24 Varied Scales & Exercises for the Clarinet

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Jean-Baptiste Albert (1845–1899) was a Belgian clarinettist and craftsman, one of three sons of Eugène Albert; Eugène was chiefly known for his mechanism refinements to the Müller clarinet design.  Ironically, while the "Albert/simple system" clarinet has been largely replaced by the Boehm and Oehler systems, J. B. Albert's Scales and Exercises book remains an extremely popular resource for establishing fundamental clarinet technique.

All major and minor keys (up to 6 sharps and 6 flats) are included.  Each key contains a single page of the same 12 exercises; each exercise is 1–2 lines long:

(1, 2) Scale: in sixteenth notes with eighth-note interruptions, and straight sixteenth notes
(3, 4) Broken scale, in groups of 3 and 4
(5) Scale in thirds
(6) Triad arpeggio
(7, 8, 9) Broken triad arpeggio, in groups of 4, 3, and 2
(10, 11) Triad arpeggio with lower chromatic neighbors, in sixteenth notes and sextuplets
(12) Chromatic scale

Each exercise essentially stays within a two-octave range; therefore, there is regular use of the altissimo register, although the writing never goes above a written F♯6.  
The keys are ordered in pairs of major and relative minor.  It starts at C Major, adds flats up to six, switches to six sharps, and progressively removes sharps.  This creates a "hill-shaped" difficulty curve, and some clarinettists may prefer to program the book by alternating 1 sharp/1 flat, 2 sharps/2 flats, etc.

Quick facts
Length: average exercise length = 1–2 lines
Range: highest pitch = written F♯6
Key signature: no ♯/♭, 1♯, 2♯, 3♯, 4♯, 5♯, 6♯, 1♭, 2♭, 3♭, 4♭, 5♭, 6♭
Time signature: 3/4, 4/4

Albert's book accomplishes a good spread of basic technical demands in a very concise format.  By completing all 26 keys, clarinettists will encounter a rich mixture of basic fingering patterns which form the foundation of technical ability.

Editor Julie DeRoche includes two pages of practice suggestions, where she indicates her preference for the difficulty arc of the key organization, and lays out a methodical plan for technical improvement.  By following her proposed steps of one key per week, increasing metronome speeds daily from 𝅘𝅥=60, clarinettists will spend almost an entire year to complete the book.  DeRoche writes that completion of this process will improve one's speed, accuracy, sight-reading ability, tone, rhythm, and more.