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The Bb clarinettist has to cope with these five crosses and unfortunate fingerings.

If you plan to play the famous clarinet concerto in A by Mozart on a B flat clarinet, that would translate into B major - which means five sharps (as opposed to none for the A clarinet). In reality it turns out to become very difficult for the player, since most keys and a lot of jumps can't be executed that easily and as a result the piece would sound much poorer than it would have to. Of course one could - at least theoretically - transpose the notes, but you probably would prefer to write the notes down. This means that in pieces with B-flat keys, the B-flat clarinet is the better choice, and in pieces with lots of sharps (#), the A clarinet is the better choice. In pieces with many flat accidentals, the B-flat clarinet has two fewer Bs than a flute, and in pieces with many sharps, the A clarinet has three fewer sharps when used. The notes for clarinettists are already transposed for the correct instrument. With the B flat clarinet, we would hear a B flat. In practical terms, this means: there is a C in the notes, you use the fingering for a C, play, and we hear an "A". The A clarinet sounds a semitone lower than the Bb clarinet. Why are there still A clarinets - what are they good for? There are many pieces where you have to use them both, depending on the key of the part that is played. The classical clarinet player carries about a set-case containing both instruments. The A clarinet is still widely used in classical music.

Of the two soprano clarinets the B flat clarinet is by far the most frequently used instrument - both in the wind orchestra and in jazz there are no A clarinets any more. Sometimes this clarinet is referred to as "soprano clarinet" (which is correct, thinking of clarinets resembling the voices Bass, Alto and Soprano). They are the ones that you usually think of when you talk about "the" clarinet. The A clarinet and the B flat clarinet are the "normal" clarinets.

A and B flat clarinets The "normal" or soprano clarinet