Klarinet Archive - Posting 000780.txt from 2003/08

From: Dan Sutherland <dan.sutherland@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] RE: Articulation problems
Date: Thu, 28 Aug 2003 01:15:44 -0400

At 04:34 AM 8/27/2003 -0700, you wrote:
>This is not meant to come across as critical or invalidating,

Oh, good.

> but what you describe below has the
>flavor of something self-taught.

This is bad.

> In and of itself, that's neither positive nor negative,

Maybe not so bad.

> but the
>pseudo-anchor-tongue technique is inherently limited, despite the
>likelihood that it feels
>comfortable and may produce desirable results within a finite range of
>contexts.

Oh my. Pseudo-anchor-tongue. I had no idea.

>You suggest that one's aim might be to begin a note with a minimum of
>excessive noise and with
>consistency, particularly in the high range. That's a useful starting
>point in one's
>developmental process, but achieving such a goal ought not constitute a
>point of arrival or a
>plateau upon which a player should rest in his growth relative to
>articulation technique.

Yes, we must start somewhere.

> At
>least, it can't do so if the player desires to maximize his ability to
>perform every manner of
>articulation within a very broad spectrum of technique -- from the
>lightest, most connected
>legato, begun with but a whisper of air at ultra-soft dynamics...to
>sledge-hammer pounding
>eardrum-puncturing staccato at speeds in excess of quarter note = 180 --
>and everything bounded by
>these extremes.

Yes, although staccato at speeds in excess of quarter note=180 presuming
you are tonguing quarter notes doesn't seem too extreme.

>300 years of playing & refinement of technique have determined that an
>approximation of tip-to-tip
>is the most efficient and effective manner for ultimately assuring
>consummate facility /
>flexibility of articulation technique.

300 years!!!! And that is what we have accomplished?

> Some people play exactly tip-to-tip. Others play with a
>contact point a millimeter or two back from the tip (toward the bottom),
>and others have a contact
>point slightly back from the tip, but toward the *top* of the tongue. The
>unifying element in
>this case is the area of the tongue making contact, plus (conseqeuently)
>the minimization of
>motion ... of the majority of the tongue muscle ... beyond the tip region
>itself.

Yes. Divorcing what the front part of the tongue does from further back is
desirable. I should have said that.

> Utilizing areas
>of the tongue further back than this localized point of contact involves a
>much larger proportion
>of the muscle than usual.

Yes.

> Doing so places a limit on one's ability to develop relaxation in that
>muscle. Fine (as opposed to coarse) motor control is the direction in
>which development is
>ideally guided. It is the reduction of overall motion of the muscle and,
>consequently, the
>development of articulation technique based upon physical relaxation *of*
>that muscle, that
>results in the ability to generate the full conceivable range of
>articulation style on command.

Yes, but I thought I was suggesting a technique for starting tonguing. I
must put some thought into relaxing the muscle.

>Because the tongue is involved in much more than merely the initiation and
>interruption of sound,
>it is critical that articulation technique be developed in such a way that
>its other needed
>functions are still available to the player. The tongue is closely
>involved in focusing the air
>stream. Since air focus is critical to sound quality and to the connected
>transition of sound
>from one note to the next, articulation can't be learned in a way that
>places limitations on one's
>ability to manipulate -- in very small increments of distance and contour
>-- the shape and
>position of the tongue while maintaining a relaxed physical state of the
>muscle. With students in
>the past (I no longer have time to teach),

Yes. My past students no longer come for lessons.

>I've begun articulation studies by discussing (1) air
>focus, (2) muscle relaxation, and (3) tongue position/contour *first*,
>rather than directing
>attention immediately to the finer points of where the tongue best makes
>contact with the reed.
>The latter issue surfaces within the same conversation, but the emphasis
>is on ensuring that air
>focus and continuity of sound are retained while conditioning the muscle
>to relax and approximate
>the tip-to-tip effect. When a student approaches articulation from the
>standpoint of ensuring
>that proper air focus and the ability to voice notes is never sacrificed
>-- while patiently
>developing speed and sensitivity at the tip -- I'm confident that speed
>and sensitivity will
>become an extension of their integrated technique, rather than a discrete
>element among separate
>techniques in figurative battle with each other.

My goodness. Was I proposing a battle? Dear me.

Or you could try what I suggest.

>'Have to pause and hit the rails (train rails, that is).
>
>Neil

Dan

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