Clarinet Scales: 12 Major Keys

How to use these clarinet scales

Start these clarinet scales by choosing the written key shown in your clarinet part. The tool opens in C major, from C4 to C5. Each selection shows eight written pitches: seven different note names followed by the tonic an octave higher. Read the octave number as well as the letter, because C4 and C5 use different fingerings even though both are called C.

Select any note in the row to inspect its basic fingering without leaving the page. Filled circles mean covered holes; outlines mean open holes. Read the extra-key instructions beneath the diagram before copying the shape. Where two little-finger choices exist, both appear. These clarinet scales let you compare the choices, but do not prescribe one hand for every musical passage.

Use Play up and down to hear the selected sequence, or Stop scale to end it immediately. Changing keys also stops playback and returns the selected note to the first degree. The clarinet scales player does not start automatically, record sound, listen through a microphone or assess your performance. The printed clarinet scales view follows the current key rather than printing all twelve at once.

Written and concert keys for clarinet scales

For a standard B♭ soprano instrument, clarinet scales sound a whole step below their written pitches. Written C major therefore sounds in concert B♭ major. If a band director asks for concert B♭, choose written C in this tool. If the instruction says written B♭, choose B♭; that sequence sounds in concert A♭. The two labels answer different questions.

Every selection and overview row identifies both keys, so you can use these clarinet scales beside a concert-pitch instrument without guessing. Written D sounds in concert C; written E♭ sounds in concert D♭; written F sounds in concert E♭. The audio follows the concert pitches, while the staff examples and fingering labels remain written pitches. Yamaha illustrates this distinction using the written C-major sequence and its sounding B♭-major equivalent.

The instrument name B♭ clarinet does not mean that every piece uses the written key of B♭. It describes the transposition. These clarinet scales are for standard Boehm B♭ soprano clarinet. Do not apply the sound labels to A clarinet, or assume that this page verifies bass-clarinet mechanisms and range.

Written D♭ sounds in concert C♭, which is enharmonically B major. The concert label preserves the diatonic transposition spelling rather than silently changing the key name.

The major pattern and correct note spelling

Major clarinet scales follow the interval pattern whole, whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half. A whole step spans two semitones; a half step spans one. In C major, the half steps occur between E and F and between B and the upper C. In these clarinet scales, the interval pattern stays the same when the tonic changes, even though the necessary sharps or flats change.

Diatonic spelling matters when reading clarinet scales. Each letter appears once before the upper tonic. D♭ major uses D♭, E♭, F, G♭, A♭, B♭, C, D♭. F♯ major uses F♯, G♯, A♯, B, C♯, D♯, E♯, F♯. E♯ is required here rather than F: both refer to the same equal-tempered pitch, but E is the seventh letter of the scale.

The clarinet scales diagrams look up fingerings by pitch while the staff keeps the spelling required by the key. Each small staff is an independent pitch example with an explicit accidental, including naturals. This display is a note-by-note reference rather than a conventional continuous score with a key signature, barlines or an assigned rhythm.

Connecting notes and crossing the break

Moving through clarinet scales requires reading the next note as well as the current one. First inspect an unfamiliar fingering, then compare it with its neighbour. The diagram distinguishes the thumb hole from the register key; those two controls must not be treated as the same action. Extra side and little-finger keys are written separately because the schematic does not reproduce every instrument’s key geometry.

Some selected clarinet scales cross the throat-to-clarion break. For example, written G major from G4 to G5 passes through A4, B4 and C5. The fingering changes are larger than the distance between adjacent notes might suggest. Use the full chart link from these clarinet scales for a closer look at either pitch, including its separate thumb and register-key states.

For B4, C5 and C♯5, the source-cross-checked dataset preserves two basic little-finger options. The clarinet scales tool shows both without claiming that either is a universal passage solution. Choose one option at a time. This page explains the basic states and note order; it does not provide trill fingerings, resonance adjustments or an individual assessment of hand position and technique.

Listening to the reference sequence

The clarinet scales player uses synthetic sine tones at concert pitch, with A4 set to 440 Hz. Each pitch begins 0.6 seconds after the previous one, leaving a short gap between tones. It plays the eight ascending notes and then the seven returning notes, so the upper tonic is heard once at the turning point. Restart begins a fresh sequence rather than layering two scales.

Use the clarinet scales audio to compare pitch direction and the whole-step and half-step pattern. It is not a recording of clarinet tone, articulation or breath support. These clarinet scales do not tell you whether your own playing is in tune, and the fixed playback pace is not an examination tempo or a promise about how quickly you should practise. If sound fails, the written sequence and diagrams remain available.

Print clarinet scales or save a PDF

Choose US Letter or A4, then use Print / Save PDF. The printable clarinet scales view contains the selected written key, its concert key, ascending and descending note names, eight staff examples and the basic fingering instructions. Where a note has two little-finger options, both remain on the paper. Printing stops the audio and removes the interactive controls and reading sections from the printout.

Match the paper size in the browser dialog, use portrait orientation and 100% scale, and turn off browser headers and footers. To save clarinet scales as a PDF, choose your browser’s PDF destination. This is browser-generated output; this page does not offer a separate ready-made twelve-scale PDF download. Print another key by returning to the selector and changing the written key.

The sheet is intended for personal reference. Read Terms before distributing, adapting or republishing the material. Free access does not establish broader reuse permission. Keep the note labels and additional-key text visible when checking print settings; a tiny diagram without its instructions loses part of the fingering information.

Common questions about this collection

Does this page contain all twelve major keys? Yes. The clarinet scales collection includes C, D♭, D, E♭, E, F, F♯, G, A♭, A, B♭ and B major, one octave each. Their starting pitches are in octave 4 and their ending tonics are in octave 5. This is one chosen octave per key, not the full playable range of each scale.

Are minor, chromatic and arpeggio patterns included? No. Those require their own note sequences and, for some minor forms, different ascending and descending rules. The selector offers only the implemented major collection. For individual chromatic pitches throughout the supported written E3–C6 range, open the main fingering chart.

Are these clarinet scales professionally approved? The basic fingerings reuse the source-cross-checked chart records, and the sequences are checked against major-scale interval and spelling rules. No named performer or teacher endorsement is claimed. If a label, diagram, tone or printed note appears wrong, report the selected key, written pitch and exact issue through Contact so the problem can be reproduced.

What are the basic scales for clarinet? This collection starts with major scales in twelve keys; it is not a complete examination syllabus. How many clarinet scales are there? Twelve here means twelve major tonics, not every possible scale type or octave.

Which is the hardest key? This clarinet scales reference does not rank personal difficulty. Use the note-by-note diagrams to compare unfamiliar transitions; the tool does not observe your hands or assess your playing.

Sources and related reference

The major-scale interval pattern and diatonic spelling follow Open Music Theory and the University of Puget Sound’s theory text. Yamaha explains the written-to-sounding relationship. Basic fingerings reuse our existing source-cross-checked Yamaha and Woodwind Fingering Guide records. These references support musical facts; they do not represent an endorsement of this website.

• Open Music Theory: scales and scale degrees
• University of Puget Sound: the major scale
• Yamaha: written and sounding scales on B♭ clarinet
• Yamaha: Boehm fingering guide
• Woodwind Fingering Guide: basic Boehm fingerings

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