Clarinet Composer, Teacher, and Inventor Graham Lyons has Passed Away

Graham Lyons-inventor of the Lyons C clarinet, which allowed children to study the instrument earlier-has died.

Lyons started the piano at six, and, even without formal training, continued to play into adulthood. However, his true passion lay with the clarinet, which he took up at thirteen years old, inspired by Benny Goodman. After reading physics at Oxford, he studied the bassoon and composition at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, paying for his tuition by playing the piano, clarinet, and saxophone.

In the following years, Lyons played the clarinet, flute, saxophone and bassoon in clubs, on stage, and on radio, and wrote music for television, bands, cabarets, and BBC light orchestras. However, he is best remembered for his contributions to music education. Besides teaching, Lyons wrote countless pieces for young learners, more than half a million copies of which have been sold. He also created the website, usefulmusic.com-where he is described as "one of the most successful composers of educational music in Britain"-and its accompanying YouTube channel, "to make it much easier for [his] fellow teachers to find music for their students to play."

Lyons is also an inventor, and is credited with creating the Lyons C clarinet, which won the British Design Award in 1993. The plastic instrument is shorter and lighter than the standard B-flat clarinet, making it more accessible to young musicians. Now sold as the Clarinéo by the company, NUVO, the instrument is advertised as possessing a range capable of performing Mozart's Clarinet Concerto.

Videos of his compositions and recordings have amassed hundreds of millions of views on YouTube.