How high can a Bb clarinet play p or pp?

What it says.

Thanks in advance.

Might depend on the player, but probably not higher than concert F6.

except for the highest notes, all can be playable with ppp, pppp, and all the ps you want ..... a whisper ....

EDIT:

Ups! sorry I didn't see the "how high" in the title .....

Well I think F6 is too high, .... from C5 starts getting difficult for a true ppp ..... maybe a very good player can do it up that F5 and higher

I always take expression notation to be a sort of relative thing so wouldn't writing ppp on a very high note, even if it's impossible to play that soft and still be audible, be perfectly valid? I would imagine the performer taking it as, "Play this high note as soft as humanly possible," without concern for whether an exact amount of force is being used. It's like arguing over whether someone is playing ppp or pppp, how can you really tell?

Of course, my assumptions are totally off if it's just not possible to play a high note without playing particularly loud on the clarinet.

the average is usually around B6 to F6

I always take expression notation to be a sort of relative thing so wouldn't writing ppp on a very high note, even if it's impossible to play that soft and still be audible, be perfectly valid? I would imagine the performer taking it as, "Play this high note as soft as humanly possible," without concern for whether an exact amount of force is being used.

I tend to agree. There are many scores that write a pianissimo for, say, an oboe note in the lowest register, even while the composer is perfectly aware that it will still sound like a foghorn. It just means "try your best to play softly". But this all sort of depends on how knowledgeable about an instrument you come off as a composer. If you write this without being aware of the relative possible dynamic of this instrument in this register, then you have simply failed to do your homework and the performer might very well realize that and see your high-note clarinet ppp simply as an expression of your ignorance - and therefore choose to ignore it. If you write your score very carefully however and consider the possibilities of the instrument in detail, the perfomer is much more likely to realize that you meant this ppp as a mere ideal to strive for.

It also depends on what ensemble the clarinet is playing with. A pp for clarinet in an orchestra would be different than in a concert band.

I would think written C above the staff. It is the highest note before you are controlling squeaks with stranger fingerings, and it is only a little bit of the clarinet in use. really fabulous players could play higher. Myself, I can breathe out the highest note on the clarinet (super C) at a piano dynamic, but I can't play the note a step beneath it to save my life.

SOOO i would say C (Bb concert)

I always take expression notation to be a sort of relative thing so wouldn't writing ppp on a very high note, even if it's impossible to play that soft and still be audible, be perfectly valid? I would imagine the performer taking it as, "Play this high note as soft as humanly possible," without concern for whether an exact amount of force is being used. It's like arguing over whether someone is playing ppp or pppp, how can you really tell?

Of course, my assumptions are totally off if it's just not possible to play a high note without playing particularly loud on the clarinet.

My composition teacher, who studied with Morton Feldman, related an interesting anecdote to me about this very subject. Apparently, upon being questioned by one of his students about why he had written a very very high note on the clarinet to be played extremely quietly, Feldman responded, "Of course they'll never be able to play it, but it'll sound fantastic when they try!"

My composition teacher, who studied with Morton Feldman, related an interesting anecdote to me about this very subject. Apparently, upon being questioned by one of his students about why he had written a very very high note on the clarinet to be play extremely quietly, Feldman responded, "Of course they'll never be able to play it, but it'll sound fantastic when they try!"

Hah, I like that. That's taking the coercion aspect of notation to the extreme.

I got a D6 whisper tone out of a clarinet once.

As high as the clarinet can go(appr. D7, conc. C7), but for many clarinettists it might be preferable to be able to start a bit louder, like p, and then diminuendo to ppp. I find it easier the higher it gets, so everywhere above G6 I can play as soft as I want. It is actually slightly harder below G6, down the fifth to the C above the treble staff.

yes Diminuendo is much easier ...

in that case why don't we think in the Eb Piccolo Clarinet, all Principal Clarinet Players have one.... and in ppp it would sound about the same.

...Or you could just use an Ab Clarinet ;)

(But they are very hard to find!)

Ab Clarinet ?

that's an other clarinet or a larger barrel ?

Bb and A clarinets are the same you only change the barrel (in A the barrel is a bit larger so the whole clarinet sound half a tone lower)

if it's the barrel it could be build by a instrument builder, I know one but he would have to get a very large barrel and then reduce it a little, besides I don't know if the clarinet will become detuned by the changed total lengh.

if it is a different clarinet, I have never seen one, (if they exist) even rarer than Metal Clarinets

Ab Clarinet ?

that's an other clarinet or a larger barrel ?

Bb and A clarinets are the same you only change the barrel (in A the barrel is a bit larger so the whole clarinet sound half a tone lower)

if it's the barrel it could be build by a instrument builder, I know one but he would have to get a very large barrel and then reduce it a little, besides I don't know if the clarinet will become detuned by the changed total lengh.

if it is a different clarinet, I have never seen one, (if they exist) even rarer than Metal Clarinets

Ab clarinet is a rare clarinet that is even higher than an Eb. It's not a low clarinet at all. Sometimes the Turks will use it, but that's all I know with it.

oooooh I see, I didn't know that thingy ... this one isn't it ?

:laugh: really funny ....

yeah, it must be hard to find one of those....

It is called Sopranino Clarinet ...

isn't Eb/D Clarinet already a Sopranino ? ..... "Soprillo" could be the term

Bb, A, and the lesser-used C clarinets are the sopranos. D and Eb clarinets are the sopraninos. (sometimes people just call the Eb sopranino an E-fer). Ab is "the piccolo clarinet."

Oh... like the Soprano Trumpets in D, Eb F, that they're called "piccolo" trumpet and the real "piccolo" are the ones an octave up... Bb etc ...

what about "piccolette" :laugh: kinda Italian-French

Piccolette Clarinet in Ab :D

A pp for clarinet in an orchestra would be different than in a concert band.

What about the lower end of the range? Right now I'm writing a piece where I want a pp for Bb clarinet at F#3 and briefly at E3. Is that feasible? Should I consider switching it to an alto clarinet?

What about the lower end of the range? Right now I'm writing a piece where I want a pp for Bb clarinet at F#3 and briefly at E3. Is that feasible? Should I consider switching it to an alto clarinet?

Alto clarinet is cool, but it is possible on a Bb clarinet. Don't bother thinking about that. Oboes are the ones where you REALLY gotta be careful on the low range. Soft is medium, medium is loud, and loud is honky. lol