Guess what! You can play clarinet with one hand! I am so excited to tell you about this new instrument!
Peter Worrell, an instrument maker in the UK, has done tremendous work for musicians with limb differences. He recently developed a one-handed clarinet!
As you may know from my previous posts, instrument stands are crucial to allow musicians to focus on playing. Peter shows two options for supports:
You can purchase a Daniel’s Claritie separately, though Peter includes the contraption with his one-handed clarinets.
Peter’s contributions to the adaptive musician community also include the development of the Dolmetsch One-Handed Recorders:
And, he created my own customized recorders!
Peter added keys to a soprano recorder for me in 2013. One year later, he customized an alto with the same design.
Thank you, Peter, for your beautiful, high-quality instruments! Your craftsmanship and creativity continue to amaze me!
Another Way to Play 
My daughter really wants to play the Clarinet in band next year. She has a limb difference- left arm is short and she just has three very little fingers. I’m wondering if this clarinet would work for her.
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Hi Julie! Thanks for writing. Technically, yes, this clarinet would work for your daughter. It is over $8200 USD, which is not very practical for most families of beginning band students, and they are custom orders. I would not recommend buying this unless you are absolutely sure that your daughter will be playing the clarinet for years – it is a very big investment!!
If your daughter is very insistent on the clarinet, I’d recommend that she talk to her teacher about trying the clarinet. See if she enjoys having the reed in her mouth and learning a few notes with her right hand on top. At the same time, I think it is always worth it for all children, limb difference or not, to try playing several instruments. Especially with brass and woodwind instruments, some kids play some instruments more naturally.
You may also want to explore this instrument: https://www.westmusic.com/other-wind-instruments/nuvo-instrumental/dood/401874?ppc_keyword=&gclid=Cj0KCQjw1a6EBhC0ARIsAOiTkrFKEp7RHkLee_o3dipqzQvk6qkREIpSUEuoA3uxzdbdZsrW9QNfdd0aAu01EALw_wcB
It is designed as a pre-clarinet kind of instrument. It is not one-handed, but it is only $30, so if your daughter wanted to experiment with a reed instrument without paying much money, this would be an easy entry point.
Please feel free to email me at valerie.thomforde@gmail.com to brainstorm more!
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