Klarinet Archive - Posting 000680.txt from 2003/08

From: "Forest Aten" <forestaten@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] RE: Articulation problems
Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2003 13:17:34 -0400

Nancy,

I have always had an interest in these discussions regarding
"articulation".....

Several recent posts by Tony Pay have really been wonderful. Many of his
comments hint at the importance of articulation and address the fact that we
should be thinking about this word in a more complex way. Let me try to tie
some of his thoughts together and try to make a point. I'd like to thank
Tony for his learned and thoughtful posts. I know I could find better
excerpts from Tony...but these are just a few of the more recent posts and
these in the middle of his effort to help people with the technical aspect
of various problems.

The word articulation is misused so very often when these discussions
develop. Notice I didn't say abused. I feel that people for whatever reason
have limited the scope of the word, to the point that they believe that
articulation = tonguing exclusively.

Tony Pay says,

" 'Articulation' is a much more general concept, to do with how we show
groups of notes to belong together." Tony has mentioned this many times
before in many forms. We find one of the definitions in the/a dictionary
useful in this case.

ar·tic·u·la·tion 3. jointing/joining: the connection of the different parts
of something by joints, or the way the parts fit together
The "parts" we are discussing as a clarinet performer are notes. We can
connect notes in two basic ways; tonguing and slurring, with infinite
variation within each of these broader categories.

Taking articulation to another level of thought.

Tony Pay says,

"The fundamental 'belonging together/not belonging together' system is the
abdominal muscles plus diaphragm system. Tone colour, modulated by who
knows
what -- but including tongue position and lip address -- is also an
important
factor.

The tongue may or may not contribute to this. Sometimes, interruption by
the
tongue may create division. Sometimes, it may create belonging, but
'lightness'. Sometimes it may create drama."

In another post Tony says:

"One way of putting it is to say that the composer's accents belong to the
'map', and an interpreter's accents to the 'territory'.

If Verdi wrote those accents, I need to look behind them and see how he
intended that they fit into the passage in question, because how you play an
accent is very context dependent.

Almost always what's required in an interpretation isn't anything as crude
as a
written accent, which signifies an extraordinary occurrence. So an accent
added by a conductor has a different meaning, because it's not his or our
job
to create extraordinary events in a piece of music. We have to find the
ones
that are already there.

Of course, one can imagine circumstances in which this difference could be
blurred -- say, that the composer was the conductor, and made the suggestion
himself or herself."

We can go back to our trusty dictionary and find a simple definition that
supports Tony in these observations. I could spend hours finding more
reference from Tony supporting these particular ideas about articulation.

ar·tic·u·la·tion 1. speech: the pronouncing of words, or the manner in
which they are pronounced

We "pronounce" notes instead of words, as we play. The relationship
between these notes will have a bearing on how we articulate as well as
articulation having a bearing on the overall effect when communicating the
larger ideas to our listeners. Which brings me to the third and last thought
about what articulation means to us as performers.

ar·tic·u·la·tion 2. communication: the coherent expression of
thoughts, ideas, or feelings

Tony says:

"The thing is, there are various systems in excellent clarinet playing
that
modulate what we might call, 'articulation' -- namely, the showing of
how
different groups of notes do or don't belong together in varying
degrees."

This global view of connection is so often overlooked but is essential
when making decisions on "what" we want to communicate to those we are
trying like crazy to communicate with.

In closing I'd like to make the observation that problems with the
technical part of "articulation" can be generally lumped into two
categories. One set organic (As in learning to do something in a way that
makes the task more difficult. Notice, I didn't say learned it wrong. see:
sposed wars) and the second set of problems are neurological in nature. We
can learn a lot about what happens in both by going to the literature
available for speech, language and articulation disorders...especially in
children.

Reading about and discussing articulation will never resolve the
issues and arguments resulting from one/a player learning to cope and
succeed, doing it "wrong"....but I feel it certainly helps me understand how
and why people think the way they do. And this helps me, as Tony says, "And
we can surely be willing to understand the virtues of being flexible in
teaching and learning to play the clarinet."
------------------------------------

I wish I had the time to have gone out and found Tony's best
observations. I know that he has addressed all of these issues regarding
articulation more specifically in past posts. Again...these few are just
from the past several weeks.
Thanks Tony. I do appreciate all of your comments.

Forest Aten

----- Original Message -----
From: "Buckman, Nancy" <nebuckman@-----.edu>
Subject: RE: [kl] RE: Articulation problems

I've been following this thread with interest. I think I must vary from the
norm a great deal. I don't mess with reeds, my studio set-up and the way I
teach isn't like what anyone else does, for the most part, and I don't
tongue the way most people do apparently. But I don't consider that any of
the ways I do these things is "wrong" either (not that anyone said it was).

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