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title: 'How does a clarinettist bend pitch?'
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summary: 'Clarinet players bend pitch by sliding fingers partly off open tone holes, tuning the vocal tract and changing lip placement and bite.'
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  FAQ · Instruments & artforms

# How does a clarinettist bend pitch?

 Updated 19 October 2026

 **[Clarinet](/instrument/clarinet)** players bend pitch and play glissandi by sliding their fingers partly off the open tone holes and by tuning the resonances of the vocal tract. The vocal tract gains more control where the clarinet's own resonances are weaker. Lower-lip placement and bite force change the reed's effective stiffness, which also affects pitch. The Albert system's finger-covered holes make such slides easier.



 

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