Klarinet Archive - Posting 000139.txt from 1997/10

From: YeomanHuff@-----.com
Subj: Re: Anchor tonguing
Date: Sun, 5 Oct 1997 13:03:11 -0400

In a message dated 97-10-04 23:27:04 EDT, reedman@-----.com writes:

<< My question is this. Any anchor tonguing players out there who teach, and
have experience teaching that? If so -how?? (any suggestions besides curl
the tongue behind the bottom teeth) Do you anchor because of a long tongue,
or is it just the way that you started out? >>

Hi David.

What I do isn't anchor tonguing as the definition goes, but I'll pass it
along anyway. It is more of a stable tongue position that was taught to me
long, long ago and it has served me well, as I can get virtually any degree
of sensitivity or speed to my tonguing technique today.

Basically, what I do is have the sides of my tongue lightly touching the
inside edges of my top side teeth, with the center and back of my tongue
dropped very low to form a deep channel for the air. The tip is very high to
continue this air channel up an over and down into the mouthpiece. The tip
is very free to move, but only the tip.

This technique was explained to me by saying the sound "Rrrr" (as in
something like "Rrrrow the boat." Feel where your tongue goes when you do
that? (I am picturing many list members doing this at this very moment. :)
That's exactly where my tongue is when I play. Feel the sides along the
inside of the top molars? Feel where the tip goes? And there it stays. I
don't consciously "anchor" it on the top teeth, but it never moves from
there.

Most students naturally form a channel with their tongue just by listening to
the sound. Every once in a great while I have a student with severe tonguing
difficulty that I explain this technique to, and it has helped. However, I
have never checked if a student can touch their forehead with their tongue...
(I can't either, by the way. :)

Teri Herel.