Assembling your clarinet is easy, but it's also easy to cause accidental damage if you don't put it together in the right way. We've assembled some helpful pictures and a guide below.
Step 1 - Grease the Corks
Greasing the corks helps the assembly of the Clarinet. This step won't be necessary once you've applied it a few times but is important on new clarinets. I recommend the Rocket Cork Grease which comes in a handy lipstick style case.
Step 2 - Begin to Assemble the Joints
Begin with the Bell Joint and the second joint as pictured. Carefully twist and push the cork end of the second joint into the Bell until it's all the way in.
Next attach the first join to the second. This is a very delicate point as the Bridge Key (highlighted by the arrow) can be easily bent if you're not careful. Hold the first joint in your left hand, with your fingers over the ring holes on the front of the clarinet as shown. This will cause the bridge key to lift up. Holding the second joint close to the bell with your right hand, slowly twist and push the first joint into the second. Look at the picture to see where the two sections should meet. Try to turn it back and forth in small motions, so that the keys don't bang into each other.
Next attach the Barrel to the first joint, using the same twist and push technique as you did on the Bell -
And finally attach the mouthpiece to the Barrel, then slip the ligature over the mouthpiece -
Step 3 - Attach the Reed
Slide it down between the mouthpiece and the ligature. Line it up so that the tip of the reed doesn't extend beyond the tip of the mouthpiece. If your mouthpiece has lines on it, slide the ligature down until the top of the ligature is below the top line of the mouthpiece. If your mouthpiece doesn't have lines, slide the ligature down to the point where the top of the ligature is below the bark part of the reed. The ligature screws should be tightened securely enough to keep the reed from slipping, but not so tight that they are difficult to unfasten.
The mouthpiece with it's reed should look similar to this -
Step 4 - Play!
You're all set to start playing! Take the clarinet apart by following these steps in reverse. Some people prefer to put the clarinet together from the top and work down, rather than the bottom up as we have here. It's down to the individual, there's no exact science!