 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: MARC FRIEDMAN
Date: 2023-08-21 19:04
I have previously studied with some well known teachers and have good quality of articulation and sound, but not speed of articulation. I have very thick lips and can play single and double lip embouchures. I have always had a rather muscular approach to articulation with my tongue touching fairly far from the tip of the reed. I learned my basic articulation technique from Leon Russianoff whose chief exponent, Stanley Drucker, certainly had no problem in this area. I have not played for a while and am in better position to learn new habits, to re-vamp whatever I need to re-vamp in order to achieve rapid articulation. I have come the the conclusion, correctly or incorrectly, that everyone's mouth, teeth and lip configuration is different and that, likely, there is no one articulation technique that applies to all players; not one embouchure or one syllable for tongue movement and placement in order to achieve good quality but high speed articulation. I do know that I can move my tongue much faster and with much less muscle fatigue when I change the embouchure and the point of contact of the tongue with the reed. However, the quality of the sound and the articulation suffer as a consequence. What goes on inside the mouth is not visible and therefore, cannot be taught as directly as other aspects of playing. I have heard that Joe Allard, in the distant past, was said even to put his hands on the tongue of the student in order to try to affect this invisible aspect of clarinet playing. Does anyone know whether there is there some particular teacher who has a special gift for teaching this aspect of playing and does not say "just do what you are doing, but gradually increase the speed". Maybe I just have an inherently slow tongue, but I think other avenues could be investigated. Thanks for listening.
Marc
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2023-08-21 21:07
My belief is just as you say there are many folks with inherently slow tongues. I finally gave in to double tonguing and never looked back. Firstly it must be realized that swift articulation must be less “pointed sounding” anyway or it would come off sounding like some sort of ratcheting device, not music. Then you must also realize the limitation of double tonguing which is that you won’t be able to create a pointed attack regardless.
I celebrate the “puff of air” that this represents and tongue the roof of my mouth for both “tah” and “kah.”
Once back on my computer I’ll post my favorite video tutorial.
[here we go] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoInFr4b8kQ
Most double tonguing tutorials refer to doing the "tah" on the reed but I find the air pressure differential too great that way to get the altissimo notes to sound properly. I assume that is also dependent on how you play.
……….Paul Aviles
Post Edited (2023-08-21 22:17)
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