Push comes to shove, there are really only three "systems" that are even close to mainstream these days. Anything else is an outlier, one that's not likely to be encountered by 99.99999% of clarinet players except through a photograph.
The "Albert":
This is (more or less) a linear development of the Müller clarinet of 1800 or so, the first "modern" clarinet. There are many variations on the keywork for these instruments, but they too are simply variations on the basic theme of holes set up by Müller. Different fingerings are a product of this horn's following the original arrangement. Thumb down gives you F#, not F, and T/xxx/xoo gives you B, not Bb.
These horns are still around in considerable quantities, and thanks to our friends in West Asia, they are again starting to show up "new". However, if you see the name Selmer or Buffet on an artist style clarinet from the late 1800's, it's quite possible that you are looking at a quality "pro" instrument with a fingering system that's going to be alien to most teachers and musicians.
There is nothing "wrong" with an Albert system clarinet. True, the scale is not as event as a Boehm horn (see below). But, the sound is "purer" than a Boehm in some respects, and some (me among them) find that the Albert horns blow freer than your typical Boehm horn.
One of my favorite memories of the days of my youth is the fingering chart included with the Rubank "Elementary" clarinet method. This was a two sided chart. On one side, there was printed what appeared to be a normal looking clarinet, yet if you tried to use the chart dependent from it, you ended up with some pretty strange sounding scales.
That was (of course) the Albert side of the chart. The other side, the one with a spindly looking metal clarinet, was the Boehm one.
The "Boehm":
This one should be called the Klose Boehm, a more proper name for the Boehm clarinet (which Oswald Boehm had little or nothing to do with). This is the "bog standard" 17/6 clarinet, the one that "everyone plays". 99 times out of a hundred, if you see a clarinet for sale outside of Germany, it's going to be a "Boehm".
The Boehm arose from reforms to the Müller performed by Klose, and it resulted in the addition of the trademark Boehm "brille" keys (the rings on axles) that operate offset keys elsewhere on the instrument. (These were added to the Albert horns as well, although in different configurations.) The Boehm arrangement resulted in thumb down giving us the familiar F, with T/xxx/xoo giving Bb. Different, but not necessarily better; both arrangements can be equally facile. The main "improvement" of the Boehm is probably the duplicated little finger keys. (These have been added to some Alberts as well.)
Variants on this are the Mazzeo and the Stubbins and the Reform Boehm, as well as the "full Boehm". More keys, different mechanisms added, but all still operating on the same general "hole pattern" on the instrument.
And then there's the Oehler system...
The Oehler system:
This is a linear development of the Müller horn, but without the modifications to the basic hole structure of the original. Instead, Oskar Oehler "perfected" the tuning of the notes on the horn by adding various venting mechanism. As a result, while the basic framework of the scale on the horn is much the same, a full blown Oehler horn will have numerous "vent" holes covered by little tiny pads operated not directly, but rather by other keys pressed to give the basic tone. (On mine, there are three of these attached directly to the brille rings of the finger holes alone, with others operated by linkages off of the rest of the keywork.
To say that Oehler horns are rare is a bit of a misstatement. In Germany, they are as common as - well - German clarinets. (Also present are other, non-Oehler, German clarinets that are similar to Albert instruments.) However, most non-German clarinettists will never see even a photograph of one, much less ever use one.
And, all of the above "systems" have been produced in Eb, D, C, basset horn, Eb alto, Bb bass, and contra form. (I've never seen nor heard of a G Boehm or Oehler horn.) These are correspondingly rarer, roughly in the same proportion to which Boehm versions are found.
And then there's the Romero clarinet. Not enough of those out there to even worry about, but they are different from all of the above.
The "Albert":
This is (more or less) a linear development of the Müller clarinet of 1800 or so, the first "modern" clarinet. There are many variations on the keywork for these instruments, but they too are simply variations on the basic theme of holes set up by Müller. Different fingerings are a product of this horn's following the original arrangement. Thumb down gives you F#, not F, and T/xxx/xoo gives you B, not Bb.
These horns are still around in considerable quantities, and thanks to our friends in West Asia, they are again starting to show up "new". However, if you see the name Selmer or Buffet on an artist style clarinet from the late 1800's, it's quite possible that you are looking at a quality "pro" instrument with a fingering system that's going to be alien to most teachers and musicians.
There is nothing "wrong" with an Albert system clarinet. True, the scale is not as event as a Boehm horn (see below). But, the sound is "purer" than a Boehm in some respects, and some (me among them) find that the Albert horns blow freer than your typical Boehm horn.
One of my favorite memories of the days of my youth is the fingering chart included with the Rubank "Elementary" clarinet method. This was a two sided chart. On one side, there was printed what appeared to be a normal looking clarinet, yet if you tried to use the chart dependent from it, you ended up with some pretty strange sounding scales.
That was (of course) the Albert side of the chart. The other side, the one with a spindly looking metal clarinet, was the Boehm one.
The "Boehm":
This one should be called the Klose Boehm, a more proper name for the Boehm clarinet (which Oswald Boehm had little or nothing to do with). This is the "bog standard" 17/6 clarinet, the one that "everyone plays". 99 times out of a hundred, if you see a clarinet for sale outside of Germany, it's going to be a "Boehm".
The Boehm arose from reforms to the Müller performed by Klose, and it resulted in the addition of the trademark Boehm "brille" keys (the rings on axles) that operate offset keys elsewhere on the instrument. (These were added to the Albert horns as well, although in different configurations.) The Boehm arrangement resulted in thumb down giving us the familiar F, with T/xxx/xoo giving Bb. Different, but not necessarily better; both arrangements can be equally facile. The main "improvement" of the Boehm is probably the duplicated little finger keys. (These have been added to some Alberts as well.)
Variants on this are the Mazzeo and the Stubbins and the Reform Boehm, as well as the "full Boehm". More keys, different mechanisms added, but all still operating on the same general "hole pattern" on the instrument.
And then there's the Oehler system...
The Oehler system:
This is a linear development of the Müller horn, but without the modifications to the basic hole structure of the original. Instead, Oskar Oehler "perfected" the tuning of the notes on the horn by adding various venting mechanism. As a result, while the basic framework of the scale on the horn is much the same, a full blown Oehler horn will have numerous "vent" holes covered by little tiny pads operated not directly, but rather by other keys pressed to give the basic tone. (On mine, there are three of these attached directly to the brille rings of the finger holes alone, with others operated by linkages off of the rest of the keywork.
To say that Oehler horns are rare is a bit of a misstatement. In Germany, they are as common as - well - German clarinets. (Also present are other, non-Oehler, German clarinets that are similar to Albert instruments.) However, most non-German clarinettists will never see even a photograph of one, much less ever use one.
And, all of the above "systems" have been produced in Eb, D, C, basset horn, Eb alto, Bb bass, and contra form. (I've never seen nor heard of a G Boehm or Oehler horn.) These are correspondingly rarer, roughly in the same proportion to which Boehm versions are found.
And then there's the Romero clarinet. Not enough of those out there to even worry about, but they are different from all of the above.
