How to Tune Your Clarinet
- Warm up first: play long, slow notes for a few minutes, starting low and working up to the middle register. A cold clarinet plays flat.
- Leave the switch on Written Pitch to see notes as they appear in your music.
- Tap Start Tuning and play your tuning note: written C5 (third space), which sounds concert B♭, when the band tunes to B♭, or written B4 (middle line), which sounds concert A, when tuning to A.
- If it says Tune down (you are sharp), pull the barrel out from the upper joint a little. If it says Tune up (you are flat), push it in.
On many clarinets written C5 reads a little sharp compared with the rest of the instrument, and pulling the barrel far out to fix it makes the throat notes (written G4 to B♭4) flat. If you have to pull out more than a millimeter or two, also check open G (written G4) and set the barrel so both are close.
Written and Concert Pitch
A B♭ clarinet sounds a whole step (two semitones) lower than written: a written C sounds B♭. In Written Pitch mode the tuner adds the two semitones back, so the note name matches your music. The cents reading is the same in both modes.
| You Play (Written) | It Sounds (Concert) | Frequency |
|---|---|---|
| C5 (third space) | B♭4 | 466.16 Hz |
| B4 (middle line) | A4 | 440.00 Hz |
| G4 (open G) | F4 | 349.23 Hz |
The reed, your embouchure, and the room temperature all change the pitch. A soft or worn reed tends to play flat, and a tight embouchure sharp. Tune on a warm instrument with a good reed.