Clarinet
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The Clarinet
"The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The name derives from adding the suffix -et meaning little to the Italian word clarino meaning a particular trumpet, as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed.
Clarinets actually comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches. It is the largest such instrument family, with more than two dozen types. Of these many are rare or obsolete, and music written for them is usually played on one of the more common size instruments. The unmodified word clarinet usually refers to the B♭ soprano, by far the most common clarinet."
Quote source: "Clarinet" at the cs.mcgill.ca website. Accessed April 8, 2017.
African American Women Clarinetists
- Ellariz Maggie Thompson (1915-1994)Played clarinet and saxophone with the Harlem Play Girls. Source: Harlem Play Girls will keep Apollo date November 25," The Pittsburg Courier, 11/19/1938, p.19. Source: Jean Calman, "Musician devoted her life to jazz," Detroit Free Press, 01/14/1994, p.13.
- Elreta DoddsSource: Black Women in American Bands and Orchestras by D. A. Handy, p. 236.
- Elsie SmithClarinet and Saxophone
- Margaret BackstromWinner of the national high school clarinetist competition in 1934. Also played the saxophone with the Harlem Play Girls. Source: Albert White, "Harlem Play Girls thrilling southwest," The Pittsburgh Courier, 03/21/1936, p.16.
- Rose Reececlarinet player in minstrels
Source: "Notes from the "Ament" Dixieland Minstrels," The Freeman, 12/11/1909, p. 6.
African American Women Clarinetists
- Gurthalee Clark (1919-1990)Source: "Black WACs reunion," The Los Angeles Times, Metro section, 10/18/1980, p.12
Books
High society : my friends, the New Orleans clarinettists by
Publication Date: 2002Request via Interlibrary Loan
A comprehensive performance project in clarinet literature : with an essay on solo and chamber music for woodwinds by black composers composed from 1893 to 1976 by Publication Date: 1979, 1976Thesis: D.M.A.; University of Iowa. Request via Interlibrary Loan.
