Klarinet Archive - Posting 000408.txt from 2005/06

From: "Geoff & Sherryl-Lee Secomb" <gsecomb@-----.au>
Subj: Re: [kl] slur down the break, "back of the tongue"?
Date: Wed, 22 Jun 2005 19:27:19 -0400

Great advice, Jay.
Also, try whistling the notes (if you can.) I have done a fairly
unscientific but none the less convincing (to me) survey of my students over
the years which tells me that students who can whistle can change register
and achieve upper clarion notes and beyond much more easily than those who
can't. The position of the tongue when whistling is what controls the pitch,
and the same is true to a large extent for the clarinet - after all, the
notes are resonated just as much in the throat and mouth as they are in the
instrument ( the reed vibrates back AND forth) and thus there are two pitch
controls in operation when you play.

Whistle from high to low, and if you pay attention, you will feel the tongue
position change dramatically. Emulate this when you play downwards slurs,
and you should have some help in the change of pitch. This should not,
however, cause any disturbance to your otherwise well formed embouchure.

Best of luck with it all,
Geoff Secomb.
Australia.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Jay Webler" <webler@-----.net>
To: <klarinet@-----.org>
Sent: Thursday, June 23, 2005 3:48 AM
Subject: RE: [kl] slur down the break, "back of the tongue"?

> Try this:
>
> Say the word "Knee"; see if you can feel the sides of your
> tongue touch your molars. From that position go through the
> vowel sounds, "a,e,I,o,u". That should give you a sense of what
> portion of the tongue is to be moved. I would give a longer
> explanation but I have to go out the door.
>
> Jay Webler
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Daniel Fairhead [mailto:madprof@-----.net]
> Sent: Wednesday, June 22, 2005 2:15 PM
> To: klarinet@-----.org
> Subject: [kl] slur down the break, "back of the toungue"?
>
> Hi all,
>
> It's me, Daniel the ever-inquisitive, with my monthly
> question. :-)
>
> I've been having problems with slurring down the break,
> particually from (say) clarion D to chalmeau C, with the
> note instead flipping up to the clarion G. From what I have
> read on the archive (bravo me) I think this is a toungue
> position problem. People say "raise (or lower) the back
> tounge position to what it is when playing the chalmeau
> note". OK... But which part of the tounge _is_ the back
> bit (stupid question)? I mean, is it the bit by the top
> teeth? The bit behind the teeth? The bit under the soft
> top section of the palate? The bit of toungue that is some
> place down the back of my throat?
>
> I think I may be teaching myself bad habits, cutting the
> breath support just slightly to get the slur... Grr, too
> many years with no teaching teacher...
>
> Thanks,
>
> Dan
>
> --
> http://www.madprof.net
>
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