Klarinet Archive - Posting 001032.txt from 1998/09

From: Neil Leupold <nleupold@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: [kl] A Hard Interval
Date: Sun, 27 Sep 1998 03:57:47 -0400

It's possible that my original transmission of
this reply never made it to the Klarinet list.
Here it is again, since others have now begun
to comment as well on the importance of air to
this discussion.

Neil

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On Fri, 25 Sep 1998, Karen Horvath wrote:

> Hello! I'm a freshman at college and I'm currently working out
> of book one of the Kroepsch Studies. There's quite a few difficult
> intervals in some of them but the one I'm having the most trouble
> with is from open G to high C. I just can't seem to get it smooth.
> Does anyone have any suggestions? Please help! Thanks.

Several helpful posts have appeared in response to Karen's question
about leaping from throat G to high clarion C. They've dealt with
such fundamental issues as embouchure development and tongue place-
ment, and perhaps another element or two pertaining to the basics
of clarinet technique. Conspicuously absent from the discussion
thus far (and surprisingly so from my perspective) have been the
requisite references to support and control of the air column.
I'll take an initial crack at it, and others of you may feel
free (of course) to append.

To my mind, control over the air stream supercedes all other
elements of clarinet technique with regard to the prospect of
mastering the instrument as a musical tool. It should be con-
sidered first in the line of reasoning toward the solution of
any given technical difficulty. This includes the embouchure,
finger dexterity, and articulation. Subordination of these other
areas to the use of the air stream as the central means for pro-
duction/control of tone and melody is the key to total tech-
nical facility. It is via the air that a player acquires the
ability to relax the body and recognize the difference between
technically crippling muscular tension and effective and con-
trolled muscular pressure. It is by concentrating completely
on the air stream that a player begins to understand how vital
it is that the embouchure be true to its etymological origins.
Embouchure is, literally, merely an opening and should, in the
final analysis, be as uninvolved as possible in the manipulation
of reed vibration, contingent upon the properties of a given
physical setup.

All of this philosophizing having been submitted, let's allow
some fresh "air" to enter the discussion on bridging the gap
between throat G and high clarion C. The air stream is the only
aspect of technique which actually motivates the reed to vibrate.
Without consistent and controlled vibration of the reed, no other
element of technique bears any importance to the discussion. It
makes sense, then, to ensure that our foundation is established
before we start talking about the structure which is to rest upon
it. No degree of finger agility or delicacy, nor any level of
embouchure stability or control, will help Karen slur from G to
C if she isn't already generating a well-focused, well-supported
stream of air across, and past, the reed -- thereby motivating
it to continue its steady vibration as it suddenly jumps from
a fundamental frequency of oscillation to a frequency which
produces the appropriate harmonic. Hmph. All this from simply
covering up a thumb ring and depressing the register key.

So. Karen. Are you producing a well-supported, well-focused
stream of air? None of the above is meant to suggest that the
embouchure may be disregarded, either. The air can not do its
job if the embouchure is getting in the way. The embouchure?
No. The jaw. If the jaw is dropped away from the reed, one
begins to recognize quickly that the surrounding facial muscu-
lature, starting with the lips themselves, must be developed
enough to support the mouthpiece and reed -- to an extent that
the jaw does with no effort at all. The jaw has no malleability,
unfortunately. It is not sensitive or flexible the way the sur-
rounding tissue is. It goes up. And it goes down. It's a vice.
Get it out of the picture and say "ooh" with the lips in order
to form the basically correct template for proper embouchure
shape. Ultimately, you want to feel consciously that the lower
teeth are no longer in direct contact with the upper inside of
the lower lip. Then you know that the jaw is no longer inhibit-
ing or frustrating reed vibration. But the embouchure muscles
must be developed sufficiently before this becomes a reality.
And you have to move toward it slowly. But I guarantee that
if you slur from clarion G to high clarion C while dropping
those lower teeth (hence, your jaw) away from the reed --
and sustain a well-focused, well-supported air stream across
the interval -- you will begin to teach yourself how to fill
in the gap with the least amount of other physical effort.
The diaphragm assumes the brute force that the jaw once
did -- but using more diaphragm benfits reed vibration
rather than confounding it.

An exercise. If you can do very tip-to-tip tonguing (meaning
that you really are using the very tip of your tongue to the
very tip of the reed), then you're already focusing the air
stream to a minimum degree. Hey, that sort of rhymes. Pro-
duce an open G and then, while continuing to support the air
stream, discontinue vibration of the reed by placing the tip
of your tongue on it. Your diaphragm should still be expanded,
pushing downward and outward, maintaining pressure on the air
stream while it holds behind the reed. With this dynamic in
place, finger the high C. Then release the focused, supported
air stream across the reed by removing the tip of your tongue.
If your jaw is dropped while you do this exercise, the embou-
chure will not get in the way of reed vibration and that high
C will speak in all of its glory.

And if you can successfully and elegantly tongue staccato
between any two notes on the clarinet, then you can slur be-
twen those two notes with equal grace and ease. The trick?
Remember and retain the physical arrangement of your embou-
chure and the continuous support of the air stream as you
move your fingers. Voicing is taken care of by ensuring
that the tip of the tongue remains close to the tip of the
reed, in the same plane, as you make the jump. Don't make
any sudden adjustments in the distance between tongue tip
and reed tip. Those couple of millimeters should remain a
constant. Support the air as if you were going to tongue,
and keep the embouchure/jaw away from the reed as if you
were going to tongue -- and then "don't use the tongue."
Slurring between G and C is actually one of the easier
intervals when you consider it in these terms, because
the issue of finger coordination and control is virtu-
ally moot in this case.

Oh, and don't puff the cheeks -- not even slightly.
If your jaw is dropped and your air focused, you're
not doing this anyway, but even an elementary idea
such as this bears recital.

Best of luck!

Neil

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