I just bought a Whitehall vintage clarinet and am trying to figure out how to play it. So far I followed assembly instructions, but still don`t know if the clarinet is broken or if I am an incompetent! lol
Anyway, if anyone has very basic hints for me, I would appreciate! Oh, and any info on this brand (Whitehall) is also welcome!
Andrea

I have never heard of this brand. Where did you get it? How much did you pay for it?

Andrea, I saw your post on the other forum.

Your clarinet is complete garbadge. Luckily, 30 bucks is not a fortune.

I suggest you go to a local music store and ask about the beginning plastic models they have there.

I suggest you stay away from anything under 250 bucks, new or used.

Vito makes good clarinets around that price.

Buffet makes a model called the B12 for not much more.

Yamaha has the YCL250 for around 350-400 bucks and it is in my opinion the best student clarinet you could find. However, if you are looking for value, the Vito beats out anything else.

A good mouthpiece is perhaps even more important. Yamaha clarinets usually come with a good one already included, but other brands are infamous for the mouthpieces that come with instruments, so you might wanna look at the following:

The Vandoren B40 is a very nice mouthpiece that sells for around $50. Nova and Hite also makes good student mouthpieces for somewhere around $30.

For reeds, I suggest you get a box of either Rico, Rico Royal, of Mitchell Lurie size somewhere around 2 or 2.5

Vandoren and Grand Concert Select are two other brands, but these usually require skill and patience to break in and are not quite as consistent. You should eventually switch to them, but for now stick with the first three.

There, this should get you started. EBay is not exactly a good place to look if you know nothing about clarinets and is just starting out.

I understand that this clarinet might be "garbage" like you said, unfortunately I cannot afford to buy a decent one for now. So, I still don`t know HOW to produce sounds with this clarinet. My question is actually really basic: so, all I need to do is cover the obvious holes and blow the mouthpiece? (Yes, I have a 2 1/2 Rico reed in the right place and the clarinet is properly assembled.)

Thanks!

Hey,

Just thought I would say, rico reeds SUCK!!!! You should probably go to a local music store and ask the person there if they can help you to at least get a sound out of it! Good luck!!!

try covering the back hole and he front hole...or don/t cover anything. It plays easier with that note.
email me w/ any questions

Go out and buy a begginer`s method book that comes with fingering charts, instruction, and songs.

So, if I blow it, even without covering any holes, some sound should come out of it? (Don`t worry, I am taking it to a repair place).

Dede

Yes~

....repair shop, good idea!!! And...I don`t know much about clarinet but I`m pretty sure that when no holes are covered, that`s the fingering for a G!!! Hope you figure out what`s wrong!!!

~Corinne

Yeah-thats G. A sound should come out...

Andrea, let me just ask you right now how do you expect to learn the instrument, and what do you want to accomplish?

You have a garbadge instrument, no way of receiving instruction, no knowledge of the clarinet, no songs, no method books. Take my word, you`re not going to learn this thing just by talking to people online.

Well, I never said i wouldn`t take classes. And just because I am new to clarinets, doesn`t mean that I don`t already play acoustic guitar, piano and the flute.
Garbage instrument? Can you blame me for not being able to afford a better one right at the moment?
Hey, I accept donations! :-)

make sure your fingers are covering the holes all the way.

Hang in Andrea, you`re doing fine. It is natural to want to talk to people - and that`s what forums are for.

I`ve been playing a long time - years - and yet many times I can`t make a sound either. Those times are when I`ve just bought a new box of reeds. I find that out of ten reeds I`m lucky to find two that I can sound immediately and lucky to find four or five that I can use at all eventually.

Soak the reeds in a glass of water for a while sometimes helps.

Position the reed carefully so`s it is just level with the tip of the mouthpiece.

Play as the other poster suggested with all the holes open - that way you won`t get troubled by leaking valves or bad fingering and it`s an easy note - G.

Keep trying and stay happy and talk on the forums whenever you like...

regards,

abrogard

if u can`t make a sound, u r pinching the reed so that there is no way 4 air to flow through the instrument (i`m suprised it doesn`t squeak). your mouth should be w/ your lower lip over your lower teeth so that your lip and chin are kinda flat (in other words no very distint dent or n-e-thing between them. and place the upper teeth over the top of the mouthpiece gently. then u should make a sound. also, make sure that your reed is place correctly (slender end toward top of mouthpiece, and when you press down at the top u should see a very lil bit of the mouthpiece). Rico reeds are the WORST brand of reeds. Vandoren reeds are better -- size 2 1/2 for Bb clarinet. Also, since u can`t afford a better clarinet, rent one for a few months. that antique one sounds very old -- never heard of that company before, so it probably might not ever make a sound...just use it for decoration, if this doesn`t work and it can`t be repaired.
e-mail me if u have any questions
Jen