Klarinet Archive - Posting 000048.txt from 1996/03

From: Teri Herel <EnsHerel@-----.COM>
Subj: Re: fluttertongue
Date: Sun, 3 Mar 1996 17:30:09 -0500

So now I wonder why I've spent years with Opperman book 3, Intervalic
Permutations, working to get rid of all tongue & throat motion as we span
these large intervals...

In a message dated 96-03-03 13:05:59 EST, Armand.Ferland@-----.CA
(Armand Ferland) writes:

>Hello Nick,
> As you know, there is a lot of adjusting of the oral cavity going
>on as we play. This is done mainly by moving the tongue backward of forward
>depending on the register we play in. An X-Ray film I saw many years ago,
>showing the tongue position in the entire clarinet range, made me
>understand this more than anythig I had previously imagined on my own. The
>player performing on the film is Joseph Marchi, who was then professor of
>clarinet at the Marseilles Conservatoire.
> You state that flutter tonguing and double tonguing become
>difficult starting on G in the clarinet register. What strikes me is that,
>as you go up the scale, it is precisely when one reaches the G or A in the
>clarinet register that the tongue moves back perceptibly to adjust to that
>area of the compass. Coincidence? Perhaps not. You can verify this on your
>own by playing G'' and E' alternately (using the G'' fingering for both
>notes), then A'' and F' using the A'' fingering, and B'' and G' using the
>B'' fingering, without changing your embouchure (lip pressure) but allowing
>your tongue (it feels like a throat movement) to accomplish the required
>change.
> So when you play in that area of the clarinet register or higher,
>your tongue may no longer in an ideal position to roll your Rs like a Scott
>or a Russian. Moving the the tip of the tongue further back on the palate
>will help and should not be too difficult if you are using a "tip of tongue
>to tip of reed" articulation. If not, you may find that the mouthpiece is
>in the way, so using a guttural R (French and German) will probably be your
>answer.
> By the way, I think the fact that the tongue moves back when one
>plays high notes expains the difficulty of tonguing in the very high
>register or "suraigu". (I do not use the word altissimo because all
>anglophones do not seem to agree on the meaning of the word.) That is why
>"breath attacks", simulating normal articulation, are commonly used when
>playing above G'''.
>
>