Happy New Years everyone!

Anyway, last April, I bought myself a decently priced clarinet from eBay. I`ve been playing the concert flute for roughly 6 years and occasionally play around with an oboe. After doing a LOT of research (the clarinet has some bad cosmetic knicks on the bell and mouthpiece), the serial number matches a series of Conn clarinets from around 1949. The mouthpiece doesn`t appear to have originally come with the clarinet but it has no brand name on it that I can find.

What I was posting about is that I am planning on taking private lessons this summer because I have practiced everything in all the beginner books I can find and have started on some intermediate things. I got a gift certificate from the local music store and I was wondering, what should I get first? A new mouthpiece, ligature, tuner etc..?

imo, these are the what makes a good sound on the clarinet, in order of importance

1. Player
2. Reed
3. Mouthpiece
4. Ligature
5. Barrel
6. Clarinet

I would start with a good quality mouthpiece and find the right reed strength for that mouthpiece, as well as a brand of reeds that you like.

What mouthpiece(s) do you suggest I look at?

I personally like the mouthpiece that I got with my Buffet R-13 festival. They are really nice mouthpieces and work very well. There are some out there that are very expensive but I have not tried them so I do not know if they are any better. I talked to a guy at musikfest this past summer who had a Leblanc clarinet with an Eddie Daniels mouthpiece and he said that it was worth the money but they are very expensiv and I do not think that I would one should be bought unless you are sure that you want to continue playing once you leave high school and college.

Get yourself a new mouthpiece. Find a Vandoren M-13, M-15, B-40, or B-45. Try them out and see what works best for you. Then make sure you`re using them with a good Vandoren reed. After that, get yourself a better ligature.

If you`re not really sure what works best for you or where to find it, wait until you have your teacher; s/he will help you find the right stuff. Matching the mouthpiece to the player and the reed to the mouthpiece are very important things, and you may or may not know what to look for yet. Don`t hesitate to ask your teacher for help down the road.

Kate gives some good advice - definetely ask someone for help if you don`t know what you`re doing. For beginners it will be hard to notice subtle differences between mouthpieces, and you may not end up picking what is best for you.

However, definetely think outside vandorens! Vandoren reeds have a reputation for being inconsistent. Unless you work on them, you may end up wasting a lot of money on bad reeds. Although they provide a sound that most other brands cannot match, you have to find a good one, first! The Vandoren mouthpieces are popular, but the Hite Premier and the Clark Fobes` Debut are both extremely cheap and highly recommended beginner mouthpieces- in many cases better than some of the factory made vandorens.