Author: CuriousClarinet
Date: 2012-03-16 02:07
So... not that I'm anywhere near a professional, but I'd say I have a decent amount of knowledge about trying to find the best way to tongue, since I've always had troubles with it myself.
First, I would NOT start tonguing on the roof of your mouth. I accidentally learned to play clarinet tonguing on the roof, not touching the reed at all. A year ago, I probably would have agreed with you that it sounds so much cleaner then everyone else's tonguing, and you can single tongue at pretty amazing speeds. However, four years ago, at my first high school solo/ensemble competition, the judge told us we would have qualified for state if my tonguing had been cleaner. Which surprised me, because no body had mentioned it before. (Although I had always known that tonguing on the roof of your mouth produces a slight "clicking" sound) So I then went about trying to change it, but after eight years of tonguing wrong I found it near impossible to change. This drove me away from clarinet, which is the main reason I tended to prefer bass, since the tonguing problem is not nearly as obvious. When I did play clarinet, I got really good at tonguing incorrectly well, (if that makes sense.) The clicking sound was nearly nonexistent. About a year ago, my private teacher finally banned me from tonguing incorrectly, and it took me the better half of that year I to realize the problems with tonguing on the roof of your mouth.
When you tongue without hitting the reed, you're really not tonguing at all. Tonguing is the act of stopping the reeds vibration. When your tongue hits the top of your mouth, all you're doing is producing an effect that SOUNDS like tonguing. (which is why the clicking sound is quite obvious.) And like I mentioned in the above paragraph, you CAN barely touch the roof of your mouth, and the clicking sound practically disappears. Problem with that is, so does any separation/clean cut offs of notes. Tonguing on the roof of your mouth might work for legato passages, but staccato just sounds too... clicky and unclean.
I can now tongue on the reed and on the roof of my mouth (both ways) somewhat effectively. I purposely make sure I always tongue on the reed. However, Sometimes I switch back to my old habit when I get frustrated with how sloppy tonguing on the reed seems to be, and I'm amazed ever survived tonguing that way. It throws the tone off and still sounds pretty slurred. I'd never get into the habit of tonguing on the roof of your mouth, if I were you. It's way too hard to break the habit once it has formed, and in the long run it'll handicap your playing.
That's just my experience, though. Perhaps the way you are hitting the roof of your mouth is different then how I was, and is working better. I don't know, but I'd tend to stick to the most conventional way, if I were you. It might take more time to learn how to tongue correctly with the same immediate effects of tonguing on the roof of your mouth, but it'll be worth it in the long run.
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