Klarinet Archive - Posting 000264.txt from 1995/06

From: John Baetens <JSBtens@-----.COM>
Subj: Re: Glissandos
Date: Wed, 14 Jun 1995 03:37:48 -0400

Nichelle Crocker writes:

>The person who gave me this advice said that the tongue
>position I described (up against the top molars) is where it
>should be already. I had never heard that before, or really
>any comments about "proper tongue position". Any
>comments on this?

I remember reading something similar to this in a Leblanc Bell
magazine while I was waiting for my daughter's sax lesson to
end. It said the proper tongue position was to have the sides
of the tongue against the insides of the upper molars and the
middle of the tongue should form a venturi to force the air flow
into a narrow, fast moving stream. I could hardly wait to get
home to try it. When I got out my clarinet and began to play,
I realized that I've been positioning my tongue this exact same
way all the time. It seems to me that it is almost required to
position the tongue this way so it will be in the proper position
to tongue the tip of the mouthpiece.

John Baetens