The Lyons C Clarinet is a beginner's instrument you can play for the rest of your life.

Modern materials and technology have reduced its weight and size so it is truly a proper clarinet for children - the average 7-year-old can play it comfortably. The Lyons C Clarinet is suitable for all beginners, yet the tone and full range of a clarinet are still there - hear it for yourself.

The Lyons C Clarinet is the most important advance in acoustic instrument design since the invention of the saxophone in 1840. The drawbacks of the standard clarinet :- excessive weight on the thumb, holes too large for small fingers, maintenance costs, and vulnerability to both the weather and careless treatment have been eliminated. Progress for beginners is fast and enjoyable, yet the Lyons C Clarinet can play jazz and classical music to a professional standard, as you can hear and see on the DVD. Graham Lyons' motive for developing this clarinet was not to add refinements for high-level professionals but to help all those wanting to learn a musical instrument, especially children.

If you don't believe these claims - and they're pretty startling! - send for a 25-minute DVD and pay only the cost of shipping it to you. The DVD features the acoustic and technical designers and many of Britain's top musicians and music educators and, of course, children playing and discussing the Lyons C Clarinet. All participants gave their services freely because of their enthusiam for this clarinet and for what it can do for music and young children.

Are you thinking of a musical instrument for your child?

Does your child really want to play the sax (or you do!) but you're concerned about the expense if he or she (or you) give up?

Thinking of learning an instrument yourself from scratch?

You played an instrument many years ago and are thinking of taking up music again?

Do you teach music in Elementary (British Primary) schools?

Do you teach music in Junior High or High (British secondary) schools?

Do you already play clarinet (B-flat and/or A) and want a C clarinet?

Find the answers to these questions here on this site. Take a while to browse through the website and find out more about this truly amazing instrument.

In 1993 the Lyons C Clarinet won the British Design Award for practical innovation.

"The Lyons C Clarinet has addressed all the factors which inhibit children from learning the traditional B-flat clarinet, its weight, size, cost, fragility and difficulty in producing notes, and remedied them." (JUDGES PANEL, British Design Awards)

You can read what other well-known musicians and teachers such as Humphrey Lyttelton, Sir Charles Groves and Richard Addison had to say about the Lyons C Clarinet on our reviews page.

"I would have no hesitation in using it professionally"

Jack Brymer playing the clarinet with Graham Lyons

Jack Brymer, who died on September 18, 2003, was one of the few classical clarinettists to have achieved international fame. He held the position of principal clarinet with three major British orchestras successively over a 30-year period. His recording of Mozart's Clarinet Concerto with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under Sir Thomas Beecham is on many critics' lists as one of the outstanding recordings of the twentieth century.

You might think that by designing the Lyons C Clarinet as a beginner's instrument the tone has been compromised. This is not so.The acoustic design is by the late Ted Planas, who probably knew more about the science and practice of woodwind instrument design than anyone else. His contribution to the Lyons C Clarinet is the reason professional clarinettists are so enthusastic about its acoustics - its tone and tuning. Take a look at the reviews. They prove that the Lyons C Clarinet produces music of a quality that satisfies professional musicians. You can therefore be confident that it's right for you or your child.

The precision keywork fits securely on the body. But a true world's first is this astonishing, highly practical innovation: the keys clip onto the body and so can be replaced by the owner.

This means that the Lyons C Clarinet can be maintained and repaired by the owner or teacher for a tiny fraction of the cost of conventional woodwind instruments. This is particularly useful in a school environment. A school stock of Lyons Clarinets can always kept be in playing condition at negligible cost. There is a fully comprehensive repair and troubleshooting guide on this website and all spares can be ordered from the purchase section.