 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Squidward
Date: 2014-07-08 22:01
Recently I made a (semi) successful switch from anchor tonguing to regular "tip-to-tip" tonguing. I say semi-successful because in this process, I seem to have uncovered a world of problems with my embouchure. And they're all causing me to squeak. Constantly.
Re-orienting my tonguing has brought me back to a fourth grade playing level when it comes to squeaking. After some extensive research I've come across three possible issues.
1. I believe I am hitting the reed too hard, but I'm not sure how to fix this. (I cannot tongue above the break without a terrible chirping sound accompanying the beginning of the note.)
2. I've noticed that more often than not, during fast passages my tongue will hit in the little space between the reed and the mouthpiece, which will also cause a horrible squeak. Again I have no idea how to remedy this problem.
3. I'm fairly certain I'm biting too hard. I just recently learned it is weird to have bite marks on the mouth piece (mine has very prominent ones.) Apparently this can contribute to squeaking. I am trying to loosen my embouchure, but when I attempt this, I render myself completely unable to play above the break.
I've played clarinet for 8 years and this is extremely discouraging to me. I don't study privately so I've been working on my own. If anyone has any advice on how to fix these issues before I'm forced to put my bad playing on display in front of the entire marching band I would be eternally grateful.
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Author: kdk
Date: 2014-07-08 22:31
Your best bet would to set up at least a few lessons with a private teacher. Private lesson arrangements don't need to be life-long commitments, but you get much better input, leading to potentially a much faster solution to your problem when it's based on a teacher's hearing your playing in person. All you'll get here are guesses, some better and maybe more educated than others, but all based on how our imaginations go to work on your description of the problem.
As to the squeaking problem itself, the first thing to clarify is whether or not you've changed anything besides your tonguing technique. Are you using the same reeds? New reeds of the same strength and brand? Are you having this problem with many reeds or just one you've been playing lately?
The squeaking indicates that somehow the reed is not vibrating as a unit. Hitting the reed too hard or in a bad place or pinching the reed off as you begin a note or articulate consecutive ones can be explanations. Tension in the wrong places can lead to any of those.
If I were in the room listening to you, and you and I heard the problem you've described, I think my first suggestion would be for just a minute to go back to your old way of tonguing (if you still can) and see if the squeaking goes away. If it does, then I'd have you try again with the tip-to-tip approach but trying very consciously not to change anything else. Perhaps go back and forth a number of times trying to keep everything stable. You have to be very aware to notice things that feel different when you change the angle and shape of your tongue. If it sounds right with the anchor, then the goal is to have it sound and feel the same tip-to-tip. It isn't easy and you have to be really analytic about it, but you have to identify what else is being pulled out of position or contorting. You have to be especially aware of any extra tension coming into any part of your tongue, embouchure or the inside of your mouth that wasn't there before.
Of course, the question is always hanging there - why switch from anchoring in the first place if you play well that way, especially when changing upsets the apple cart so badly. This change may only be worth doing if there is some problem in your playing when you anchor that you can't fix in a less dramatic way - another thing a teacher could help with.
Someone may suggest trying to use double lip to conquer the squeaking. That would be one of my suggestions as well, if you weren't already dealing with the major change in articulation approach. Double lip can solve a lot of problems that involve uneven pressure or tension in the embouchure. But making two major changes simultaneously is usually a bad idea. When problems develop, you don't know which change has caused them and fixing things gets more confusing.
Karl
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Author: Squidward
Date: 2014-07-08 23:08
Thank you for your response.
To answer your question, I haven't switched reeds. I play on Vandoren V12 3's and regular Vandoren 2 1/2's depending on the piece. I also will occasionally use Rico Royals for marching band situations.
I switched tonguing styles to improve speed and build strength in my embouchure without the support of my tongue. Also to open up double tonguing as an option (I recently played a piece in which I had to tongue 32nd notes at 120 BPM, virtually impossible without double tonguing)
As you suggested, I tried going back to my old tonguing method. It is even more obvious to me now how difficult it is to keep an open air flow and tongue lightly while anchoring. Although, the squeaking issues do resolve at least somewhat when I use this method.
I'll keep working on it.
Post Edited (2014-07-08 23:08)
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2014-07-09 05:40
Though some have stated on this very board that speed is not necessarily hampered by anchor tonguing, it is NOT possible to truly focus your air stream at the final point (mouthpiece/reed) properly this way.
Most importantly ....... YOU DO NOT HIT THE REED WITH THE TONGUE!!!!!!
You REMOVE your tongue FROM the reed to articulate. I repeat. When producing a sound from your horn, what you are doing is REMOVING the tongue from the reed. You STOP the sound by placing the tongue upon the reed (tip of tongue to tip of reed - as you say), but this is NEVER done with any more force than you use when you make the "T" sound as you say the word "articulate."
To practice this properly, you must start off very, VERY, V-E-R-Y slowly. Larry Combs would actually have his students (advanced students that began their study with him that is) approach the reed with the tongue so slowly that you hear and feel all the odd buzziness as the tongue finally makes contact. He has them do this for as much as a month to get it down. So no, you can't over do control and pedantic repetition on this one.
Get tonguing down right !!!! It's fundamental to everything else.
...............Paul Aviles
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Author: clarinetguy ★2017
Date: 2014-07-09 20:59
The others have given you good advice. Double lip is worth a try.
I've been teaching for many years, and have noticed that tongues come in various shapes and sizes. Some can easily stick their tongues far outside of their mouths, and can rapidly move them in every direction. For these people, tonguing isn't usually difficult. Others don't have as much tongue mobility, and for these people, tonguing is sometimes much harder. I once had a public school student who had such limited mobility that he could barely move his tongue around in his mouth, and he ended up playing percussion instruments.
I'm guessing that you started anchor tonguing because you couldn't easily do it the way your teacher taught. You stumbled upon anchor tonguing, it seemed to work for you, and you went with it.
I'd suggest following the other tonguing suggestions posted above. You can try experimenting with various syllables, such as "t" and "d." Also try the "n" syllable, suggested by Roger McKinney of the College of New Jersey:
http://www.tcnj.edu/~mckinney/tonguing.htm
I don't use the "n" very often, but I've noticed that I can do some very fast tonguing when I use it.
If all else fails, you can always go back to anchor tonguing. I'm not a big fan and it isn't as common as it once was, but it might be the best solution for you. It's worth checking out Keith Stein's anchor tonguing advice in The Art of Clarinet Playing (p. 25). Stein didn't necessarily advocate doing it (he never mentioned it when I studied with him), but he does discuss several variations of the technique. There's too much to quote here, but I'll briefly mention two of Stein's possible ways to do it:
1. The tongue anchors lightly on the lower gums just below the lower teeth, and the middle of the tongue touches the reed.
2. The tongue tip is anchored on the inner membrane of the lower lip, and the remainder of the tongue is bent over frontward until it touches the reed.
Post Edited (2014-07-09 21:00)
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