B Flat Clarinet Fingering Chart

For example, here is a B flat clarinet‘s fingering chart that you can explore and hear in action as well. The widget covers standard range from written E3 to C6, including chalumeau, throat, and clarion registers. To use it, you can click on the note buttons themselves or if you prefer something more tactile, use your computer keyboard.

A line of button runs down the interface each one a representation of an individual note on the instrument. When you click on one it plays the note back to you using a synthesised reed sound, alongside its associated fingering diagram. As you move from note to note, your selection is highlighted allowing you to easily follow your path. This visual feedback creates a clear link between the seemingly abstract idea of a musical note and physical movement needed to make that sound happen.

How to Use the Clarinet Fingering Chart

The two utility controls above the note buttons makes the interface easier to use. First is the help toggle which opens up a quick reference help panel containing some explanation of reading the fingering diagrams as well as learning how the instrument behave when it is overblown. Secondly, there is a fullscreen button. It stretches the widget to take up more space on your screen so the key layout are easier to see without distractions from the rest of the page.

For the note you select, a clear example of what keys need pressing is shown in central diagram area. Empty circles represent open keys while filled ones depict closed ones. This visual breakdown reflects how a clarinet player physically plays the instrument with each key neatly divided up in logical sections; thumb and register keys, left hand fingers, right hand fingers, and pinky keys. It’s simple to follow these instructions on screen and apply them straight to your playing hands.

You can control audio playback at the base of the widget. When you press the Play Scale button, it automatically plays a scale starting from the bottom of the chalumeau range and shows each fingering change step-by-step. It’s a great facility for practicing smooth note-to-note transitions rather than having to click each individual note yourself. You can also tweak the master volume slider so that the sound stays comfortabley while you work on it.

For people more comfortable with keyboard interactions instead of mouse clicking: Navigation is simple. Use tab to navigate the interface components and space or enter to engage them. All options are fully accessible for everyone. This helps you move from button to button in the registers without needing to place your cursor exactly on tiny targets. The same navigation will also work if you’re on a touch screen as well as a traditional desktop environment.

You need to understand how the transposition works. As it’s a transposing instrument, the B flat clarinet produce a note one whole step lower than that written down. You’ll notice on the widget there are two frequencies shown. This lets you see exactly what sound is produced. It also helps those used to reading standard notation understand how the reed creates that sound against other instruments.

Unlike the saxophone or flute that overblow an octave, the clarinet does so on the twelfth. This results in a much higher jump for the press of the register key. It is worth noting where the register key comes into play. You’ll often see it marked on the diagram, usually indicating a transition point between the lower darker sound of the chalumeau register and the higher lighter tone called clarion. Observe how the mechanism of the register key combines with the left-hand thumb hole to give solid high notes without any airiness or cracky tones.

This is a really useful widget that you can use as a dynamic reference in practice on your own instrument. Click through the chart and then play the piece yourself to reinforce your muscle memory by switching back and forth. It’s also a quick lookup tool for experienced players who may need to check some odd fingering. Use it to isolate those tricky transitions or intervals you want to test out here first, before trying them for real with breath support.

Choosing one somewhere near the centre tends to have a more reliable response; listen to the sound that it makes and then reflect on how this compares to what you recall as being the ‘real’ sound of the instrument. Next, move upwards or downwards stepwise to hear how easily finger substitutions produces successive notes…

As the interface is designed to be intuitive so you can simply dive in and explore the sounds at your own pace.