Clarinets are categorized according to three main factors

Material, Pitch and Key System

Material: As it is known as woodwind instrument, the most common and preferred material is wood. Ebonite clarinets are very popular and there are some good quality examples of clarinets made of Grenadilla (known as African Black Wood) and Mopany (Mahogany). Even though it is not a popular material, olive tree is also used by some manufacturers.
Plastic clarinets probably started as a low cost alternative to wood ones but improved a lot. Lots of well reputable clarinet and mouthpiece manufacturers are producing very good quality plastic clarinets and accessories. These are commonly used by many musicians as their light weight and strength is found useful. Not every plastic clarinet is good quality however, so make sure it comes from a reliable manufacturer or source.

There are also metal clarinets available on the market. These type of clarinets were very popular by Jazz clarinet players and still can be found in the market. Also metal clarinets are quite popular in Turkey as a low cost alternative to wooden Albert System clarinets in low G.

Pitch: Clarinets can be found in different pitches from high G to low G, including A, A-flat, D, C, B-flat. Bb is the most common pitch followed by A. Low G clarinet (also known as the Turkish clarinet) is the lowest pitch one before the shape changes to Bassette. From this pitch and shape, clarinets can be found as Bassette F, Bassette A, Alto E-flat, Bass A and Bb, Contra alto E-flat, Contra bass Bb, Sub Contra Alto E-flat, Sub Contra Bass Bb and Saxonette.

Key System: Most commonly used key system for clarinets is called Boehm (French System) These types of clarinets have more keys and rings than the other common system, Albert (or German) style clarinets. There is also another German system, called Oehler, which is basically made in Albert style but with alternative additions to keys and rings.

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