Klarinet Archive - Posting 000577.txt from 2001/11

From: MVinquist@-----.com
Subj: [kl] Kabalewsky Overture to Colas Breugnon
Date: Sat, 17 Nov 2001 10:17:48 -0500

Alexander Brash says:
>I've been working on the Kabalewsky Overture to Colas Breugnon for All State
in two weeks. I have the part learned pretty much cold, my problem is the
incessant tonguing of eight notes at half@-----.<

Alexander -

Two weeks is just about enough time to make an improvement. At that speed,
staccato doesn't mean starting and stopping the tone. Rather, it's an
interruption of an existing, steady tone. This cuts the number of tongue
motions in half.

Bob Lowrey, who was an excellent player and a well known clinician way back
when I was in high school, showed me a great exercise.

Play a secure note (say, D below the staff), starting it mezzo forte with the
breath.

Then say LA, LA, LA very lightly, with the tip of your tongue moving toward
the area behind your front upper teeth. Don't let your tongue touch the
reed. You want to just barely miss.

Move the syllable forward gradually, so that you brush the tip of the reed
only for an instant, producing the smallest possible "tic" in the sound.
Don't make any change in your blowing or embouchure.

Work on this until you can do it consistently and evenly. Then move to
scales, beginning slowly and working the speed up gradually. The feeling
should be that of your tongue sweeping - almost bouncing - across the reed,
but never stopping. Also, the sound never stops.

Once you get this extremely light action under control, it's easy to make it
more forceful.

Equally important, you teach yourself to play with a continuous tone, which
is interrupted by the tongue, without interrupting the effort of moving the
air stream. This avoids the problems that come when you thing of the tongue
as what starts the tone, rather than stopping it.

This works for me, but there are probably several other methods. Kal
Opperman tells me that Teri Herel can single-tongue sixteenths at quarter
note @-----. Teri - can you tell us what you do or give us any advice?

Best regards.

Ken Shaw

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