Category Archives: clarinet techniques

Altissimo Quarter Tone Studies

One for the bass clarinet players today… I was working on writing up some short exercises to help with working on the altissimo, particularly quarter tones, and thought that actually these might be useful for any advanced bass clarinet students … Continue reading

Posted in clarinet techniques, how-to, quarter tones | 2 Comments

Three Octave Tremolo/Moving Passages Chart w/ Quarter Tones for Bb Clarinet

This post is for composers who, when writing fast passages or tremoli (including quarter tones), aren’t sure what combination of pitches is going to work. The clarinet is tricky in this regard, as there’s no simple way to explain it, … Continue reading

Posted in clarinet techniques, quarter tones | 18 Comments

… on writing Bb clarinet harmonics

As composers and clarinetists, one thing we know about the clarinet is that its distinctive sound comes in large part from the fact that it only has access to odd partials in the harmonic series. This is all very well … Continue reading

Posted in clarinet techniques, multiphonic, register key, spectral multiphonic | 20 Comments

More techniques for a mouthpiece-less bass clarinet

Most of these techniques I’ve covered already, in my post on clarinet articulation. If you look there you’ll find information on tongue rams without the mouthpiece (and with, for that matter), flute embouchure (which only works – for me – … Continue reading

Posted in clarinet techniques, no mouthpiece, on composing for the clarinet, performance, singing, speaking, whistling | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

…on double trills for Bb clarinet

This page is currently undergoing a two-phase reboot. The first phase (now completed) involved remaking all of the image files, fixing any errors I’ve found over the years, tidying up the audio files, and adding proper fingering diagrams (rather than … Continue reading

Posted in clarinet techniques, double trills, dyads, multiphonic, on composing for the clarinet, performance, trill, trills | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments