Klarinet Archive - Posting 000201.txt from 1998/06

From: Lee Hickling <hickling@-----.Net>
Subj: [kl] The "uvular tongue"
Date: Fri, 5 Jun 1998 07:38:09 -0400

My first private teacher taught me a technique that I have used ever since,
which he called the "uvular tongue." I never considered that it might not
be in universal use until I read some of the recent posts on Klarinet on
double tongueing that made me wonder whether it could be in fact news to
some of the quite advanced players who are subscribers.

It's not really "uvular," because it's done with the soft palate, not the
uvula alone. All it involves is starting a tone with a "kuh" instead of a
"tee." That gives a clear, clean but gentle beginning to a tone. I often
use it in preference to a "tongue tongue," especially in passages where one
wants a smooth, quasi-legato feeling. It can never replace the normal
tongueing technique, especially at up tempos, but it's a valuable part of a
clarinetist's armament. Works on saxes, too, at least sopranos, altos and
tenors. I can't recall whether I used to use it on a bari.

Double tongueing uses the "uvular tongue" as its second part. Tee-kah,
tee-kah, tee-kah. It can be done quite rapidly, with relatively little
practice - a few hours. Some of the subdivision exercises in the old Rubank
Elementary Book are perfect study material.

Triple tongueing, trumpet style, is another thing entirely. Theoretically,
it should be possible, but I've never been able to make it work for me
except at slow to moderate tempi, when there's really no need for it.

By the way, teaching that tonguing is done with a "too" as brass wind
players do is a mistake, I think, and inappropriate for the clarinet. "Too"
thrusts the tongue too far forward and makes it too hard. With it beginners
tend to produce a sound like that of a "slap tongue," a comic technique
that used to be used by gaspipers and some other old trad jazz players. Of
course, everything depends on a player's individual conformation of the
mouth and tongue, but for me, "tee" comes much closer than "too" to what it
takes to start a tone cleanly but without a pop, a boing, or any of the
other nasty little noises that beginners - and not always just beginners -
can produce from a clarinet.

Lee Hickling <hickling@-----.net>

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