Easy Clarinet Fingering is an OpenType font I developed to easily create fingering diagrams for the clarinet on a score.

Basic usage:

I planned a lot to make Easy Clarinet Fingering as simple as possible to use if you follow these basic instructions:

1. After installing the font on your Mac or PC, create a text element in your score editing software and set its font to Easy Clarinet Fingering. You should use a BIG font size (20 to 50 points) to make the diagrams clearly visible.
2. Type a slash ( / ) to start with a very basic empty diagram (only the thumb and six empty holes shown).
3. Add letter r to activate the register.
4. Add the letter t to cover the thumb hole.
5. Add numbers 1 to 6 to cover the basic holes.
6. The numbers 7, 8, 9 and 0 will add the right pinky keys: G#, F#, F and E respectively. (Alternatively, you can use the The letters i, j, o and k).
7. The letters e, f and shift-f (uppercase F) will add the E, F and F# left pinky keys respectively. (Alternatively, you can use shift-7, 8, 9, 0 which are the same numbers used for the right pinky. Be aware that the left pinky G# key is present in only a few clarinets).
8. The letters a and g will activate the the “throat” keys A and G#.
9. The four trill keys (for the right index finger) are activated by the n,  m, comma (,) and period (.) row of keys.
10. Add keys c, d and b  for left pinky C# key, left hand D# key and B/F# keys, respectively.

This covers all you need to get started. If you have any doubts on the go, just type a question mark (?) whitin the font and it will display the following reminder chart:

More Options:

I designed the font in a way that you don’t have to worry about blank, empty keys, which are drawn as needed. For instance, when you activate any left pinky key, the other keys are shown along. The same goes for the right pinky and the row of side thrill keys. However, if for some reason you need to show the whole empty clarinet, you can use these alternative keys:

• Using a colon (:) instead of a slash (/) will show a blank basic clarinet but also include the blank register.
• A semicolon (;) will show a complete blank clarinet including the register, throat and all pinky keys (but not the D#, B or four trill right-index keys or the rare lower E♭ key)
• A backslash (\) will display the complete blank clarinet, including all empty keys.
• You can also add empty groups of keys to the basic diagram, as follows: uppercase R, A and G for the empty register or throat keys A and G#. Left bracket ( [ ) adds all right pinky empty keys, and right bracket ( ] ) adds the left pinky keys. Any key from the row of four trill keys with shift will add all the four empty trills. That would be: uppercase N, uppercase M, shift-comma (<) or shift-period (>).
• The default c key will display the C# left pinky key alone, WHITOUT the other pinky keys. If you want the whole group (E, F, F#) to show up along with the activated C# just use uppercase (shift) C.

Advanced features:

• To cover half holes, use the shift key along with the numbers 1 to 6, or the uppercase letter T for half-thumb. (Although this can vary in non-english keyboard layouts. In any case, the actual symbols for the 6 half-holes are: ! @ #   $ ^ &)
• The letter L (upper or lower case) can be used for the lower right-pinky E♭ key, rare in clarinets but pretty common in bass clarinets.
• Add the letter x to enclose the whole diagram in a box.
• Some simbols can be used to depict a transition or alternance. For instance, an equal (=) symbol will draw a double tip arrow between two diagrams. A dash (-) will draw a simple arrow and their shift-counterparts (underscore and + sign) will add lower versions of these arrows. A tilde (~) will draw a trill between diagrams. Apostrophe (‘) and quotes (“) will show small arrows or trills, respectively, to be used for trill-only keys. See the usage examples below.

  

 

Why I made this font?

I often need to include fingering diagrams over a staff, specially for extended techniques used in contemporary music such as multiphonics or quarter tones.  I have used other fonts solutions before and I’m sure they are well done (and I thank the authors for them!), but I recently had to write a piece for clarinet that was somewhat more complex and I missed some more simplicity in the existing fingering fonts, both in usage and in graphic design, so I decided to make my own.
For that matter, I went thru the literature (Scores from Luciano Berio, the studies from Frank J. Dolak and numerous fingering charts) and ended up with my own design.

One of the features I wanted is that the basic blank clarinet was simpler and less confusing. The clarinet has many keys and I don’t see the need of displaying them all, except when they are being actually used. So, the basic clarinet only displays the holes, and then when an additional key is activated it also shows the group of keys it belongs to. For example, when activating one of the four trill keys, the other empty trill keys are displayed. So, basically there’s no need to worry about what is being displayed – Typing the fingers/keys being used is enough.

On top of that, I tried to use the keyboard keys in the most mnemonic way I could find, and added some additional features, like the ability to display a box around the diagram, and some fancy stuff like arrows and trill symbols to notate special trills.

How to buy?

I am asking for a small retribution for the time I spent developing it. I think it will help me releasing future projects.
Click on the Paypal buy button now and you’ll receive the .otf font file together with a short instruction manual by e-mail within 24h of the payment confirmation. Feel free to contact me using this site’s contact form for any questions or suggestions.

Click on the Paypal Buy Now button below and you will get the .otf font file by e-mail within 24h of the payment confirmation.

Easy Clarinet Fingering Font (OpenType) USD $5,99

Known Issues:

In certain MAC systems, installing the font will generate a warning. That’s because this is not a real latin type font but a Symbol font so some characters are missing. I will try to overcome this warning in future releases but for the time being please just ignore the warning at the time of installation.

About Updates:

I am constantly improving and fine-tuning this and other tools I use and distribute. I promise I will keep compatibility and never break the way they currently work, but I might add more functionality in the future. As a customer you are entitled for all future updates. If you have any special request or want to report any bug, please contact me.