Klarinet Archive - Posting 000329.txt from 1999/09

From: "Karl Krelove" <kkrelove@-----.com>
Subj: RE: [kl] tonguing
Date: Mon, 13 Sep 1999 19:33:56 -0400

David's response is excellent. I would only add that nine times out of ten,
the scooping and thinness that make tonguing in the upper register sound so
bad is caused at least in part by poor choice of reed strength. Very often,
the younger player, especially in a group lesson that is typical of
school-based (as opposed to private) lessons, chooses reeds that are too
thin because they are very easy-blowing. The reed should not be so stiff
that the tone becomes airy or unstable, but it needs to be stiff enough to
allow the stronger embouchure that is required for good pitch in the upper
notes of the clarion register. A great many kids make it all the way to high
school band programs playing (almost always inappropriately) on the #2's
they started on unless someone along the way tells them to try a higher
strength to see how it works. There is no one-size-fits-all rule about what
strength is correct - it depends on the individual mouthpiece involved, and
some experimentation is needed. But breathing and articulating techniques,
which are important to get a good result, will provide little improvement if
applied to a reed that collapses at the first touch of the lower lip.

Karl Krelove

> -----Original Message-----
> From: David Smith [mailto:david-patty@-----.net]
> Sent: Monday, September 13, 1999 7:34 PM
> To: klarinet@-----.org
> Subject: Re: [kl] tonguing
>
>
> Dear Harmony,
>
> This is probably the MOST difficult area of teaching and playing the
> clarinet. But it can be taught!
>
> First of all, air support. The student must be filling her lungs and
> supporting with the muscles all around the lungs and abdominal area. The
> lungs not only expand out, they expand down. One must feel
> oneself pushing
> down and out and this must be consistent.
> Poor playing habits, such as lifting the shoulders must be stopped here if
> they have persisted, because lifting the shoulders is antithetical to
> expanding the lung and abdominal cavities; creating unneeded
> tension in the
> upper body.
> Second, positioning of the tongue on the reed, and the release of
> the tongue
> from the reed. With beginners, I like to say "tip of the tongue to tip of
> the reed". And that the tongue should get off the reed as quickly as
> possible. One can keep percussive effects for later.
> One metaphor for clarinet tonguing lies in the articulation difference
> between piano and organ. On the piano, the articulation is created
> primarily by how one strikes the key, whereas on the organ, it is
> created by
> the release of the key. If the tongue remains on the reed for long it
> pretty much closes things up, so the tongue can be seen much as a
> valve (?)
> opening an organ pipe; when one releases the key, the pipe is open. When
> the tongue is removed, the clarinet sounds.
> I would suggest slurred scales in the second register for ensemble, and
> individual home practice ( C, Bb, D ) with the concentration on
> the support
> issue. Next, have the students play two half notes on each pitch of the
> scale, stressing that the tongue INTERRUPTS the air flow which is
> continually supported. Emphasize that the support of the air by
> the muscles
> does not end lr fluctuate merely because the tongue is doing something.
> Follow this by four quarter notes on each pitch, with the same
> idea in mind.
> This also is where good long tone warm ups come in very handy.
> A student
> will not be able to concentrate on the proper tongue movements if he is
> still struggling to get air support techniques correct. I have
> found that a
> scale or two in the chalumeau (low) register done in really slow
> long tones
> helps students focus exclusively on warming up these muscles and
> getting the
> air supported correctly from the beginning.
> I tell my private students that the air, fingers and tongue are like
> neighbors in a commuter suburb. They all live next door to each
> other, but
> they don't have anything to do with each other. What the tongue
> does, does
> not interfere with the air and what the fingers do does not interfere with
> the tongue. They each just do their thing without bothering the
> others. It
> is in practicing these principles individually, once the band teacher has
> stressed them over and over again in the classroom, that the section will
> sound much better when tonguing together. As for those geese, they will
> have migrated south, not just for the winter, but for good.
>
> I hope you find this helpful.
>
> Sincerely,
> Patty Smith
>
>
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