Benny Goodman was declared the "King of Swing." He was so extraordinarily capable on the clarinet that he became the definitive clarinet musician in the world. During Goodman's "reign," a clarinet player had to play the instrument in Goodman's style, or it was considered that he was not playing clarinet correctly. This created tremendous pressure for good clarinet players; they would have preferred to develop their own style instead of being a copy of Goodman.