Flex-Ability: Classics: Clarinet/Bass Clarinet Book

López's orchestration here is genuinely clever. He takes 11 masterworks and reinvents them in rock, jazz, swing, and contemporary styles that actually sound like those genres, not like classical pieces wearing costumes. The result keeps students engaged with music history while honoring the originals, and the flexible scoring means a clarinet section can coexist with bass clarinets, mixed woodwinds, or even brass without anyone sounding out of place.

Energetic and contemporary. These arrangements strip away the weight of formality and replace it with groove, swing, and rhythmic vitality. The clarinet sits comfortably in the texture, sometimes leading, sometimes blending, always with a sense that these old stories are alive and moving.

Clarinet and bass clarinet players working at levels 1 through 3 who want to experience classical themes in contemporary contexts. This book works equally well for a mixed woodwind section, a clarinet quartet, or a flexible ensemble pulling from band, orchestra, and choir.

• Establish the style first. Spend rehearsal time nailing the swing feel or rock groove before worrying about articulation consistency across ability levels. The contemporary context is what gives these arrangements their energy.
• Balance the reinforcement. If you're running this with mixed levels, have stronger players support without drowning out the weaker ones; the flexibility of the score lets them do both.
• Use the program notes. Sharing the background on each piece (Bizet's Carmen, Dvořák's New World Symphony, etc.) reconnects students to why these themes matter, even in new clothes.

Use this as a bridge between concert and casual performance contexts. A pops concert, end-of-unit celebration, or mixed ensemble showcase benefits from pieces that are recognizable, stylistically adventurous, and immediately engaging for an audience unfamiliar with classical form. The variety of themes also means you can program individual selections across different concerts rather than committing to all 11 at once.

• Playing in rock, jazz, and swing styles with appropriate feel and articulation
• Balancing independent lines within flexible instrumentation
• Recognizing classical themes and their harmonic structure in contemporary arrangements
• Reading at multiple ability levels within the same ensemble context