Klarinet Archive - Posting 000222.txt from 1997/01

From: Nathaniel F Johnson <clarinat@-----.com>
Subj:
Date: Sat, 18 Jan 1997 02:00:24 -0500

>Can anyone give me suggestions about how to flutter tongue on the BASS
>CLARINET?

I don't play BASS CLARINET at all, but I would imagine that the technique
is largely the same. When I flutter-tongue on the B-flat, I DO NOT do it
on the reed. It seems to me that some of my colleagues who have tried
fluttering and failed, have had trouble with it because their tongues are
actually contacting the reed. The end of the top part of my tongue (the
part that I tongue with normally, as opposed to the VERY tip) strikes my
hard palate. Meanwhile, the underside of my tongue stays about one
sixteenth to one eighth of an inch--a guess, as I have trouble reading
the numbers on the ruler while I'm playing ;-) --away from the tip of the
mouthpiece and reed. I was never "taught" to flutter; I just picked the
technique up when I found that I needed it. However, I think that if you
try it this way it should work.

Best of luck,

Nathaniel Johnson
Conductor / Clarinettist
All-Around Good Guy
University of Northern Colorado