Rhapsody in Blue's famous opening clarinet wail started as a rehearsal joke.
Chapter 1

The physics of the blackwood tube

Chapter 2

Nuremberg to Vienna: the classical evolution

Chapter 3

From Eastern Europe to New Orleans

Chapter 4

Sonic tricks and orchestral drama

YOUR GOAL

Master of The secret life of the clarinet

Ch 4 · Sonic tricks and orchestral drama
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maestro Some singers can produce two different notes at the same time.

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maestro Clarinet Glissando

A joke in the rehearsal became a historic slide, And now that wild clarinet wail is the whole orchestra's pride!

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Rhapsody in Blue's famous opening clarinet wail started as a rehearsal joke.

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maestro A clarinet portrays the sneaky cat in Peter and the Wolf.

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Singing two notes at the same time

maestro A diagram illustrates the split air column vibrating inside a clarinet tube

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Peter and the Wolf's sneaky cat

maestro An educational card features a clarinet and a drawing of a sneaky cat

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:* My Little Clarinet (3 words)
    *   *Idea 11:* Clarinet
BETA

maestro Assemble the clarinet's parts to learn how its reed and keys create its unique sound.

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Fun Fact

Silent keys: Some modern avant-garde clarinet pieces require the musician to click the keys without blowing any air at all.

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Glossary
glissando (noun)
A continuous slide upward or downward between two pitches. Ross Gorman famously improvised this dramatic opening slide for the 1924 premiere of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue.

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Gossip

Which clarinet special effect sounds the most impressive to you?

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Quiz

What is the term for the advanced technique of producing multiple pitches at once on a clarinet?

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maestro The bass clarinet is the giant of the clarinet family.

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Quiz

Which register of the clarinet is used to portray the cat's quiet paw-steps in 'Peter and the Wolf'?

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maestro The iconic clarinet glissando opens George Gershwin's famous Rhapsody in Blue

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Quiz

In Sergei Prokofiev's 'Peter and the Wolf,' which animal does the clarinet represent?

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Quiz

What modern avant-garde technique involves vibrating the tongue rapidly while blowing to create a growling sound?

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Quiz

What physical feature distinguishes a bass clarinet from a standard soprano clarinet?

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Quiz

Which ballet features the bass clarinet accompanying the celesta in the 'Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy'?

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Quiz

Who was the clarinetist who accidentally created the 'Rhapsody in Blue' glissando during a rehearsal?

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Quiz

Which famous orchestral piece opens with a legendary 17-note clarinet glissando?

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