Why is my child’s clarinet squeaking?

Start with the reed. It is the most common and cheapest cause: reeds chip, warp, and wear out no matter how good the clarinet is, so put on a fresh one, seated straight and level with the tip of the mouthpiece, and the squeak often disappears right there. If it doesn’t, the cause is the mouthpiece fit, a leaking pad, an assembly slip, or technique, and telling those apart takes a person who plays.

The full list of suspects, for the curious: a reed too hard for the player, chipped, warped, or seated crooked; a mouthpiece that doesn’t suit your child’s mouth; a leaking pad; a small assembly mistake pulling a key out of line; or technique, too much mouthpiece or not enough lip.

If a new reed does not fix it, you need something most shops cannot offer: a person who actually plays the clarinet. This is where we are unusual. There is a professional clarinetist on our staff, a working teacher, right at the front desk. She can pick up your child’s instrument and play it, and in about a minute know whether the squeak lives in the clarinet or in the technique. We have watched her do exactly that for a baffled family: “where’s the squeak?” On her, there wasn’t one, which told everyone precisely what the problem was and wasn’t.

So if a fresh reed doesn’t cure it, don’t keep guessing at home. Bring it in and let a clarinetist play it. That is the fastest way to the real answer.