The clarinet has been a favorite of beginning musical students since the turn of the 18th century. There are several components to the clarinet starting with the mouthpiece and ligerture, followed by the upper and lower joint ending with the bell. The mouthpiece is held between the upper and lower lip with no pressure put on the bottom lip. The reed must be allowed to vibrate in the mouth. The keys and fingerholes have pads on them to close the holes properly and produce the correct note.

It takes alot of concentration to play an instrument such as the clarinet and one of the most important skills are learning how to breath. You no longer breath through your nose like we are used to. You must learn to breath through your mouth and blow only as hard as necessary to create the particular sound you want to hear. Playing an instrument requires deep breaths of air from the diaphragm and holding it as long as possible.

From learning to make a sound, to learning to breath correctly may seem like a difficult thing to master, but once you do you can make beautiful music; your heart will fill with pride.