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Tongue placement and tone.

Author: Ginny
Date: 2000-11-02 21:12

My son's wonderful band teacher has suggested that the clarinetists place the back of their tongues on their upper teeth. I have never heard of this and although I hear a tone improvment I worry about playing with extra tension. Comments?
Resources?

Thanks in advance.

Ginny

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RE: Tongue placement and tone.

Author: Anthony Taylor
Date: 2000-11-04 04:11

The band teacher is correct, though the information seems incomplete to me. The middle of the tongue (the part that meets the roof of your mouth when you say a "k" sound) should be high against the roof of your mouth. It should touch the inside of your molars. Some students need to think of pushing their tongue forward, and some sound better if they think of pulling it back. What is not in question is that the middle of the tongue should be arched, kind of like a cat hissing. Shouldn't add tension except that the blowing may feel a little more resistant, which is OK.

If your son is willing to do it, I recommend playing with a double-lip embouchure for a while, practicing slurred passages in the clarion register. Double-lip means without your teeth on the mouthpiece or reed, curl your lips under. Ten minutes a day could be sufficient, maybe a little more time. This leaves defects of sound up to the tongue to fix, and many students can fix their sound by double-lip and listening carefully to themselves. Many students play with an inefficient tongue and the mouth quite tight. With regards to your question about tension, trying double-lip is a good way to cut down on tension. The arched tongue helps the air move quickly and more efficiently, cutting down on unnecessary tension.

In my teaching (mostly college students) I spend a substantial amount of time helping my students polish their sound through work on tongue position. Knowing the sound you want is as important as trying to control your tongue directly. On Towerrecords.com, you can find CD's by many great players: for good sound, I would recommend Karl Leister, Allessandro Carbonare, Sabine Meyer, David Shifrin, Jon Manasse, Richard Stoltzman, not necessarily in that order. Students have the best chance of making this work, with some good models of what it is supposed to sound like.

In recent years, I do explain the details of tongue position as I have done here, but what usually works in practice if I shut up and play for them. I will play a short passage and have them play it back to me. I might even do this with a student for a full half hour. In this respect, there is no replacement for a good private teacher who can model sound for the students . In lieu of a private teacher, recordings can provide some information. Hope some of these comments are of help to you.

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