hey, does anyone here play the bass clarinet! It seems all of the posts are about the regular soprano clarinet. I think bass is the best even though i hate the accompaniment parts and i`ve never even heard of someone getting a bass solo in a band. Has anyone even gotten the chance to play a contra bass/ alto clarinet.

i don`t play bass clarinet but i`ve seen pictures of a contra bass clarinet and i think one other of a sub contra bass clarinet. By the way, there was a solo for bass clarinet in one of are band pieces.

There`s a solo for bass and i think also contra bass in Blue Shades by Frank Ticheli. "Regular Soprano" is still the best though. If there were no soprano there wouldn`t be a market at all for bass,alto or any of the contras.

Bradley

Oh, I would love to play bass clarinet! How do you think a student model would be?

typo... between How and do should be much.

I have played both bass and contra in my high school`s wind ensemble, and I also play bass in my local youth orchestra. There are many solos for the bass. A lot of advanced literature for band and wind ensemble takes the bass away from the "tuba" parts, and pairs it with the bassoon. Orchestral reductions for band are fun too because you get to play transcribed cello parts.

i play both Bb soprano and bass clarinets. you just have to listen to eric dolphy. he`s the best bass clarinet player of all time! no one ever got close to him!

I saw a bass clarinet for sale at Charles Fail music for 750... they might still have it. I ordered my clarinet from them, VERY good about everything, I highly recommend them if you want to buy one.

I play bass and soprano Bb clarinets... generally Bass parts tend to be more simple and don`t go much into the altissimo register, but I`ve got a piece for band this year that goes to atleast an altissimo D, maybe it was E. Last year I had a solo on bass clar., so it does happen. But marhces truely suck for bass instruments. usually a steady quarter note or 8th, rest, 8th, rest thing. I play jazz clarinet on the side. It seems like us jazz clarinetists are really growing in numbers... I know one or two jazz clarientists from Massassi.net, too.

yes, i play bass clarinet occassionally. It`s pretty kool..the notes are a lot lower than the ones are on my soprano. If you haven`t tried bass clarinet, you really should.

The bass clarinet it awsome! Yes, Of Course i play it! And i love it! i play in the gautier high school gator band.. i have played bass clarinet since 8th grade and i am now in tenth! i think the bass clarinet has the most beatiful sound...its such a low sound...i will play bass clarinet for as long as i live

it`s basically an octave lower than the soprano. :P

this is my first year playing bass clarinet in fact... I just got it yesterday, but I used to play soprano clarinet and so I`ve been using those notes with my bass and I love it!

I love the tone of the bass clarinet in it`s lower register!!! I`m hoping to play contrabass in my schools symphonic band this year. The contrabass is sooo cool!!

I began playing the soprano clarinet about 14 years ago. After about 2 years of that I picked up an alto clarinet. I played alto for one year, but I never really loved it. Then I found my baby, the bass clarinet. I`ve been playing bass clarinet for about 11 years now. It is just such a beautiful, sorrowful sound. I feel like it is the best instrument for me to express what`s in my soul. I`m now looking to get my hands on a contrabass clarinet, although I`m not sure I could ever abandon my bass. When I was in high school, I did have a few solos. One was in a piece entitled "The Blue and the Gray." Unfortunately, because of the nature of the bass clarinet`s sound, it is difficult to project. so, for this reason we do not find many bass clarinet solos nor do we often see them in marching bands (although I ventured onto the field with one for a season).

I`m in a marching band. It`s a big pain in the butt because of the neck strap.