Quartertone cross fingerings are widespread (and apparently standard technique in French orchestral playing today), but certain pitches right above the break have no fingerings.
Notably, the [[timbre]] of a clarinet emphasizes [[odd harmonic]]s.<ref>Wolfe, Joe. [https://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/jw/clarinetacoustics.html "Clarinet acoustics: an introduction"]. ''The University New South Wales''. https://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/jw/clarinetacoustics.html. Retrieved 3/15/2026. </ref> As such, [[EDT|tritave-based systems]], such as the [[Bohlen–Pierce scale]], are suitable for use with a clarinet timbre.
Richard Eldon Barber has made available this [[http://www.geocities.com/bassooner42/jicl/|fingering chart for a 31-tone JI scale]].
== Microtonal fingerings for normal clarinet ==
[[Quartertone]] cross fingerings are widespread (and apparently standard technique in French orchestral playing today), but certain pitches right above the break have no fingerings.
[[http://pitch.xentonic.org/|AFMM's Pitch]] publication has fingerings up to 72 per octave.
[[Richard Eldon Barber]] has made available this [https://web.archive.org/web/20091027012216/http://www.geocities.com/bassooner42/jicl/ fingering chart for a 31-tone JI scale].
Also worth mentioning is the scheme for making a small xenharmonic clarinet by connecting the mouthpiece directly to the lower joint. This fits only on certain clarinets, and it produces a macrotonal scale with no high register.
[http://pitch.xentonic.org/ AFMM's Pitch] publication has fingerings up to 72 per octave.
=Actual microtonal clarinets=
Also worth mentioning is the scheme for making a small xenharmonic clarinet by connecting the mouthpiece directly to the lower joint. This fits only on certain clarinets, and it produces a [[macrotonal]] scale with no high register.
All clarinets are tuned to an inexact 12tEDO. It might be more accurate to describe them as [[19ED3|19ED3 (19 equal divisions of 3/1)]], since they overblow at the twelfth.
==Quarter-tone clarinets==
== Actual microtonal clarinets ==
[[http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kwarttoonklarinet|This quartertone clarinet]] apparently uses parallel tubes of 12, with a single key to switch between them.
All clarinets are tuned to an inexact [[12EDO]]. It might be more accurate to describe them as [[19ED3|19ED3 (19 equal divisions of 3/1)]], since they overblow at the twelfth.
==Bohlen-Pierce clarinets[[#BPClarinets]]==
=== Quarter-tone clarinets ===
The [[http://www.sfoxclarinets.com/bpclar.html|Bohlen-Pierce clarinet project]] by Stephen Fox (instigated by Georg Hajdu) has so far resulted in the building of a soprano clarinet in the [[BP|BP scale (13ED3)]]; the scale seems ideal for clarinet in particular.
{{Wikipedia|Quarter tone clarinet}}
A quartertone clarinet was designed in 1937 by [[Fritz Schüller]]. It uses two parallel tubes, one slightly longer than the other, with a single key to switch between them.
Several compositions have been written for Bohlen-Pierce clarinets: by Canadian composers Owen Bloomfield and Todd Harrop; as well as by German composers Georg Hajdu, Peter Michael Hamel, Sascha Lino Lemke, Fredrik Schwenk and Manfred Stahnke. Links to the former composers' audio streams can be found on http://www.transpectra.org/audio.html; and links to the latter composers' audio streams can be found on http://mmm.hfmt-hamburg.de/index.php?id=konzert-programm_1362008.</pre></div>
=== Bohlen–Pierce clarinets ===
<h4>Original HTML content:</h4>
The [http://www.sfoxclarinets.com/bpclar.html Bohlen–Pierce clarinet project] by [[Stephen Fox]] (instigated by [[Georg Hajdu]]) has so far resulted in the building of a soprano clarinet in the [[Bohlen–Pierce scale]]; the scale seems ideal for clarinet in particular.
<div style="width:100%; max-height:400pt; overflow:auto; background-color:#f8f9fa; border: 1px solid #eaecf0; padding:0em"><pre style="margin:0px;border:none;background:none;word-wrap:break-word;width:200%;white-space: pre-wrap ! important" class="old-revision-html"><html><head><title>microtonal clarinet</title></head><body><!-- ws:start:WikiTextTocRule:8:&lt;img id=&quot;wikitext@@toc@@normal&quot; class=&quot;WikiMedia WikiMediaToc&quot; title=&quot;Table of Contents&quot; src=&quot;/site/embedthumbnail/toc/normal?w=225&amp;h=100&quot;/&gt; --><div id="toc"><h1 class="nopad">Table of Contents</h1><!-- ws:end:WikiTextTocRule:8 --><!-- ws:start:WikiTextTocRule:9: --><div style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Microtonal fingerings for normal clarinet">Microtonal fingerings for normal clarinet</a></div>
Several compositions have been written for Bohlen–Pierce clarinets: by Canadian composers [[Owen Bloomfield]] and [[Todd Harrop]]; as well as by German composers Georg Hajdu, [[Peter Michael Hamel]], [[Sascha Lino Lemke]], [[Fredrik Schwenk]], and [[Manfred Stahnke]]. Links to the former composers' audio streams can be found on http://www.transpectra.org/audio.html; and links to the latter composers' audio streams can be found on http://mmm.hfmt-hamburg.de/index.php?id=konzert-programm_1362008.
<!-- ws:start:WikiTextHeadingRule:0:&lt;h1&gt; --><h1 id="toc0"><a name="Microtonal fingerings for normal clarinet"></a><!-- ws:end:WikiTextHeadingRule:0 -->Microtonal fingerings for normal clarinet</h1>
[[Category:Instruments]]
Quartertone cross fingerings are widespread (and apparently standard technique in French orchestral playing today), but certain pitches right above the break have no fingerings.<br />
<br />
Richard Eldon Barber has made available this <a class="wiki_link_ext" href="http://www.geocities.com/bassooner42/jicl/" rel="nofollow">fingering chart for a 31-tone JI scale</a>.<br />
<br />
<a class="wiki_link_ext" href="http://pitch.xentonic.org/" rel="nofollow">AFMM's Pitch</a> publication has fingerings up to 72 per octave.<br />
<br />
Also worth mentioning is the scheme for making a small xenharmonic clarinet by connecting the mouthpiece directly to the lower joint. This fits only on certain clarinets, and it produces a macrotonal scale with no high register.<br />
All clarinets are tuned to an inexact 12tEDO. It might be more accurate to describe them as <a class="wiki_link" href="/19ED3">19ED3 (19 equal divisions of 3/1)</a>, since they overblow at the twelfth.<br />
<a class="wiki_link_ext" href="http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kwarttoonklarinet" rel="nofollow">This quartertone clarinet</a> apparently uses parallel tubes of 12, with a single key to switch between them.<br />
The <a class="wiki_link_ext" href="http://www.sfoxclarinets.com/bpclar.html" rel="nofollow">Bohlen-Pierce clarinet project</a> by Stephen Fox (instigated by Georg Hajdu) has so far resulted in the building of a soprano clarinet in the <a class="wiki_link" href="/BP">BP scale (13ED3)</a>; the scale seems ideal for clarinet in particular.<br />
<br />
Several compositions have been written for Bohlen-Pierce clarinets: by Canadian composers Owen Bloomfield and Todd Harrop; as well as by German composers Georg Hajdu, Peter Michael Hamel, Sascha Lino Lemke, Fredrik Schwenk and Manfred Stahnke. Links to the former composers' audio streams can be found on <!-- ws:start:WikiTextUrlRule:36:http://www.transpectra.org/audio.html --><a class="wiki_link_ext" href="http://www.transpectra.org/audio.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.transpectra.org/audio.html</a><!-- ws:end:WikiTextUrlRule:36 -->; and links to the latter composers' audio streams can be found on <!-- ws:start:WikiTextUrlRule:37:http://mmm.hfmt-hamburg.de/index.php?id=konzert-programm_1362008 --><a class="wiki_link_ext" href="http://mmm.hfmt-hamburg.de/index.php?id=konzert-programm_1362008" rel="nofollow">http://mmm.hfmt-hamburg.de/index.php?id=konzert-programm_1362008</a><!-- ws:end:WikiTextUrlRule:37 -->.</body></html></pre></div>
Quartertone cross fingerings are widespread (and apparently standard technique in French orchestral playing today), but certain pitches right above the break have no fingerings.
AFMM's Pitch publication has fingerings up to 72 per octave.
Also worth mentioning is the scheme for making a small xenharmonic clarinet by connecting the mouthpiece directly to the lower joint. This fits only on certain clarinets, and it produces a macrotonal scale with no high register.
Actual microtonal clarinets
All clarinets are tuned to an inexact 12EDO. It might be more accurate to describe them as 19ED3 (19 equal divisions of 3/1), since they overblow at the twelfth.
A quartertone clarinet was designed in 1937 by Fritz Schüller. It uses two parallel tubes, one slightly longer than the other, with a single key to switch between them.
