Clarinet Recommendations
Student Clarinets
I always recommend plastic/synthetic clarinets for students as their first purchase. Lighter weight, greater durability, and lower cost are all important variables here. When it comes to new (or shop demo) instruments, I would recommend any of the following:
Intermediate Clarinets
Do not buy intermediate model clarinets. They are never worth it. From new, they depreciate horribly, are made from lower-quality wood, and are just dressed-up student models. You are better off saving your money for a used professional clarinet. If your budget is only $600, you can find the Yamaha YCL-650, their entry-pro model clarinet, in the $500 range from sellers in Japan on Ebay and Reverb.
Professional Clarinets
While there are a ton of professional clarinet models out there, with prices up to the stratosphere ($12,000!), the majority of players will want a standard French Boehm system clarinet, which is exemplified by the Buffet Crampon R13 model and its clones.
Acrylic Student Mouthpieces ($40 or less)
Less-expensive Hard Rubber Mouthpieces ($200 or less)
More-Expensive Hard Rubber Mouthpieces ($250 to $1000+)
I generally do not recommend these to students, however, you are welcome to visit me at my studio and sample some of the more costly artist models if you are interested in trying them out and seeing what you might like.
I always recommend plastic/synthetic clarinets for students as their first purchase. Lighter weight, greater durability, and lower cost are all important variables here. When it comes to new (or shop demo) instruments, I would recommend any of the following:
- Yamaha YCL-200AD (gen1 or gen2) or Yamaha YCL-255
- Buffet Prodige
- Backun Alpha (note: this is not the best choice for kids with smaller hands/shorter fingers)
Intermediate Clarinets
Do not buy intermediate model clarinets. They are never worth it. From new, they depreciate horribly, are made from lower-quality wood, and are just dressed-up student models. You are better off saving your money for a used professional clarinet. If your budget is only $600, you can find the Yamaha YCL-650, their entry-pro model clarinet, in the $500 range from sellers in Japan on Ebay and Reverb.
Professional Clarinets
While there are a ton of professional clarinet models out there, with prices up to the stratosphere ($12,000!), the majority of players will want a standard French Boehm system clarinet, which is exemplified by the Buffet Crampon R13 model and its clones.
- Yamaha CSVR
- Buffet R13
- Backun Model Q
Acrylic Student Mouthpieces ($40 or less)
- Clark Fobes Debut
- Bradford Behn Overture
- Gennusa Mezzo
Less-expensive Hard Rubber Mouthpieces ($200 or less)
- Vandoren M15, M30D, BD5
- Epic-CNC.com Prescott (close or medium)
- Backun/Hawkins Vocalise R or G
- Clark Fobes Nova CF+ or 3L
- Gennusa "Excellente"
More-Expensive Hard Rubber Mouthpieces ($250 to $1000+)
I generally do not recommend these to students, however, you are welcome to visit me at my studio and sample some of the more costly artist models if you are interested in trying them out and seeing what you might like.
