La clarinette est un instrument de musique à vent de la famille des bois caractérisée par son anche simple et sa perce quasi cylindrique.
Elle a été créée vers 1690 par Johann Christoph Denner (1655-1707) à Nuremberg sur la base d'un instrument à anche simple
plus ancien : le « chalumeau ».
On utilise la clarinette dans la musique classique et traditionnelle ainsi que dans le jazz. 
Parmi les compositions célèbres pour cet instrument, on peut citer le Concerto pour clarinette de Mozart.
En 1810, Heinrich Bärmann (1784-1847) proposa le retournement du bec, positionnant ainsi l'anche sur la lèvre inférieure du musicien.
La clarinette fut amenée à son degré de perfectionnement actuel par les facteurs d'instruments français, Muller à Lyon, Lefebre à Paris,
Baumann, Winnen, Guerre, Raingo à Mons, Amlingue, Simiot, Louis-Auguste Buffet en collaboration avec le clarinettiste Hyacinthe Klosé.
Tous deux adoptèrent le principe des anneaux mobiles que l'Allemand Theobald Boehm avait imaginé pour la flûte : le système Boehm.
Aujourd'hui, le système Boehm est utilisé par les clarinettistes du monde entier, aux exceptions des Allemands et des Autrichiens,
qui se servent pour laplupart du système concurrent : le système Oehler.
Un autre système à treize clés mis au point par Eugène Albert au XIXe siècle, le système Albert, est encore utilisé de nos jours.
La clarinette Boehm comporte donc 17 clés, parfois 18.
Il existe deux variantes du système Oehler comportant respectivement 19 et 27 clés.
Invented around 1690, the clarinet is a single-reed woodwind instrument with a cylindrical tube.
The clarinet evolved from an earlier instrument called the chalumeau, the first true single reed instrument.
Johann Christoph Denner of Nuremburg with the help of his son Jacob improved the chalumeau, creating a new instrument called the clarinet.
Denner added two keys to the chalumeau and increased that instruments range by over two octaves.
He also created a better mouthpiece and improved the bell end of the instrument.
In 1843, the clarinet was further improved when Klose adapted the Boehm flute key system to the clarinet.
Mozart was the first composer to use the clarinet in a symphony.
The history of the clarinet continued to develop as two-keyed clarinets underwent a variety of improvements and were introduced to France and England.
By about 1750, the clarinet body had taken the basic shape we see today, but the keywork continued to evolve.
In about 1780, five keys were being used. And by 1820 or 1830, clarinets were commonly in use that had 12 or 13 keys.
By 1850 or so Boehm system keywork had been introduced.
This system, based on the keywork then being used on the flute, managed to eliminated some very difficult fingerings.
It is the system most commonly used today although Albert fingering systems are also still in use, primarily in Europe
In the mid to late 1700's, composers had begun writing musical pieces that included, or were specifically written for, clarinets.
The instrument became much more prominent in the 1800's, and large volumes of music were written for it in the early 1900's.
Today, there are minor variations in different models.
Manufacturers use slightly different bore diameters and shapes, and occasionally additional keys. Most modern clarinets have 17 or 18 keys.