High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et (meaning little) to the Italian word clarino (meaning a type of trumpet designed for high-register playing), as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed. In jazz contexts, it has sometimes been informally referred to as the "licorice stick."