Are there differences in reading music scores between piano and b flat clarinet?

Question

I'm trying to read a music score written for b flat clarinet. Normally I read piano music. When I see on the clarinet score what appears to me to be the note "C" (one octave above middle C), what should I play on the clarinet... a note which corresponds to a piano "C" or a note that corresponds to a piano b flat, or something else? Thanks

Answer 1

Clarinet is B flat instrument. Therefore, the piano must play a whole step up, or D to match the clarinet playing a C.

Answer 2

If it is an already transposed transcription for the clarinet, simply play what the score says. If it said to play the note 'C', then use the clarinet fingerings for 'C', even though the pitch produced will sound a 'Bb' on the the piano.

So if you wish to play piano music (using piano scores not transposed for Bb clarinet) on the clarinet, you will have to transpose every written note a whole step up. Say, if the piano score showed to play 'C', 'E', and 'G' on the piano, to play those same notes on the clarinet, you'll have to use the respective fingerings for 'D', 'F#' and 'A'.

Answer 3

A clarinet's "C" is the same as the piano's b flat. For a "C" on the piano that is one octave above middle C you would play a D on the clarinet. The D should be one octave above the D just above middle C.

Answer 4

You should play a "C". It will sound the same as a "Bb" on the piano, but that's ok-- the person who transcribed the song will have taken that into account and transposed the parts appropriately.