I have been playing the clarinet for about 6 months now...i got my clarinet for christmas last year...and it has been playing great! i could get response very easily on my notes with the octave key (b on up) but just a couple of weeks ago i began to practice and all of the sudden my notes b to f (with octave key) squealed extremely loud and were very difficult to get sound out of, also with my notes below low c, including low b to low g. I really was considering getting a better clarinet. I think the brand i have right now is a BandNow, and is plastic. I was also wondering if there was a difference between ebonite and plastic, because there is this really nice looking ebonite clarinet that is affordable. If ebonite is the same as plastic, then i wont get it...

Hello and welcome to the wonderful world of clarinets. Ebonite is hard rubber, not plastic. Poor quality instruments are not made of ebonite, these are either intermediate or pro quality horns. It is impossible to say what is causing your squeaking without seeing the clarinet. Take it to an experienced technician for a check-up. If the instrument is adjusted properly sqeaking is due to the playing technique.

Check your reed... you may need to sand the flat part of the reed or possibly get a new reed.

hello, i too would like to like welcome you to the mysticalll and mysteriousss world of clarinet... YOU HAVE A LONG ROAD AHEAD. and though i have heard good things about ebonite, your (or whomever bought your clarinet's) first mistake is that the band now brand is not a very good one, and is made by very inexperianced craftsmen/women. Although i'm sure you have plenty of time to get a better one. I suppose if you bring it to your band director/a technician and he says that the instrument isn't broken (technically)than it's most probably your reed situation. Ask for help to figure out how to make really good reeds early!


"THE REED IS AS IMPORTANT TO THE CLARINET AS THE CLARINET IS TO THE REED!" -my p.l. teacher

thanks for all of those tips i have found helpful!

i had trouble hitting the really high notes (c&up) until just a few months ago check your embachoure thats what my problem was

Actually, this problem sounds like a leak.

Take it to your repair shop ASAP.

IF you want to test if you have a leak, take the top joint and plug the bottom with your hand, press all keys (so that none of them are open) and blow into the top. You shouln't hear any air comming out. You should also trying sucking out the air and you should hear a pop after a few seconds. Also repeat this with the bottom joint.

Sounds like your lower joint, might want to check out that area. Or have you started playing a brass instrument or tried one? In my quest to be a conductor I had to learn brass, and it ruined my clarinet embashure. But after a while eveything got back to normal.
Now I play my clarinet for orchestra and trombone for my brass quintet. Now I can play trombone immediatly before clarinet and wont feel any difference. It scared me for a while but now I can play every instrument(literaly)then gladly pick up my clarinet and perform Mozart's Clarinet Concerto!
Dont worry, thats what really defines woodwinds man, getting a really traumatizing problem then figuring it out and getting better! Am I right People!