Alto clarinet
en: Tenor clarinet, de: Altklarinette, ja: アルトクラリネット, fi: Alttoklarinetti, it: Clarinetto alto in Mi♭

Classification Wind Woodwind Single-reed Playing range Written: E♭3 to G6 Sounding: G♭2 to B♭5 Related instruments Clarinet Bass clarinet Contra-alto clarinet

The alto clarinet is a wind instrument of the clarinet family. It is a transposing instrument usually pitched in the key of E♭, though instruments in F (and in the 19th century, E) have been made. It is sometimes known as a tenor clarinet; this name especially is applied to the instrument in F. In size it lies between the soprano clarinet and the bass clarinet, to which it bears a greater resemblance in that it typically has a straight body (made of Grenadilla wood, or since the 1950s sometimes black plastic), but a curved neck and bell made of metal. In appearance it strongly resembles the basset horn, but usually differs in three respects: it is pitched in E♭, it lacks an extended lower range, and it has a wider bore than most basset horns. The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... German (called Deutsch in German; in German the term germanisch is equivalent to English Germanic), is a member of the western group of Germanic languages and is one of the worlds major languages. ... Japanese (,  ) is a language spoken by over 130 million people, mainly in Japan, but also by Japanese emigrant communities around the world. ... Finnish ( ) is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland (92%[2] as mother tongue) and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. ... Italian ( , or lingua italiana) is a Romance language spoken by about 70 million people [], primarily in Italy. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2674x2304, 923 KB) Taken by myself with a Nikon Coolpix 7600 digital camera, approx. ... A musical instrument is a device constructed or modified with the purpose of making music. ... A wind instrument is a musical instrument that contains some type of resonator (usually a tube), in which a column of air is set into vibration by the player blowing into (or over) a mouthpiece set at the end of the resonator. ... A woodwind instrument is a wind instrument in which sound is produced by blowing through a mouthpiece against an edge or by a vibrating reed, and in which the pitch is varied by opening or closing holes in the body of the instrument. ... A single-reed instrument uses only one reed to produce sound. ... The playing range of a musical instrument is the region of pitch in which it can play, i. ... A musical instrument is a device constructed or modified with the purpose of making music. ... Two soprano clarinets: a Bâ™­ clarinet (left) and an A clarinet (right, with no mouthpiece). ... The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. ... A contra-alto clarinet made by the clarinet-making company Selmer. ... A wind instrument is a musical instrument that contains some type of resonator (usually a tube), in which a column of air is set into vibration by the player blowing into (or over) a mouthpiece set at the end of the resonator. ... A musical instrument is a device constructed or modified with the purpose of making music. ... Two soprano clarinets: a Bâ™­ clarinet (left) and an A clarinet (right, with no mouthpiece). ... A transposing instrument is a musical instrument whose music is written at a pitch different from concert pitch. Concert pitch is the pitch as notated for piano (or any other non-transposing instrument) - e. ... A bass clarinet, which sounds an octave lower than the more common Bb soprano clarinet. ... The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. ... Grenadilla is a name given to a number of different African black woods, most commonly Dalbergia melanoxylon (sometimes known as Mpingo). ... Trunks A tree trunk as found at the Veluwe, The Netherlands Wood is derived from woody plants, notably trees but also shrubs. ... Household items made out of plastic. ... Basset horn The basset horn is a musical instrument, a member of the clarinet family. ...

The keys of the alto clarinet are similar to the keys on smaller clarinets, and are played with virtually identical fingerings. The alto clarinet, however, usually has one key not found on most soprano clarinets, which allows it to reach a low (written) E♭. The range of the alto clarinet is from the G♭ in the second octave below middle C (i.e. bottom line of the bass staff) to the middle of the second octave above middle C. A clef (also, in former times, cleff) is a musical notation symbol that assigns note letter names to lines and spaces on a musical staff. ...

Invention of the alto clarinet has been attributed to Iwan Müller and to Heinrich Grenser.^[1] It may have been invented independently in America; the Metropolitan Museum of Art has a bassoon-shaped alto clarinet in E♭, cataloged as an "alto clarion", attributed to an anonymous American maker circa 1820.^[2] This instrument bears a strong resemblance to the "patent clarions" (bass clarinets) made from about 1810 by George Catlin of Hartford, Connecticut and his apprentices.^[3] Later, back in Europe, Adolphe Sax made notable improvements to the alto clarinet.^[4] Ivan Mueller (also spelt Iwan Müller) was a Russian-born clarinetist and inventor who at the beginning of the 19th century was responsible for a major step forward in the development of the clarinet, the air-tight pad. ... Heinrich Grenser (full name Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Grenser) was a musical instrument maker. ... Metropolitan Museum of Art New York Elevation The Metropolitan Museum of Art, often referred to simply as The Met, is one of the worlds largest and most important art museums. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Life-size statue of Adolphe Sax outside his birthplace in Dinant, Belgium. ...

Use in musical ensembles

The alto clarinet has not been commonly used in orchestral scoring. (An important exception is Igor Stravinsky's Threni.^[5]) It is used mostly in concert bands, where it often doubles other parts such as alto saxophone parts, and in clarinet choirs. A few jazz musicians, Hamiet Bluiett, Vinny Golia, J. D. Parran, Petr Kroutil and Joe Lovano among them, have made use of the alto clarinet. Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (Russian: Игорь Фёдорович Стравинский, Igor Fëdorovič Stravinskij) (June 17, 1882 – April 6, 1971) was a Russian composer who first achieved international fame with three ballets commissioned by the impresario Serge Diaghilev and performed by Diaghilevs Ballets Russes (Russian Ballet): LOiseau de feu (The Firebird) (1910), Petrushka (1911... A concert band, also called wind band, symphonic band, symphonic winds, wind orchestra, wind symphony, or wind ensemble, is a performing ensemble consisting of several members of the woodwind instrument family, brass instrument family and percussion instrument family. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... This page meets Wikipedias criteria for speedy deletion. ... Hamiet Bluiett (b. ... Vinny Golia (b. ... J. D. Parran is an American multi-woodwind player, educator, and composer specializing in jazz and free improvised music. ... Clarinetist, saxophonist, bansuri player, vocalist, composer and arranger was born in Czech Republic on January 31, 1973 in Prague. ... Joseph Salvatore Lovano (born 29 December 1952) is a jazz saxophonist and clarinet player. ...

Abandonment in some ensembles

Since at least the late 1940s, there has been discussion over whether the alto clarinet could or should be eliminated from the standard wind band.^[6] The arguments usually used include its relatively low volume, unremarkable tone, and the fact that its part is nearly always doubled by other instruments. (One notable exception is an alto clarinet solo in Percy Grainger's famous piece Lincolnshire Posy.) Many junior high school and high school bands have ceased using the instrument for these reasons. Percy Aldridge Grainger (8 July 1882 – 20 February 1961) was an Australian-born pianist, composer, and champion of the saxophone and the Concert band. ... High school is a name used in some parts of the world, and particularly in North America, to describe the last segment of compulsory secondary education. ... A concert band, also called wind band, symphonic band, symphonic winds, wind orchestra, wind symphony, or wind ensemble, is a performing ensemble consisting of several members of the woodwind instrument family, brass instrument family and percussion instrument family. ...

References

1. ^ Rendall, F. Geoffrey (1957). The Clarinet (Second Revised Edition). Ernest Benn, 145-6. 
2. ^ Libin, Laurence (1995). "Alto Clarion". The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin: 53.
3. ^ Eliason, Robert E. (1983). "George Catlin, Hartford Musical Instrument Maker (Part 2)". Journal of the American Musical Instrument Society 9: 21-52.
4. ^ Shackleton, Nicholas. "The development of the clarinet". In Lawson (ed.), Colin (1995). The Cambridge Companion to the Clarinet. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 32. 
5. ^ Pauli, Hansjörg (Autumn, 1958). "On Strawinsky's 'Threni'". Tempo New Ser., No. 49.: 16-17+21-33.
6. ^ Sawhill, Clarence E. "The Problem of the Alto Clarinet" and Rohner, Traugott. "Shall We Eliminate the Alto Clarinet?". In (1972) Woodwind Anthology. Evanston, IL: The Instrumentalist, 208-212.  (Both reprinted from The Instrumentalist, 1948.)