I don`t know about the rest of you clarinetists in the world, but I think it`s about time we had a post to post anything... just to talk about clarinet stuff... random stuff, like a conversation you`d have with a close friend that just goes from subject to subject... feel free to put that stuff HERE!!!!!!! LOL

Ok let me kick things off - its not really to do with clarinets, but instruments in general.

If you`ve got a clarinet in the key of Bb, is there any difference in the notes played than if the key was in A#?

Just why do they call a Bb a Bb anyhow?

The first seven letters name the notes--in scalar order--of a diatonic scale. The F major scale, for example, is F G A Bb C D E, not F G A A# C D E, which spelling would be manifestly grotesquely illogical. In chromatic passages sharps generally ascend and flats descend; the spelling is determined by the direction of the line.

Whether A# designates the same pitch as Bb depends what tuning system you`re using. In Pythagorean tuning the A# will actually be SHARPER than the Bb. String players are not taught tuning systems as such, but they will generally "exaggarate" according to the direction of the line and thus tend toward, in this respect, Pythagorean tuning. Bear in mind that equal temperament was conceived of as a compromise system with tolerable inaccuracies. Until serialism, no body of music was ever predicated on it.

Re: "exaggarate".

Ouch. That`s "exaggerate".