Beginners Tips

This page is extracted from 'First steps' with the Clarinéo. It covers the bare minimium you need to know to play your first note.

How to put the Clarinéo together, what reeds to buy, and expert and thorough advice on learning the Clarinéo so that you play correctly for the rest of your musical life are in the 'First Steps' beginners pack ― tutor book, CD backing tracks and visual instruction from a DVD.

You can order 'First Steps' from your local music store or, in case of difficulty, it can also be obtained from the purchase section of this website

If you don't have a teacher, then the 'First Steps' beginner's pack is an essential buy.

The diagram below shows how to assemble the instrument which comes in three parts: body, mouthpiece and bell.

firststeps

Your first note...

Follow the instructions below for playing your first ever note on the Clarinéo

 

Hold the Clarinéo with your RIGHT thumb under the thumb rest and your left hand just below the mouthpiece. (This is to steady the instrument while you play your first note.)

Curl your lower lip slightly over your teeth

 

Place your top teeth on the top of the mouthpiece.

 


Tired mouth: The muscles surrounding your lips need training! When you first learn they get tired very quickly and your control of the Clarinéo disappears. So build up your practice times gradually. Two five-minute sessions does you twice as much good as playing for ten minutes in one go.

Reeds are mega important. Reeds make the sound. If you can usually get a sound out of the Clarinéo and then at the next practice session you find you can't, check the reed. It might be damaged or have come to the end of its life. If you always have two or three spare reeds you can find out if the problem is you or your reed by putting a new reed on.

Lining up: The reed should line up exactly with the curve at the top of the mouthpiece. It makes a huge difference if the reed is too high or too low.