Learning to play the clarinet is a big challenge, and even improving on the skills you already have can be pretty tough. Good thing there are plenty of clarinet method books ready to help you along the way! You can think of these guides as your own personal clarinet tutors in written form, and many of them even come with a CD or DVD that lets you listen to examples or work through interactive lessons. Clarinet method books run the range of skill levels from beginner all the way to advanced, so it doesn't matter if you're just starting out or if you're an experienced clarinetist looking to brush up on your technique - either way, there are some great choices here for you.
With all the method books available to choose from, you might be wondering where to start your search... so let's look at a few suggestions to help you out if you're a newcomer to the clarinet. The Carl Fischer 24 Varied Scales And Exercises For Clarinet is a top seller partly because it never gets out of date - you can take advantage of its exercises from the beginning until well into your clarinet career. There's also the ProLine Play Clarinet Today Beginner's Pack Book/CD/DVD, the Alfred Student Instrumental Course Alto Clarinet Student Level 1 Book and the Alfred "Learn to Play Clarinet!" series, just to name a few.
As your skills grow, you'll be ready to move on to intermediate books such as Carl Fischer's The Progressing Clarinetist or the Alfred Belwin Intermediate Band Method B-Flat Bass Clarinet. And if you're an advanced player, you might find value in just about any method book in the whole section, depending on what you're looking for. The KJOS Foundations for Superior Performance series, for instance, has a sharp focus on musicianship that will help reinforce your knowledge of theory so you can build up a well-rounded clarinet skillset.
Hard work and practice are the cornerstones of improving your skill with any instrument, but the foundation supporting those cornerstones is made of good resources. That's where clarinet method books come into the picture: they're some of the best sources of information available to you, so no matter your skill level or playing style, these learning guides will help you build and strengthen your fundamentals so you'll have a solid base for all the techniques and experiences to come.
