Klarinet Archive - Posting 000188.txt from 2005/04

From: GrabnerWG@-----.com
Subj: [kl] Rolling your RRRRRRRRRs
Date: Mon, 11 Apr 2005 15:12:15 -0400

In a message dated 4/10/2005 8:09:26 PM Central Daylight Time,
lelialoban@-----.net writes:

<< Without using any mouthpiece, try speaking the Spanish rolled "R" first by
making your tongue thin and flat. Think of a thin sheet of paper rustling
in a breeze. Touch the tip of your tongue loosely to the ridge of gums
behind your upper teeth, without pointing your tongue at all. Leave the
whole tongue relaxed, including the tip. Blow air with your tongue in that
position and the rest of your mouth in the position for the letter "R" and
hear and feel what happens. Don't try to flutter your tongue as a muscle.
Let the air stream flutter it as if it weighed nothing and had no strength.
Imagine it's paper. Fluttering is one of those "breakthrough" skills: Once
you can do it, it will seem easy all of a sudden. Once you can get a good
rolling "R" going, try it with various mouthpieces.>>

Irrespective of the reference to saying the Spanish "R", Lelia has written
the best description of learning how to roll an "R" that I have ever seen.

I recently went through this process with my son, who is taking voice
lessons. He COULD NOT, roll his Rs, not a bit.

We used a very similar variation of the technique that Lelia wrote above. It
took about 6 weeks, but he was finally able to do it.

Walter Grabner
www.clarinetXpress.com
World-class clarinet mouthpieces

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Klarinet is a service of Woodwind.Org, Inc. http://www.woodwind.org