners Clarinet. Having had a number of Local Education Authorities give it their seal of approval and also a number of teachers, we re-assured the Ashton CL10 clarinet is a good choice. It comes as a full outfit so you’ll get some reeds, a mouthpiece, cleaning cloth and a bag. Definitely a good start.

You can check out the specifications and compare the Ashton CL10 Clarinet with others by visiting this page.

Alex Buck – Director of Internet Marketing & Music Schools @ Umbrella Music

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