Clarinet Reeds: What strength is best for you? 

Oh! I tried putting my reed higher and I can play those top notes perfectly o_o very helpful!

Wish my band instructor in high school would have mentioned this. The only time I ever changed my reed was when it was physically damaged and I never experimented with reed strength. No wonder I couldn't hit those high notes. Your videos should be mandatory viewing for all clarinet students.

I thought my embouchure was weak when I couldn't get a sound using a no. 3 reed. It turns out that the display clarinet in the music store had some air leakage from at least one pad in the upper joint. I was really embarrassed until I pulled the joints apart & discovered weak pad seals on the upper joint. I was quite relieved to discover that it was the horn & not me or the reed. That is great advice you give in this video, because I usually automatically move new reeds up & down a little to determine if it is too soft or too stiff for my immediate comfort. Finally, those are lovely colors in your back yard, sparkling in the sun. Thanks for the post!

This video was SO helpful. My teacher ( of 5 years) and I were plagued with squeaks. She had me on a 3 but I thought it was to “hard” to play so WITHOUT telling her I went back to a 2 1/2 I think that has been causing the problem. I will (sheepishly) go back to my 3. You were so much help Thank you 😍

Finally some actual advice that makes sense regarding reeds. Thank you so much Michelle I am learning so much from you.

I tried the 2 1/2 for easier clarion sound, it worked! Thanks! I was using a 2 bc of asthma made it hard for me. I’ll move to a 3 as soon as I can. I expect that will produce nice clear high notes thanks again!

It's been 8 years that I do not play, after more than 10 years playing, I used reeds 4 ... Today I got my clarinet to play and although I managed to play all the scale, I heard that hiss in most notes, lol! I think I'll have to go back to 2/5 !!! I love your vídeos, and I´m whatching all !!!! Thank you for sharing your precious knowledge to us !!!!

Thanks for the well informative video. I self taught about 20 years ago and didn't know I needed a thicker reed for the upper register. Sure wish youtube was around back then. I gifted that clarinet to my niece and am now looking for a new one to give it a try again.

I finally know what the hissy noise is! Thankyou :)

Switching reeds made all the difference - I had the exact problem with the clarion register that you were describing: it was like th notes just wouldn't come out. I switched to a 3.5 reed, and like magic, everything improved. Thank you so much!

Thank you as I am just learning the clarinet. This video pushed me to experiment with stronger reeds and was very helpful.

Thank you so much. Very informative video/lesson on choosing a proper reed strength.

Depends on your mouthpiece the tip opening and the facing length.... with an open tip and shorter facing you can do just fine with a #2 Vandoren Reed

Thanks for this excellent video. I have picked up woodwind music again after a 40 year break, I can still read sheet music and know a lot of tunes, but have never had to deal with a reed before. So explanations of the reed strengths is vital for me to progress.

A very detailed explanation on reed choices. Much appreciated. I am a marginally bad saxophone player who started out from being a clarinet player. But this video is applicable to both instruments.

These videos are very informative. You have a great teaching style. Getting back to my clarinet, and realized how much I’ve missed it.

Love this video! In my 60s, taking it up again after a twenty year wait. I wish i had known this years ago, might have changed my life choice from nursing to music...

Woah, moving the reed up 1mm really gave me an indicator thank you so so much

Honestly thank you so much! I've been struggling to play high notes but after switching reeds it's so much easier and sounds like 10 times better

This was very helpful, recently I've been stressing after joining advanced band at my school and I couldn't play the high notes. Some of the songs we were given barely ever dip below a high D. I've been playing for 5 years now, but I somehow never thought it was too important to move up until I realized something was very wrong when I couldn't produce these sounds despite following all my band instructor's tips. I have a parade in exactly a week too, so awful to come to this conclusion much to close to a big event. Thanks so much for this video!!!

This video was really helpful. I needed to change my reed a few weeks ago. I had exactly the same symptoms as you described. I was using 2s and 2 1/2 and my high C and my altissimo notes just wouldn't come. I tried a three and a half and got a really airy sound (my face felt strained after trying to play a piece). I tried a three the next day and I had neither of those problems. Thanks for confirming the choice, Michelle!

Thank you for sharing this info. Really helpful

Great information. Thank you!

Wow, very good and interesting information... thanks

This is a very important and helpful video which goes well with Dr Wallys advice on how to break a Reed in.

I started clarinet yesterday after playing flute for years so this was helpful

Your videos and verbal instruction have been very helpful. Having picked up my clarinet after a 40 year layoff, I have worked hard to change bad habits and incorporate your recommendations for embouchure and air flow. I am now using a Rico 3 1/2 reed, which was producing a good tone. My muscles have strengthened and the embouchure is now automatic, as well as strong airflow. I am now experiencing a problem after playing for about 10 minutes, characterized by a "wet sound, as if blowing through water" when playing an A (Inex finger only) and B flat. It is not the typical fuzzy sound. Extending the reed above the mouthpiece helps some. For the past 3 months I have been playing on a new Yamaha 650 with the stock mouthpiece, but a Rovner Dark - 1R ligature. I have experienced the tone and ease of play that you describe, but am now struggling to "find it" again. I will be grateful for any suggestions.

This is a very clear and easy way to understand reed strength.

Thanks for the video. I'm going back to clarinet after about 6 years of almost-hiatus (just playing ocassionally some easy stuff on the christmas eve for my family or sth). I learned clarinet when I was a child (I started learning before my 7th birthday), so during my education I started with 1,5 and moved to 2,5, rarely exceeding that strength. However when I return I feel that 2,5 is quite soft for me (for an example I didn't have any problems when working on a fresh reed), but some of the highest notes I've previously learned, require real caution from me, because they're now often overblown when I try to use same amount of pressure as I used when I was young. (I grew up and I have much stronger lungs and muscles than before) I thought that I just need to rework the technique, but I didn't think that it might have something to do with strength of used reed. So it might be time to pernamently move to 3 or even 3,5. ps. Funny thing is that problematic notes are E6 and F6. I picked up higher (F#6 and G6, I haven't been teached to go even higher, as I never needed it anyway) notes back easily. I use separate fingering and mouth adjustments for those (for E6 and F6 I use simple chromatic ascend from C#6, D6 and D#6 while for higher notes I always switch to open thumb hole settings), that might be the case...

Thank you so much. I was playing on a Vandoren 3...yeah the 3 1/2 is much better. Thanks for your help.

I'm an 8th grader and play on a higher scale 4 and a half reed hehe. I loved this video btw.

ok....thank you so much!!! sounds like i need to move up!!! you teach me so much!!! TYVM!!!!! those high notes i use to hit with no problem.....are now a problem, i use to be able to hit high G above high C....I'm lucky to get the C or D anymore....

Great video. Thank you again 😊

Great description of reed strength and how to select.

Love watching these having started up after 40 years! Not sure it's a live site now though..

I just started playing again after a 30-year break. I played for 10 years from ages 10 to 20 (4 of those years while in school and the rest on my own), but had to sell my clarinet due to financial reasons. Got a loaner clarinet from a neighbor (a Selmer). I am starting off at a 2.5, which seems to be perfect for me right now. I also bought 3.0 for when I'm ready to advance. For now, the 2.5 is great for me to get back into the groove, so to speak. I have always hated the higher notes, but do not find them too hard to play with the 2.5 (for now anyway). Getting my airflow back to where it was is the real challenge for me right now.

Great video, like it. All the best!

I wanna cry. I used to play in high school. I miss the clarinet so much. I miss spending 40 hours a day practicing. I didn't have many resources. I keep wondering how much better I could've been if I had the Internet to help me understand the clarinet even better

Amazing, thank you!

Hi Michelle, my instructor recommended me to watch yours and your partner I think Debbie, not sure on the other gals name, however he said you ladie clarinet instructionss are the best to watch in RU-vid's

thank you!! realy helps!

Hi Michelle, I love your videos and enjoy watching them. I started playing the clarinet a month ago to give my daughter extra encouragement. I started off with a 2.5 Ricco reed and this week I am proud to say that I was able to play a 3.0 for half an hour and sounded just as i should... however the next day when I practiced it sounded nasty with squeaks all through the note range, and i fell back to the 2.5 now I feel that if I keep bringing in the Vandoran 3.0 reed with my sessions that things will fall into place eventually but that is my thoughts. what are yours?

Just starting again after 40 years Thanks for helpful info

Hi Michelle! Loved your video on reed strengths. I am 61 years old and would like to get my clarinet back out (after many decades!) and try to play it again. What reed srrength do you recommend for me? My grandson is a sixth grader who is taking up clarinet this year and I am excited to maybe be able to play with him. Any suggestions you have for me would be most welcome. Thanks -Sharon

I need help.. I've played on a 3 1/2 for about a year and it's now starting that when I put on a new one it sounds like the reed is to strong but I used to play on 3 1/2 perfectly... putting on a new reed tips is what I need.

HI Michelle Having trouble squeaking and your video seems to have sorted it out. I am now trying strength 3 reed, but keep going back to 2.5. Sometimes at strength 3 there is a kind of hissing sound. Going to move from my loan instrument which is a Yamaha SC 450, to a Buffet E12, or a new Yamaha. have you any comments, please. still really enjoying playing.

Just wanted to thank you, I got a Clarinet last week, it came with some unopened 3 1/2's. I barely got anywhere with them so I switched to a 2 and got most of the middle register, and a few of the lower. Bumped up to try a 2 1/2 on advice of this video and can now play the full middle and lower and a couple of the high (but they don't sound great...yet!). Having a ton of fun just improvising jazz, and starting learning the names of the notes. Any recommendation for a good book/video/ website to learn the names and fingering for all the notes? Not a fingering chart so much as something that slowly introduces them all in a progressive manner. Anyway, thanks for the great info.

I recently found this video and I got to thinking about this. I have been playing the Bb clarinet for 5ish years. I use a 3 strength and have been using currently a 3.5 and it was easy, should I stay at 3 or get 3.5? I also have another question. Like I said I have been playing normal clarinet for five years but I recently began to play the bass clarinet in the past two years. I have a 2 1/2 should I get a stronger reed? Last question promise! I am moving to Contra bass clarinet next year, should I get beginner reeds for contra or just get 3 reeds? Thank you so much!

Thank you for this :) I'm getting back into bass clarinet after a little over a year, now I think I know high my high register was hard to control. I was on 2.5, and Rico at that...lol. I'm getting my own bass Monday, and ordered some 3s from Vandoren. Let's see how this goes :)

Hello. I just bought my very first clarinet. I am a sax player obviously. Wondering if I will need a stronger reed than someone with no woodwind experience. I play a #4 on soprano sax.. similar shape and MP size to clarinet. Not sure where to start on reed strength.

Michelle, Thanks so much for you videos. Have a question. I currently use a Legere 2 1/4 reed on my bass clarinet. Should I choose the same reed strength for my newly acquired Contra Bass? It is the BBb instrument.

Hi Michelle, I stopped playing after I graduated High School and joined the military shortly after withdrawing from college, I rediscovered my passion for playing music recently and I plan on going back to school to major in music after my current enlistment is over (3.5 yrs left!). My question is this. When I stopped playing I was at a 3 1/2 strength on the Vandoren V12s. What strength would you recommend for me to start back at while I start to practice more to regain my skills? I currently have a plastic, ugh, reed that I bought when I recently refurbished and repaired my clarinet. I had assumed, wrongly, at the time that I would only be playing it again as a hobby.

Michelle - I'm far from being your usual or typical subscriber. At 75+ with mild COPD and asthma, I don't play clarinet but I do try to play a Bb chamuleau-type instrument (absolutely NOT a pocket sax) which uses a clarinet mouthpiece and reed. I use a Yamaha 4c mouthpiece with a Rovner dark ligature. I have found many of your uploads which discuss reeds, mouthpieces, tone, embouchure and breath control to be both excellent and very useful. In this upload you talk very clearly about strengths of reed starting with 2.0. This has made me want to ask a question . . . who uses Bb clarinet reeds strengths 1.0 (eg: D'Addario Royal) and 1.5 (eg: D'Addario Rico)? Because of my own particular 'non-clarinetty' needs, I started with 1.0 and now mostly use 1.5. I have some Vandoren 2.0 in stock for the hoped-for future. But who usually uses Bb clarinet reeds of those lower strengths - and why? Thanks again for such a clear and useful series of uploads.

Thanks for this. I think I am changing reeds.

I have outgrown strength 2 reed I'm almost done with my 2nd year playing clarinet and my friends at school say I sound terrible but not last year so I guess I have outgrown my current size

Hello Michelle, Are the Reed strengths you recommend the same as the Reed strengths used in England? I passed my Grade 1 Bb Clarinet exam in March but my teacher still has me on a number 2 Reed. I’ve switched to Vandoren reeds but still only No 2. I’m now learning to play in the upper register.

Hi, I use vandoren 2.5 reeds and they work well for me but I find it a lot harder to play on a 3. Any tips?

Thank you for these videos - I am finding them more informative than my tutor ever was! I am just starting to play again after a 10 (read:12) year hiatus and am not sure what strength to start with again. When I stopped playing I was using a 3.5, but I'm trying a 2.5 at the moment. The sound seems airy and I am having difficulty getting above the break (I could just be seriously out of shape). Do you have any recommendations/advice for a prodigal player?

I have a b45 mouthpiece have been playing for 3 years i have been using blue vandoren 3 and 1/2 and i tryed the silver vandoren 3 1/2 reeds and both of them are quite hard to play on my new mouthpiece. Any recommendations for reed strengths for a b45 mouthpiece?

Hi Michelle, I have been playing the Clarinet fab out 8 years and now I'm on a 3 1/2 Rico reed. I do have a lot of trouble playing the high C and above and it sounds just like your example. Whenever I try to blow harder and tighten my lips, the reed is either cut off or has that nasty sounding undertone.....do u think I should go up to a 4???

Hellow i have been watching your videos and they have been helpfull for me what i have found realy challenging is that I use one and half Reed but when I want to advance for stiffer Reed I find it very difficult for me😌. What should i do so as I can get comfortable with stiffer reed

Is there a clarinet that plays the high notes without pressing the register key? I see different size clarinets in the music shop. My clarinet is 25 inches long. If it was a smaller clarinet would the notes be higher?. Great video.

As an adult beginner I've started on softer reeds (1.5 / 2) but I try to buy brands that appear to be a little more well known (Rico / vandoren for instance). I'm still only really playing in the low register but as a brass player I might have a stronger airway. I have a couple of 3-reeds which I'll try tonight, and have a few 3.5 on order. My question, or at least thinking aloud, is whether for a more experienced clarinetist at least, playing on stiff reeds would make the lower register harder to play. In other words, if strong reeds are better up high then is the reverse true, are softer reeds better in the lower ranges? Once you have the experience, embouchure stability and air support of course.

I’m playing low notes. I have a 2.5 reeds, and it is very hard to blow them. Any recommendations?

Hi! I am in high school and have been playing clarinet for about 4 years. Currently I am on a 3 1/2, but I am considering moving up to a 4. I can play up to a high C pretty well, and seldomly get up to a high D. Would this be a good idea?

Thank you so much I was using a 2 and 1/2 but I found out that I need a 4 so thank you so much for helping me get started on my musical career!!!!

Thanks for the help! In the beginning of Band, I used Vandoren strength 2. Then I had gotten some strength 3 reeds. And I still couldn't make that high note, so I tried strength 3 and a half in Vandoren V12s and it helped a lot with the high notes and the tone. Thanks!

Hi thanks for the help I have been playing for 2 years now I started in 6th and now my band teacher says I'm an expert but sometimes I can't get that height c but now I can thanks so much

hi i play with a 2 1/2 reed and have done for years. i had surgery on my lip to remove a cyst many years ago and and the musle never went back together properly. would is be usual for someone in my situation to play on a softer read than the usual

Informative video. If I am playing on a Juno reed number three and want to go to a synthetic reed what reed should I choose? 12:07

My problem is that I seem to be somewhat inbetween 2 1/2 and 3 size reeds (i use vandorens and have been playing for about 8 years). On 2 1/2 reeds my low notes sound better, going quickly over the break is easier, but I have some of the issues you describe with the higher notes. On 3 reeds I can easily play a high C for example, sometimes even up to a high E, but my lower register sounds fuzzy and it's difficult to blow, and I'll often have squeaking issues getting over the break quickly or tonguing fast. Do you have any tips?

Useful information

How do you feel on using synthetic reeds, like Legere?

Hi... Thank you for all your very helpful videos. I often use your information to assist my pupils. I have a query right at the beginning of this one. When you use a high C in the clarion register, ie. thumb + speaker key, to demonstrate a possibly too soft read, you appear to put down the left hand middle finger. At first it appeared to be on a tone hole and ring-key but on freezing the pic, I now think that it may be on one of the long rods for trills. Is this something I might pass on? Some early players do have difficulty in supporting the instrument solely with the right hand thumb rest plus the left hand thumb on hole + speaker key. I don't remember having the same problem as a beginner but it WAS about 150 years ago. Regards from Olde Englande.

I don’t how to know if my reed it so soft. Right now I’m using a Vandoren traditional 3 strength and I can play my c above the staff just fine but I can get a g6 but I can’t get my f#6 and I get the lower tone. I can play d6 d#6 e and f natural 6 but I can’t play f#6. Is it too soft?

Hi, I've been playing clarinet for 4 years, I've always used Ricco #3, recently my prof told me to switch to Vandoren # 2 1/5 but it feels too strong and harder to blow. Should I witch back to Ricco or try to get used to Vandoren? I don't know which brand is better

I started playing 2 years ago and I use reeds 3.5+ Vandoren. I am practicing a lot (at least more than 1 hour every day, can go to 5-6 sometimes). Is that correct? Should I take easier reeds?

Hello,I am using a 1 and a half.But it is war to soft for me.And the music I play is pretty high notes,and they sound like they growling to me.So would you please tell me which strength reed I. should use?

I use the middle opening new line of Rico Reserve mouthpieces. On my R13 clarinet I get very little resistance unlike my Yamaha CRV. When I use this mouthpiece with a 3.5 reed on the Buffet I find I need a harder reed but when I use a 4 the resistance is too hard. In general the Buffet is a free blowing instrument. I enjoy this quality of the Buffet but the clarion C with one finger and the register seems flat when I don't really focus. Rather than look for a slightly stiffer reed which tends the problem I find that it is better for me to focus on directing my air "higher" or maybe more focused. I also enjoy practicing on this difficult note doing fast tongues which tends to punish any sloppy tonguing with a wobbly pitch. When the tonguing is light and the air is focused the pitch is good. Also, I find that any biting actually makes the tone flatter and not sharper. The only way I can get up to pitch is with an openness in the embouchure, a faster air and a light tongue. Is it wrong to stay with the softer reed just because it makes me work harder in the altissimo?

Michelle - thanks for the insight :) I played in high school, took a 20-year break and now that the kids are older, have been playing again with a civic band and orchestra. I'm at a strength 3 now (Vandoren V12 with a Vandoren CL5 mouthpiece). I'm finding that sometimes the altissimo register is hard to control - I tend to squeak. It's been better lately, now that I'm getting used to the mouthpiece. Do you think that may be a sign that I should try a strength 3.5?

Should I still switch to a thicker reed if I am having trouble getting the a high C and D, because I have been playing for 4 years and have had trouble ever since I learned them

Hi, I once used Vandoren 3 1/2 reeds but I then changed into M size PL reeds, I find it easier to blow and I quite like the tone too. I played using that reed for quite some time. But when I suddenly changed back into using Vandoren reeds. I just find it so hard to blow... is it that the PL reeds are too soft or....?

Very helpful video

Hi Michelle. Love you series and your helpful tips! I'm currently tring out Legere Signature Series 3.5 and it sounds great except on the lower notes, I hear a lot of hissing sound like as if not all my "breath" is being used to create sounds. As I go up, I hear less of of the hissing and I actually like the sound at higher registers. Does that mean that I should be using something lower than 3.5 or higher than 3.5? Any advice/help would be appreciated! Thank you!

I'm a freshman and I started playing on a 4 a couple days ago. I can get out the highest note but some of my lower notes sound somewhat airy. Do you think it's a reed issue or a support issue

I just received my student Clarinet and it has very thin reeds. Which I find hard to get a decent sound. What reed would you recommend if just starting to learn.

Hello Michelle I use 3.5 reed Vandoren and I want know if it can help me reach to altissimo register high A also what reed and number do you use to play that high A

I play with a number 2 reed and at times I can play the high register notes all the way to the A high note, but one day it's easy to play high notes and then the others days it would be hard. I know I can play the high notes but is it my reed, air, or anything else.

Would you say these approximations hold similarly true for alto and bass as well? As soon as I hit high G with my bass I get that low resonance just like you did, so I just popped out to grab a 3.0 instead of a 2.5 and can’t wait to get home to try it! The alto…is an alto 😅 If you have any tips at all in regards to that one they’d be much appreciated 😅🥰 But with that one it’s only two notes (E and F, the very first notes) that come out “wimpy”, while going higher and lower sing beautifully. I know it’s an alto, and I did just get it, so I’m hoping a different reed might be my trick.

I am assuming this will work for bass clarinets as well, right?

Hello Michele! I have a question for you about reeds, specifically with this situation: I had played Bb clarinet for 4 years, then stopped due to braces becoming too painful, then a gap of 5 years went by and now I am starting to play again. I had been playing on a 3.5 strength reed, what should I start with again since I was on such a high level? Thanks so much!

If I have played the trombone in the past, should I start with a stronger size reed or just a 2/2.5?

I haven't played in over 40 years and restarted about three weeks ago as my school needs people in our small band to generate interest. Now on vacation, I took out my old clarinet and it hardly plays at all. It has old cork and seems to have many air leaks (especially where the mouthpiece goes on and is hard to get any sort of note out. Would repadding and replacing the cork help the clarinet to play easier and become less "hissy?" It is super hard to get much volume out.

does if work for the same thing as base clarinet?

Hi Michelle, I have been playing the clarinet for about 3 months. I play in a sixth grade band, and it's very boring. I started taking lessons about 2 months ago, and boy, it was fun. I have learned lots of high notes, and it was fun. Anyways, I recently (accidentally) bought a vandoren v-12 3 1/2+ professional reeds, when I planned to buy normal basic vandoren 2 1/2 reeds. Anyways, I was very curious, so I tried the reeds, out, and of course I couldn't play as long, but the higher notes were easier for me! And the sounds were better too. Would you recommend me to keep on buying those reeds, or stay with basic? :D

For me I just can't talk about reeds and reed strenght unless I also talk about mouthpieces. I have many mouthpieces from Vandoren,Walter Grabner,Morgan,Charles Bay,Pillinger and tried many more. I also tried well over 25 brands of reeds in different strenghts.

Do you have any suggestions how to deal with the saliva issue. I'm 80 years old and consider myself to be at the level of a 6th grader. I'm having a lot of trouble with saliva coming out of the F key and eventually dripping out of the bell on the floor. It causes a garbled sound when it gathers between the reed.

This is my third year playing and I’m still on a 2.5 because I find 3’s and 3.5’s are too difficult to produce a clear enough sound, I’m able to hit the high C quite easily so I was wondering on what I should do too progress through reed strength

Hi Michelle, thanks once again for a very helpful video, I was struggling with the upper high register note with my #2 Vandoren reed. I pushed it upward a little and the notes came out great! Strange as a while back,# 2 1/2 was too strong for me. I might try it again. My very first teacher was " filing back" the tip of soft reeds with special #0 sand paper to make them stronger. Have you ever done this? I don't have a reed cutter yet have a whole new box of #2 reeds. Can I file them to fit them to my need. It would be a shame not to use them

I've been playing 3.5 for quite some time. Could I try a 4? Is that going to help I wonder? My 3 1/2s start feeling so thin at the top so quickly