Each tone hole has been tweaked so as to function well with the others with which it is required to act in concert.
Every musical instrument is a maze of compromises, and the clarinet is no exception. since the days of the two key clarinet, the fingering for Bb in the staff has always been the “pinch” of the A/Ab key ganged together combined with the register.īut, the note thus produced has always been a compromise, and not the best of compromises as well. Where the clarinet has always suffered in this regard is with the throat tones, specifically the dreaded “throat Bb”. But, the clarinet could not exist without them they are not just a convenience.) (Having these “in between” keys is nothing new, for most instruments have a number of extra keys towards the upper end of the instrument, this to ease operations between the registers of the instrument.
