It's important to start with a good embouchure to play the clarinet in tune. There are a few ways to learn how to do this.
Try these analogies with a mirror in front of you:
- Imagine you're drinking through a straw. Start by placing your teeth on the mouthpiece, then suck in.
- Pretend you're putting on lip balm on your bottom lip. This will help form the correct bottom lip position. Rest your top teeth gently on the mouthpiece.
- Imagine your mouth is a drawstring bag. Apply equal pressure from all sides and bring the corners of your mouth forward.
It's important not to ignore the upper lip. If you only rely on the bottom of the embouchure for support, you'll lose sound quality and resonance. Be sure to apply pressure with the top lip as well.
The inside of your mouth is also important to explore and connect with. Try forming the syllable "EEE" in your oral cavity without adjusting the external embouchure. This will cause your tongue to arch. Pretending to hiss like a cat can also help with this.
Even with a good embouchure, proper posture, and a well-tuned instrument, certain notes on the clarinet may still be out of tune. The notes that tend to be the most problematic can vary between different clarinets, but the following are commonly affected.
Here are some solutions to help with difficult notes when playing the clarinet. The standard fingering is shown in black, and any alternative fingering is shown in green. If there is a red key, remove it from the standard fingering. Don't forget to include all red keys if playing the standard fingering.