 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Kenneth
Date: 2009-10-11 10:20
I'm interested in any advice anyone could give to help me improve my tongueing/articulation.
I'm very much an amateur player, having been playing clarinet for just over 30years, I play in an amateur orchestra and periodically play chamber music. On average, I play a couple of times a week (not as often as I would like to have time for!).
The problem I have is not so much with rapid tongueing (I can manage to tongue a run of fairly rapid notes - eg semiquavers - reasonably well) but if I'm required to play more measured notes staccato, for intance a passage of crotchets or quavers, perhaps separated by rests, the result is much les satisfactory. Passages where required to play a repeated rhythmic figure in this manner - eg repeated "off-beats"- causes particular difficulty. I don't seem to attack each note swiftly or crisply enough, or be able to control the dynamic so that all the notes are at a consistent volume, some of the notes tending to "splurge out" - feeling as if out of control. This problem tends not to arise in the lower register (for obvious reasons) or if playing loudly but if required to play p or even mp I find diffcult.
Although I've been playing for a long time, it's been only relatively recently that I've tried to analyse what my tongue is doing. I've discovered that it is not the tip of my tongue which makes contact with the reed but the area considerably further back. I've tried practicing tonguing with the tip of my tongue but find this very awkward.
Do you think the problem arises as a result of the manner of tongueing, or are there any types of reed/mouthpiece set-ups which might make this easier? I use a mouthpiece with a medium-open tip and fairly long facing (I think 1.25mm x 22.5mm) and medium strength reeds (Vandoren V12 or Rue56 3.0-3.5).
Any advice would be much appreciated.
Ken.
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Author: kdk
Date: 2009-10-11 13:59
It's always hard to know what's causing a player's problems without hearing them in person, but one clue is that you say speed isn't a problem - separating slower notes is. The difference may be that you're articulating on a continuous air stream when you tongue fast notes and your air stream ("support") isn't continuous when you articulate more slowly. So, the way in which you support the articulated notes may have much more to do with the lack of consistency than what your tongue is doing or what part of your tongue is doing it.
Air always needs to precede the start of the note - the tongue acts as a valve to hold the reed still or release it (not attack it) to let it vibrate. This tends not to be less of a problem once you reach a critical note speed, but it sometimes takes conscious effort when there's (relatively) lots of time between notes. Concentrate on having the support be as continuous - given the musical context - as possible (even when your tongue is stopping the reed between notes) and in any case always active before your tongue releases the reed.
Of course it should go without saying that your reeds need to be responsive on whatever mouthpiece you're using. Too light a reed will close up and articulation, especially at slow tempi when you have time to move things around and drop the support between notes, may be somewhat unpredictable. Too stiff a reed will resist more than you can comfortably overcome each time you need to start a new note. An unbalanced reed may behave unpredictably as well because one side may be too light or too stiff and cause the reed to be unstable.
Karl
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2009-10-11 15:35
Ken, I have some articles on my website that have appeared in the Clarinet Journal in past years, some of them about articulation might be of some help to you. Check them out on the clarinet article page. ESP http://eddiesclarinet.com
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2009-10-11 22:42
My advice is similar to Karl's. It is the RELEASE of the tongue off of the reed that produces sound. DO NOT think of tonguing as an "attack."
I think the slow prepared finger excercise of Bonade/Marcellus will help. This is, stopping the note with the tongue, moving your fingers to the next note, releasing that note, stopping with the tongue, moving fingers to the next note, etc.
It will be like this, "Tut, " move, "Tut," move, "Tut," move etc.
Remember to practice this slowly.
.............Paul Aviles
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Author: Ryan K
Date: 2009-10-12 04:46
If you have the Rose 40 etudes, number 9? (Its 9/10, the fast one) is very good for practicing this. The pattern is Two sixteenths and an eight. Play it more like thirty seconds and a doted eight. Do it very accurately, and use the technique previously described in this thread. Use a loud volume, lots of air and support as always, and move your fingers during the rests. The way the excercise is structured, the ranges fit very well to the easy-to-articulate parts of the clarinet. Once you get the hang of that, try exercises like 6(Or 7, the faster of the two), and use the same mechanical finger movements after you've ariculated. Ensure your fingers are perfectly steady by sluing all passages, then add the written articulations, with an extra bit of staccato to feel the point more clearly.
These two exercises specifically, in combination with great instruction, greatly improved my articulation.
Ryan Karr
Dickinson College
Carlisle, PA
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Author: TonkaToy
Date: 2009-10-12 13:11
I'll second what Paul said. I studied with a Bonade student and the prepared finger exercise is one that I did...a lot, with very favorable results. If you do it every day for just a little bit I think you'll see a dramatic improvement. Try doing the exercise on 3 or 4 scales each day or on isolated passages from an etude you may be working on. In an amazingly short time you'll see a big difference and will develop a very nice short "secco" staccato.
To amplify on what Paul said, it's very important that you don't stop blowing when your tongue in on the reed dampening the response. You blow constantly and periodically dampen the reed with the tip of your tongue. Concentrate on using just the tip and become familiar with how things feel when you're using the tip. Also, I think that you'll notice that you begin searching and finding the perfect equilibrium between an embrochure that is too "loose" and one that is too "tight". To do the exercise correctly, get the best results, and to tongue well while playing music I think you may find you need a firmer embrochure than perhaps you've been using.
Good luck.
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Author: Kenneth
Date: 2009-10-13 22:28
Thanks for all your advice. I'll try these exercises, although I'm not sure I'll be able to get my hands on a Bonade here in the UK.
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