The Clarinet is a wind musical instrument. It consists of a long cylindrical bore with six basic tone holes in the front and one in the back. It also features a series of keys that cover or uncover the remaining tone holes along the instrument’s body. Sound is produced by means of a vibrating reed in the mouthpiece, which is located at the top end of the Clarinet. The instrument typically consists of five parts, which are – from top to bottom: the mouthpiece, the barrel joint, the upper joint, the lower joint, and the bell. It is made of wood, most commonly African hardwood or Honduran rosewood, and the reed is typically a piece of wild cane, cut down to the appropriate size. The Clarinet resulted from the evolution of earlier, similar instruments. A predecessor of the Clarinet is the French wind instrument known as chalumeau (meaning cane), to which a series of keys were gradually added. A landmark in its development was the addition of a key next to the instrument’s rear hole (which is also known as the “soul”, in Greece), by the German instrument maker Johann Christoph Denner. In 1839, Hyacinthe Klosé, a Frenchman, added the final touch to the development of the contemporary Clarinet by rearranging the keys. The Clarinet is very important in Greek folk music, as it is prominent across country, from the Peloponnese to Central Greece, Epirus and Thessalia, and the islands of the Eastern Aegean. The circumstances under which the Clarinet was introduced to Greece are unknown. One version of events credits its dissemination to musicians that served as part of military bands of the Ottoman and Greek armies. According to another version, the Clarinet became known in the Balkans through travelling gypsy musicians, who introduced it to Europe during the mid-19th century. In Greece, the traditional Clarinet is on the scale of C, but Clarinets on the scale of B are also widely used. A metal version on the scale of G is also used in Thrace. Greek folk musicians developed the Clarinet’s playing technique; it was a gradual process that led, eventually, to a characteristic and easily recognisable sound.