What Clarinet Reed Strength Should You Use?

When I'm working with my students, I often get asked what reed strength they should be using. I'm glad people are asking because it's an important question! Reed strength can make a really big difference in how easy it is to play, so I decided to write this post and hopefully clear up one of the most confusing topics of playing the clarinet.

In This Post

• The Common Misconception About Reed Strength
• Personal Preference
• Your Mouthpiece Matters Most
• Tip Opening and Why It Changes Everything
• Two Charts That Will Help
• Reed Strength Recommendations by Tip Opening
• It Really Is All About What Feels Best

The Common Misconception About Reed Strength

The most common misconception is that when you are a beginner, you should start with a reed strength of around 2 or even lower. Then, as you get better and better, you should go up higher and higher in reed strength. You may have even heard that some professionals, like Steve Williamson of the Chicago Symphony, play on 5s. So you may think, "If he's playing on 5s and he's an absolutely fantastic player, then my goal should be to play on reeds that are as hard as possible too!"

This is actually not true at all. The strength of reed you play on comes down to two things, and neither of them are how good of a player you are. One is very subjective, and that's your personal preference and how you like things to feel. The other, more objective one, is your actual mouthpiece.

Personal Preference

First is your personal preference. The physics and anatomy of your face can make a difference in how you play. Some people like to put a lot of pressure on the reed and therefore use a really hard reed, like Steve Williamson. Other people like to be more relaxed and open, and just let the air do the work with a more relaxed embouchure. For me personally, I prefer the second approach.

In any case, it's about what feels comfortable to you. Do you want something you can really push into and blow your brains out on all the time? Or do you want something that's super responsive and really effortless to play, but maybe doesn't hold up quite as well when you want to really blast and have a strong sound? It's somewhat of a trade-off and a lot reed strength comes down to the anatomy of your face, how you're used to playing, and what feels comfortable.

Your Mouthpiece Matters Most

The more concrete side of things is your mouthpiece itself and this is where a lot of beginners can really get in trouble.

Oftentimes, beginner mouthpieces are a little more on the open side and work well with a nice soft reed. But then beginners think, "I need to go to harder and harder reeds." If you're playing a beginner mouthpiece with even a 3.5, that can often be much too hard for that mouthpiece and cause a lot of struggle. You may end up stuck thinking that you're just not good enough and you need to get stronger with your embouchure to make it sound good. But really, you're probably fighting your mouthpiece and reed combination more than you need to.

Tip Opening and Why It Changes Everything

Let's talk about what actually matters with the mouthpiece and reed strength.

A mouthpiece is mostly flat, but if you look at it, it has a little bit of a curve toward the tip. The reed itself is completely flat. So, when the flat reed lies against the slightly curved tip of the mouthpiece, you end up with a little bit of an opening at the tip. That tip opening is the biggest part of the mouthpiece that makes a difference for reed strength.

Another piece is the facing length, which has to do with how close or far away the reed and mouthpiece meet. There are even more aspects, like the rails, the tip rail, and the baffle, that make a difference in the sound and response but have less impact on the reed strength you need. However, I'm going to focus on tip opening because it's the more focused measurement of the mouthpiece and reed strength.

Here's how it works:

If you have a really open mouthpiece, with a lot of curve and a bigger tip opening, you're going to need a softer reed. The reed flaps and closes on the mouthpiece and then opens again as it vibrates in your mouth. So, with a bigger tip opening, you need a flexible reed that can make that slightly bigger gap and vibrate within it. Softer reeds are more flexible. Big tip opening, softer reed.

The opposite is also true. With a smaller tip opening and less distance, you need a firmer reed to vibrate against it. If you put the same soft reed that you'd use on the big tip opening onto a small one, it will start vibrating but won't have the energy to spring back and open up the distance. You'll end up with a pinched, closed off sound, especially when you're trying to play high and loud. The reed just sort of shuts and the sound is very thin - not very pretty. So, with a closed tip, you need a little bit firmer reed.

Two Charts That Will Help

I want to give you some specifics on what actually counts as a closed or open tip mouthpiece, and what counts as a softer or harder reed. I have two charts that will help you see more of the details.

The Vandoren mouthpiece chart is really nice because it has all of the tip opening measurements for Vandoren's mouthpieces, and Vandoren has a huge array of models. A lot of people have tried Vandoren mouthpieces, so you might already know if you like an M13, an M30, or a B45. You can look at the dimensions of those and compare them if you're trying another company's mouthpieces. An important thing to note is that the tip opening is measured in hundredths of a millimeter. The M13, for example, is right around 100, which is actually 1 millimeter. That's good to know because a lot of other companies will just tell you the millimeters, so they'll say 1.1 rather than 110 like on the Vandoren chart. This chart also has reed strength recommendations for all of their brands of reeds. If you're on Vandoren mouthpieces and Vandoren reeds, this chart is the perfect resource.

If you're on another brand or model, you have to do a little comparing. Look at the tip opening, look at this following reed comparison chart, and then you can find the right tip opening and reed strength for you.

Another option is the size comparison chart for reeds. When I recommend reed strengths in this post, I'm talking about the Vandoren Traditional, which is your Vandoren blue box and the most normal reed sizing. If you like the V12s or the Reserve Evolutions, or whatever else, you can see on the chart where those fall.

This chart doesn't have reed strengths for Légères. I know a lot of people like Légères and they're really popular, and I like them pretty well too. In my experience, the European Signature Légères run ever so slightly softer than a traditional reed, so maybe go down about a quarter strength from the traditional. In any case, you'll want to try a lot of things to find where it feels best with your mouthpiece. These are just broad recommendations.

Reed Strength Recommendations by Tip Opening

Mouthpieces start off in the very closed range at around 1 millimeter. Here's how I break things down.

• Closed tip openings (around 1 millimeter, up to about 1.1): Think the Vandoren M13 and M15, the D'Addario X0 and even the X5, and the Backun Vocalise R. For these I'd recommend around a size 4 reed. You could go up to a 4.5 or down to a 3.5 and feel out what's best for you, but 4 is probably the generic recommendation.
• Medium tip openings (1.1 millimeters, or 110 on the Vandoren chart): Think the Vandoren 5RV and M30, the D'Addario X10, and the G model of the Backun Vocalise. Because these are a little more open, you need a slightly softer reed. I recommend an average of 3.5 here. You could go down to a 3 or up to a 4.
• Large tip openings (around 1.2 millimeters): Think the Vandoren B40 and B45. D'Addario doesn't have very many big tip openings, but the X15 and X25 are up there, though they're less common models. The H model of the Backun Vocalise is the large tip opening there. For these I'd recommend somewhere around a size 3, maybe up to a 3.5, maybe even down to a 2.5.

I know a lot of professionals have more embouchure strength simply because they play so much and have more air support, and they also like a little firmer reed. So sometimes they'll play a 3.5 on even a B40, which is a pretty popular combination. Somewhere in that 3 to 3.5 range is where you're good to go for the largest tip opening mouthpieces.

It Really Is All About What Feels Best

That brings me to my final and most important point: it really is all about what feels best for you.

This post and the charts will give you some ideas about what should generally be good. If you find yourself playing a B40 with a large tip opening on a 4.5 reed and banging your head against the wall about why it doesn't feel good or play right, that's probably your issue. Same thing if you're playing an M13 with a 3 or a 2.5. You may realize there's something off there. But there's also a range for everything, depending on your particular embouchure and your level of air support.

So my recommendation is to figure out what mouthpiece you have, figure out what the tip opening is, and then try a couple of strengths.

• Small tip opening: get a 4 and a 3.5 and see which you like better.
• Medium tip opening: get a 3.5 and a 3, and maybe a 3.5 plus or even a 4, and see what you like out of those.
• Large tip opening: get a 3 and a 3.5, and maybe even a 2.5.

It's all about the range and making sure you're in the right ballpark for your mouthpiece opening. Then, experiment with different brands and strengths and see what feels best for your particular anatomy, the way you like to play, and the sound you want to get out of the instrument.

I hope that gives you more information about how reed strength works!

If you'd like to see this post in video form, please watch my Are You Using The Right Reed Strength? YouTube video.