Virtual Sheet Music Forums

Hey guys, just wondering if you can help me out with something?…

First of all a bit of background…I´ve been trying to learn the guitar on and off now for a few years and so far haven´t really got too far past playing ´wonderful tonight´and a few other basic songs. My dad is a blues guitarist so I figured I felt kinda motivated to start playing..plus a do love the guitar!
However…I have recently realized that my lack of progress was more due to a lack of inspiration rather than motivation..in other words…the guitar isn´t really the instrument I want to be playing! I am an avid jazz fan and adore the trumpet and clarinet and would like to start learning asap. I chose the clarinet over the trumpet just because I feel it has a smoother sound, whereas I find that unless a trumpet player has been playing for years it can sound a bit brassy and off tune (don´t get me wrong though I ADORE the instrument! &#61514

So my question is…how long do you think it would take to reach a decent level on the clarinet? Bearing in mind I have to start reading music from scratch as I only ever played from tablature with the guitar. Also bearing in mind that my practice schedule would be the following…around half an hour-an hour weekdays and perhaps an hour or 2 on the weekends. Anymore than that would be a strain on my schedule. Plus I intend to take classes an hour each week.


Also..for a beginner do you advice wood or plastic clarinet and how much would be a good amount to spend on one (bearing in mind my budget Is fairly tight)

ALSOOOO (sorry for the super long post) I am 25…is this too old to start from scratch?  I really should have got into this earlier, but I am super motivated… Any advice would be most welcome 

I think those hours are sufficient to learn to play at a good pace. The key thing is the quality of those hours. If you find yourself dragging through the lessons and practice then you might want to readjust your hours. But, don't put them off for good, learning instrument takes discipline.

Good Luck

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Just starting. Coming from guitar and keyboard. Have all of three weeks on the clarinet.

Self taught - using Learn as you play clarinet by Peter Wastall. Seems to be just about right for me.

Shocked with how hard it is to get sound from the instrument. Getting better each day. I'm working on fingering for the C Major scale - lower ledger G to upper ledger C. Not worrying with sharps or flats right now just concentrating on getting note sounds and learning the fingering.

You mentioned that standard notation is not in your bag of tricks. I'd recommend flash cards. Flash cards cost about $4 a pack and can be taken with you - so when ever you have a few moments you can get some study time in.

My practice time varies with the day. This is a hobby and I treat it as such.

IMHO spend what you can afford, the more you spend the better instrument you get and the easier it will be to play. That bit of wisdom comes from my other instruments. I was looking for a tin whistle or a recorder and found a clarinet at a price I could not turn down. I got what I paid for, but it is going to be more fun than a tin whistle.

Is 25 too old? No. I took up banjo at 65, guitar at 66, keyboard at 72 and clarinet at 73. Somewhere in there I gave fiddle a try, but, could never get all the cats out of it so the fiddle was given to a friend. He has the same problem, the cats are still in that fiddle -LOL. Is 25 too old, I think you are safe. Main thing to worry about is can you carve out enough practice time. Kids are made to learn an instrument, most have to be made to practice. You want to learn all you now need is to find the time.


Good luck.

it took me about 2-3 years to learn and play clarinet at a decent level and this is my fith yearplaying so... i hope that answers your question.i learned at my school in fith grade and i'm pretty good but i'm not the best