Skip to main content
B-flat clarinet

B-flat clarinet

4.4
A clarinet tuned to B-flat that is commonly used in bands and orchestras
  • noun
  • /biː flæt klærɪnɛt/
translation icon : clarinete en si bemol
  • She proudly played her B-flat clarinet in the school band concert.

Examples

  • In the orchestra, the B-flat clarinet often plays the melody during performances.

  • The B-flat clarinet is a popular choice for beginners in music classes.

  • He wonders how much you could get for a used Buffet B-flat clarinet in good condition.

    Fiction book (1995)

Synonyms

clarinet
vsB-flat clarinet
42 3.1

A wind instrument with a straight tube and a mouthpiece with a thin vibrating reed

names the specific pitched version commonly standard in ensembles
licorice stick
vsB-flat clarinet
  • Archaic
8.7

A clarinet often used in jazz bands

refers to the standard pitched form used in bands and orchestras

How Low

contrafagotto
  • Specialized
9.9
bass clarinet
  • Specialized
1 4.6
basset horn
  • Specialized
9.9
B-flat clarinet
4.4

Surface Forms

Morphology

B-flat + clarinet

The meaning 'a clarinet pitched in B-flat' is directly compositional from 'B-flat' (a musical pitch) + 'clarinet' (the instrument). This follows a straightforward pitch+instrument pattern found across languages, so a learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the MWE; only the technical nature of 'B-flat' might be unfamiliar to some learners.

Etymology

B-flat clarinet is named for how it sounds: when this clarinet plays the written note 'C', the instrument actually sounds B-flat. That's why people call this model the B-flat clarinet and why it is the common clarinet in many bands and orchestras.