Klarinet Archive - Posting 000148.txt from 1997/10

From: Ken Bryson <kbryson@-----.com>
Subj: Re: Anchor tonguing
Date: Sun, 5 Oct 1997 21:52:47 -0400

Anchor tonguing is the method of articulation I was taught by my first
clarinet teacher. He didn't call it that, but having heard and read
descriptions of anchor tonguing, that is what it was. I recall him
showing me a picture depicting the tip of the tongue resting at the base
of the lower teeth and the middle section of the tongue rising up to
contact the reed. In working with my current teacher, I have begun
experimenting with using the tip of the tongue. I am using this
technique a good bit of the time now, but still find it awkward. Also,
I find I have much better results using the anchor tonguing (rather than
tip to tip) method in the altissimo register. Somehow repositioning the
tongue in order to be able to use the tip to contact the reed destroys
my tone control in the upper reaches (what little there is). Keith
Stein's book describes a couple of variations on anchor tonguing which I
found impossible to achieve when I tried them out. Is anyone familiar
with them? I will be watching this thread with interest--I am wondering
if I need to completely relearn articulation to eliminate all vestiges
of anchor tonguing, or maybe can continue with a sort of mixed approach.

Nancy (using Ken's email)

Roger Garrett wrote:
>
> On Sun, 5 Oct 1997, Edwin V. Lacy wrote:
>
> > The difficulty is that many of these exceptional types of articulation
> > interfere with the air stream, yet students are unaware of this. So,
> > while I agree with your heirarchy (tone production is first, then
> > articulation, then fingers), I can't equate anchor tongueing with better
> > tone production. All my experience indicates the contrary.
>
> Of all the student I have who anchor tongue or students in the past who
> have anchor tongued, none of them could tongue well in legato passages,
> and all had sound production problems. However, I believe that these
> students were not motivated to solve their sound production problems in
> much the same way that they were not motivated to solve their tonguing
> promblems. I am not sure that the anchor tonguing was the cause of the
> problem.
>
> > I suspect that teaching effective articulation and tone production to a
> > student who had been taught anchor tongueing would be even more difficult
> > that teaching one who had learned it more of less by experimentation. The
> > apparent endorsement of this method by a teacher would lend it more of an
> > air of authority and credence, which would be likely to increase the
> > student's resistance to learning other ways.
>
> I agree with this statement. I would like to point out that there are
> many professionals who anchor tongue. One of them, a close friend of
> mine, works at Illinois State University and used to play 2nd Clarinet to
> Larry Combs in the Santa Fe Opera. His name is Aris Chavez. Aris would
> be the first person to tell you that he a) does not teach anchor tonguing,
> and b) has a slow tongue.
>
> There is much to be said about this way of articulating....I would be
> interested in hearing from many on the listserv who have opinions or
> anchor tongue themselves. This is an excellent discussion topic!
>
> Roger Garrett

   
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