 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Bigno16
Date: 2004-02-20 22:01
I noticed, while recording myself practicing, that I cannot get a clean start to a note. There is an awful "grunt" to all of my very first notes that are tongued. Perhaps I am not supporting correctly or placing my tongue on the reed and tonguing correctly (I know I'm not tonguing correctly, I'm having an awful time tonguing--it's my worst aspect of playing.) I worry especially because I have to play solos in my high school band and really don't want the judges to hear these horrible sounding notes that are not articulated well. Can anyone offer any advice or insight about this? Thanks.
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Author: EEBaum
Date: 2004-02-20 23:01
You might be thinking too much about the tongue, instead of the note. Focus on resonating the clarinet to the last finger down, and make the sound in the instrument, not in your mouth.
-Alex
www.mostlydifferent.com
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2004-02-21 00:02
I had that too for a very long time. With me, it was a problem of me unnoticingly (is that a word?) constricting my throat a bit. I was creating the "resistance" that I thought I should feel in the clarinet with my throat instead of opening up and just letting the air flow. Try this . . .
Try holding your tongue against the reed and blowing the air through the instrument as though you were playing a note. Then release the reed with your tongue and see if it comes out much cleaner. If so, then it might be a problem with you constricting your throat or not starting with a good airstream. For me, my throat felt like it was tense as though saying "uh uh". I needed to change that to "huh huh". And I always try to start the airstream slightly before releasing the reed so I know I have a good, steady stream of air instead of trying to simultaneously coordinate it all at once.
This, and the age-old advice of "a teacher can help you fix that". Cause there's nothing better than one on one attention to your playing to fix any bad habits you might have.
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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Author: Brenda
Date: 2004-02-21 13:02
My take on this is that everything starts from below. If, after taking a breath, you set your diaphram muscles in place, then your note will begin clear and true. Then the other matters such as a tight throat and so forth can be addressed so that the air, once in motion, can be allowed to continue on through the instrument.
I use this method in singing as well in order to start in with a clean, well rounded note. If the air pressure is there, just waiting to be released, you've got good support for your playing or singing.
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