 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Eric
Date: 2003-12-16 22:39
Hello, I have been working on articulation for about a year and a half now. It has gotten better and I can tongue faster but I seem to be up against a wall right now. I have a pretty quick tongue (consistent 16th at 130-135) but I can't seem to play a series of notes (an arpeggio or scale) at that speed. I can tongue the same note quickly but cannot transfer that to moving notes.
I find that my articulation ability is inconsistent. One day I could tongue the last movement of Beethoven's 4th at around 150. On other days I have trouble tonguing it at 120.
Are there any other excercises to improve my finger-tongue coordination? I have been doing fingers ahead for a very long time but I'm not seeing any major improvement. Could my set-up affect my articulation? I am using a Greg Smith Chedeville, Gonzalez reeds (mozart and FOF), a bay ligature, and a chadash barrel. My ligature did get crushed a while back but my teacher managed to shape it back to its normal shape. I am considering trying out other ligatures to see if my bay is hurting my articulation. Thanks for any help.
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2003-12-16 23:42
See . . . http://www.woodwind.org/clarinet/Study/TongueFaster.html
Here's what I do for myself. And it seems to be working so far . . .
Tongue slowly. Set the speed to a very slow tempo on the metronome. Tongue a note, then quickly snap your fingers to the next note before you tongue it. The problem with tonguing quickly in successive notes or some sorts of intervals is usually because the finger speed doesn't match the tongue speed. Also, make sure that you consistently speed up with this fingers ahead exercise. maybe put the metronome up a certain number of bpms every week. So one week you practice sixteenths at 100, the next week at 106, the next at 110, etc. just slowly increasing. When you hit an impass, go back a step and do that for a while then forge ahead again.
Also, do different exercises. Tongue two slur two. Tongue one, slur two, tongue one. Tongue one, slur three, and all sorts of other exercises along those lines. Add on a few more tongues as you go. Tongue four slur two (think of sixteenths on a 6/8 time to make this one more even), slur two tongue 6, etc.
It'll probably take a while.
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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Author: EEBaum
Date: 2003-12-17 00:28
Advice I was given, which has helped me immensely:
- Play to the downbeat. If you are worrying about articulation, you probably already know all the notes. However, it's likely that your time is not right off. Think of the notes in groups of 4, and only really "play" the first note of the four. Just let the other 3 happen, and let them get you to the next downbeat.
- Time is in the fingers. Your tongue is probably fast enough, and your fingers know where to go. However, it's likely that those two processes are each taking place independently, vying for dominance. Your fingers are in charge, make your tongue fit their timing. This is a lot easier if you play to the downbeat.
Good luck!
-Alex
www.mostlydifferent.com
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Author: Eric
Date: 2003-12-17 02:41
Sfalexi, you are describing fingers ahead which is what I have been doing for the past year and a half. I have been stuck at 129 for about a month. I have been taught the idea of grouping but not for articulation, I will take that into mind. I'm starting to think that the length of my articulation is what is messing me up.
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Author: diz
Date: 2003-12-17 02:51
Don't think about it too much ... just do it with a carefree attitude ... works for me.
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Author: ksclarinetgirl
Date: 2003-12-17 05:59
Something that my teacher and I work on, which can also help w/ internal pulse, is an exercise that she learned somewhere. I'll try to describe it as best as I can.
Brief preface: when the sound is to your liking on each step, move on to the next one)
1. Play a long tone (starting on low F).
2. Play sixteenth notes (in the key of F) up to middle C until your fingers are even
3. Land on F and tongue sixteenth notes on F until you are tonguing evenly and clearly
4. Play the sixteenth notes up to C and this time tongue it. Repeat this step until everything is to your liking
F is just where we started, we also work in other keys. It's helped me w/ the coordination between my fingers and my tongue. If you need any clarification on it, please let me know, I'll try and check this again soon (finals are here! AGH!)
Stephanie :o)
"Vita Brevis, Ars Longa"
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Author: Brenda
Date: 2003-12-17 15:37
Have you ever thought of learning to double tongue? You may have hit your personal limit.
This is brought up in David Pino's book "The Clarinet and Clarinet Playing". The author admits that he never was able to tongue as quickly as some other professionals so he learned to double-tongue. His techniques for learning this are well explained in his book. It's a great book to have for research anyway.
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Author: D Dow
Date: 2003-12-17 16:16
Double tongueing is an incredibly difficult technique to master, and single tongue technique is generally the area that most professionals use on a daily basis.
As an extension of the thought process here, I may add a few comments which may be somewhat controversial....
air is an extremely important component factor and a completely well balanced reed will be a key in the success factor here.
I would also add that the tongue should always work in close proximity to the reed and reed tip and if the mouthpiece has a reed that is too resistant or light then one will never get articulation off the ground!
As to delicate tongue exercises,
go towards 16ths done on a repeated note with legato dah style articulation with alot of air....
the rest of the discussion should go to a private teacher with alot of experience in listening to a well placed and correct technique!
David Dow
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Author: Eric
Date: 2003-12-17 20:29
I have been working on double tonguing for a couple of months now. I can't seem to get above clarion E reliably. Reeds have always been a problem, maybe my good days are days when I find a good reed.
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2003-12-17 20:54
Eric, one thing you might want is maybe a legere reed. They play the same pretty much no matter what. Climate doesn't affect them, humidity doesn't affect them, etc. That way you can know that any improvement, or lack of improvement as the weeks go by is YOU and not the reed. Then you know you either need to change things, or continue what you're donig.
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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Author: Eric
Date: 2003-12-17 22:51
Ironically I tried a legere today before I posted earlier. It was a bit old so it played thin and it articulated just as a thin reed would. I did pick up a very old Vandoren reed and it articulated great. It could have sounded a lot better but it was very free-blowing. I find that I do not get the same experience with many of my Gonzalez reeds. Has anyone had the same experience? I love the sound of the Gonzalez reeds but they don't seem to have the same openness as a good Vandoren reed. I think the tips of some of them may be too hard or unbalanced.
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2003-12-18 01:17
I know that some of mine (FOFs) have recently closed up. I attribute that to stretching their lifetime. And it seems to me that if I play a reed even SLIGHTLY soft it will pinch shut after a few minutes of playing. I was almost in a scrape on Tuesday when I had to perform but found one out of the seven reeds I had on me that was still hard enough to project nicely and keep it's shape.
However like I said, my reeds are OLD. We're talking months and months here. So I don't blame the reed, only my lock and key wallet.
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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