5 Tips for Choosing Your First Jazz Clarinet

Introduction

For many musicians, playing jazz clarinet is a rewarding experience for many different reasons. The clarinet is a beautiful instrument with a rich history in jazz. Usually, the motivation to start playing jazz clarinet comes from one of three different directions (or a combination of the three):

• The clarinetist – This is someone who already has some experience playing clarinet, but not jazz. Usually they are classically trained. Maybe they have experience in orchestras, concert bands, or even marching bands and have become inspired to extend their clarinet expertise into a completely different style of music.
• The jazz aficionado – This person loves jazz and is looking for an instrument in order to learn how to play the style of music. They may be a fan of Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, or some other famous jazz clarinetist(s) (or New Orleans jazz) so they have fallen in love with the sound of jazz clarinet.
• The jazz saxophonist (The “Doubler”) – This person has usually found themselves in a position where they have become serious about a career as a professional saxophonist (or they are studying saxophone in college) and realize they are now being professionally or academically required to “double” on clarinet. What’s doubling? That’s when you have a primary instrument (e.g. saxophone), but you play a secondary instrument(s) (e.g. clarinet and/or flute).

Choosing the right clarinet for you depends greatly on where you find yourself in these three categories. Ultimately, it’s about finding the right instrument for you so that you may express yourself musically in the best way possible. The clarinet becomes an extension of you.

Tip #1: For the Clarinetist (The Shocking Truth!)

If you are already a clarinetist, then the right jazz clarinet for you is…

…the one you already have!

Especially if you are a passionate classical clarinetist who just wants to learn a little jazz on the side, please don’t think for one moment that you need to buy any additional mouthpiece, barrel, ligature, reeds, let alone an entire new clarinet, in order to play jazz “correctly.” As long as you have a good B♭ clarinet, you can learn how to use your “classical” clarinet to play jazz music. If you are a serious classical clarinetist and you own a B♭ clarinet and you’ve been looking into purchasing a special clarinet to play jazz, I would encourage you to instead save up your money to either purchase an A clarinet, a bass clarinet, or an E♭ clarinet. Or, if you want to learn to double on another instrument, buy an alto saxophone or flute. But for the vast majority of you, buying an additional clarinet just for playing jazz is completely unnecessary.

Tip #2: Go with B♭

There are many types of clarinets out there, but usually when we say “jazz clarinet,” we only have one kind in mind, the B♭ clarinet. If you are a saxophonist who needs to double, the B♭ clarinet is what you will need. The only other clarinet that has gained any sort of prominence in jazz music has been the bass clarinet. (Pro tip: If you are a baritone saxophonist, you will probably be expected at some point to double on bass clarinet, particularly if you are in a big band.) Other clarinets like the alto clarinet, E♭ clarinet, contralto, contrabass, A, C, D, basset horn, basset clarinet, etc. are either rare or virtually nonexistent as jazz instruments. Not that it’s impossible to play these others and get a great sound (I personally think the alto clarinet is a great instrument) and maybe even establish some positive notoriety (“Oh, yeah! That’s the YouTube guy who plays the jazz basset horn…sweet!”), but those are also usually more expensive options and they are unexpected in the jazz community. The expected clarinet is the good old B♭ clarinet.

Tip #3: Set Your Budget First, Then Look

Music is expensive, both as a hobby and as a profession. It’s well worth the cost, but let’s face it, the cost can be very high. It’s not hard to find professional or custom clarinets that go for $10,000 or more! One of my biggest tips to you is to set your absolute highest budget first, and then look for the best possible clarinet within your budget. Make sure you include within your budget the costs of shipping and handling and taxes. And then…don’t go over your budget! It is so easy to break that rule because there is always another feature on another model and it’s “only a little more.” That’s why you need to be aware of your absolute ceiling first, then go shopping.

Everybody has different financial needs. For the clarinetist, if you already have a good grenadilla B♭ clarinet, you are all set. If yours isn’t grenadilla (if you prefer a different kind of wood, that’s fine, too), then you may want to purchase a wooden clarinet but the very best overall clarinet you can find and use it for both classical and jazz music (as well as klezmer, etc.). For the doubling saxophonist, you have larger budgetary issues. Since saxophone is your primary instrument, you need to make sure your big three (soprano, alto, tenor) are as amazing as they can be before turning your attention to the other two (clarinet and flute) that you need to round out your woodwind needs. While I would still recommend a grenadilla clarinet, buying a good  intermediate model grenadilla clarinet may be the ticket to getting you the clarinet you need without breaking the bank on an expensive professional model. The key (pun intended) is the same: set your budget first, then look.

Tip #4: If Possible, Go Grenadilla (Wood)

Clarinets are usually made with either wood or plastic. Yes, there is a distinct difference with the tones and yes, in the vast majority of cases, wood has the better tone. There are only three reasons to buy a plastic clarinet.

• Price – Plastic clarinets are usually cheaper. If you can’t afford a grenadilla clarinet, get the finest plastic clarinet within your price range. Hopefully you’ll have the opportunity to upgrade later. 
• Skill level – If you have a beginning student who is younger and just getting started, buying a more durable, less expensive plastic clarinet is probably a very good idea.
• Venue – If you are playing outdoors or somewhere else with a lot of humidity or temperature changes, a wooden clarinet may eventually crack under the strain. Marching band is a great ensemble for owning a plastic clarinet instead of wood.

However, a proper clarinet in most cases is made of wood (usually grenadilla, sometimes rosewood or some other type of wood) and it’s my recommendation that you buy wood.

Tip #5: About Specialty Jazz Clarinets (for the Jazz Aficionado)

Again, I want to reiterate what I said earlier: you don’t need a special “jazz” clarinet to play jazz on the clarinet. You need a good clarinet and then you need to learn how to play jazz on the clarinet. Sound is 10% the clarinet and 90% the clarinetist. That being said, there have been some examples over the years of clarinets that have made a particular splash in jazz music. If your goal is to only play jazz on clarinet, then you may want to consider the following.

• Albert System Clarinets – These were clarinets especially favored in the 1920s and 1930s and some clarinetists still prefer using them to get the big fat New Orleans sound and because some of the slurring is easier for jazz articulation. Albert system clarinets have a different fingering system than most modern clarinets (which have the Boehm system of fingering). Prominent early jazz clarinetists like Barney Bigard, Sidney Bechet, Irving Fazola, and Jimmy Dorsey played Albert system clarinets. It is very difficult to find anyone who makes these brand new in the key of B♭. If you want to buy an Albert system clarinet, you will probably have to buy them through ebay, reverb, or through a specialty dealer.
• Specialty Artist Model Clarinets –  The most famous of these was debatably Pete Fountain’s Leblanc model clarinet. Leblanc no longer manufactures this beautiful clarinet, but it can also be found used. The Pete Fountain Leblanc clarinet has the same Boehm fingering system most modern clarinets have but features a larger bore size giving  it a fatter, fuller tone naturally more conducive to jazz, particularly the New Orleans jazz Pete Fountain was so famous for playing.

My recommendation remains the same: get the best clarinet you can within the budget you have. If the best clarinet for you is an Albert system clarinet, or you really desire to have that Pete Fountain type sound and you can afford it and find it, by all means go ahead. Enjoy the music you will be making. Be aware that these clarinets may not lend themselves as well to other styles if you ever decide to expand your playing. (Although Albert system clarinets are also among klezmer clarinetists.)

Bonus Tip: Don’t Neglect Used Clarinets

For the musician on a shoestring budget, it’s amazing what you can find on ebay, reverb, facebook marketplace, craigslist, and other sites that have used clarinets for sale. One word of caution is that you may not be able to test used clarinets before purchasing them. You may be trusting in the seller’s description and any probing questions you ask in order to make your buying decisions, but even within that risk, there can be some fantastic bargains in the used clarinet market. There are plenty of new clarinets out there selling for a low price because they are indeed cheap (cheap design, cheap manufacturing, cheap keywork, cheap sound). There are also plenty of used clarinets out there selling for a low price because they are inexpensive, but you can tell they are not cheap. Buying a used clarinet may give you that superior model you are looking for within your budget. Shop around. A little bit of research can pay off with massive discounts.

Conclusion

To sum up everything I said earlier very briefly: if you already own a clarinet, you probably already own the “jazz clarinet” that you need; however, if you don’t have a clarinet, set your ultimate high-price budget first, then buy the best grenadilla B♭ clarinet you can find within your budget. Playing jazz clarinet is an honor, a privilege, and a whole lot of fun. I wish you the very best as you begin your incredible journey on jazz clarinet.