I have some questions about A Key Clarinet...

Do orchestras use A Key clarinets (instead of B flat)?

Could a B flat clarinet play A Clarinet part with transposing?

Do B flat and A clarinets have the same range?

Thank you!

Hi.

Much orchestral music has A as well as Bb parts. It is possible to play the A parts on Bb but, with the 1/2 tone change, that can land you in very awkward keys. The written range is the same on both instruments.

daphnis and chloe was written for A clarinet, but we ended up transposing it back to b flat to make the riffs a bit easier...either way it was very difficult....check it out.