Klarinet Archive - Posting 000347.txt from 1999/09

From: "Edwin V. Lacy" <el2@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: [kl] tonguing
Date: Tue, 14 Sep 1999 01:19:55 -0400

On Mon, 13 Sep 1999 GCalzati@-----.com wrote:

> With all due respect, I have never heard of tonguing using the tip of
> the tongue!
> [snip....]
> Anyway, all I told him was to curl his tongue under and behind his
> back teeth and use a part of the tongue farther back.

According to your description, it seems that what you are teaching is what
many would call "anchor tonguing." I think that a large majority of
teachers would try to avoid this like the plague. Sometimes, students can
develop this way of articulating without any help from a teacher, and once
the habit is established, it is very difficult to overcome. (Assuming
that the student &/or teacher want to overcome it.)

I know of one professor of saxophone at a major, prestigious institution
who says that he learned as a young musician to anchor tongue, and that he
was never able to do it any other way. Eventually, he gave up trying, and
decided to make the most of the method which had seemed to come naturally
to him. If you hear him play, you won't be able to tell that there is
anything unconventional about his articulation. However, I would say that
he represents a very rare exception. Most anchor-tonguing woodwind
players I have heard tend to have a rather hard or harsh sound to the
beginning of the notes, and are subject to slap tonguing, throat fatigue,
and other problems.

Also, I think woodwind players often say that the articulation should be
with the "tip of the tongue," but that they sometimes don't mean that
literally. For me, the reed contacts the tongue at a point on the top of
the tongue, just back of the tip, perhaps a quarter inch from the tip.

There are many versions of articulating, just as there are many shapes,
sizes, and configurations of the oral cavity and dental formations. What
I encourage students to do is to not be too quick to assume that they are
exceptions to the rule. I try very hard to start with a conventional
approach, which means articulating with the top of the tongue, very near
the tip. Only if it becomes obvious that it isn't going to work for a
particular student do I explore other options.

Ed Lacy
el2@-----.edu

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