This webpage addresses common fundamental problems that students of clarinet encounter. Were they taught wrong? Yes and no. Sometimes the students of the best teachers do not listen, do not catch onto certain concepts, or just they plain develop bad habits.

How about the bad habit of ducking your head while playing the clarinet? On the left, click the Embouchure button to find out more about the correct Clarinet Embouchure and Poor Clarinet Embouchure.

Sometimes, students just need validation. They do not believe their teacher, so they search for supportive information on the internet. However, bad habits are bad habits, right? Whatever it takes to get the good habits across, hopefully Clarinet-Now.com is here to help.

As a teacher, it is hard to catch it all in the space of an hour, but it is my experience that consistent lessons and consistent practice over weeks, months and years create the best players.

Remember this - we are all in this together. We are all trying to conquer the fundamental tendencies of making a clarinet sound natural, beautiful and easy. That is perhaps the biggest challenge, making the clarinet sound easy.

The free online clarinet lessons offer tips on:

- forming a correct clarinet embouchure

- tragically explains 14 different types of poor embouchure

- correct left and right hand positions

- sight-reading

- air support

These are the same challenges I’ve had over 30 years of playing. Once you pick up any instrument, craft or expertise, your learning continues endlessly. You tweak and improve.

Over time, you collect a series of “golden nuggets of information” that help improve your performance. As we strive to find these “golden nuggets,” we realize that our sources are many:

- private teachers

- fellow students and colleagues

- professionals

- repairmen

- composers

- books, videos and recordings

- live performances - conferences

- the internet

One example, if you listen to a recording of a master musician - THAT is a lesson in itself. You not only aspire and admire the musical nuances of the master, but hopefully attempt to emulate how he or she:

- spins out a gorgeous phrase

- starts notes

- tapers notes

- has smooth transitions throughout the range of the instrument

- makes a beautiful sound

- and on and on and on...

Once we recognize how important these influences are on our playing, it keeps us in check as to where we are and where we are going. This webpage is my collection of golden nuggets and is meant for performers of all ages and experiences.

Clarinet-Now.com is here to expose students to master musicians, teach fundamentals of the instrument I wish I knew at young ages, and give you an idea of how much fun you can have making music.

Now, it is time to figure out how exciting the clarinet is...

Sincerely, Chris Jones