 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Asheeka
Date: 2005-09-29 21:46
Hey everyone,
I have been playing for 1 1/2 years, but I have a bad habit... I am not tounging on the right place on the reed! <y teacher always tells me this... "the tip of your tongue, has to touch the tip of the top of the reed." I am not tounguing on the tip of the reed, but well down below... (about 1/4 of the way down!) I am trying to do what she tells me to, but I am having alot of trouble, and can't seem to do this. I am doing fine tounguing on the low notes, but when I get to a high E and start to toungue, the sound pauses, instead of flowing from one note to the other. (i hope you know what I mean!) Well, I just wanted to know if anyone had any ideas on how I can improve this. I will try anything, just please HELP!
~Asheeka~
P.S. My teacher says that my embochure is great, and I have a good tone
quality, but that I just need to work on my tounguing!
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2005-09-29 21:54
High notes ARE more difficult to tongue cleanly, especially the altissimo register - the only thing to do is start lower down, master that and gradually work higher - but as always, start slowly and work up.
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Author: clarinetist04
Date: 2005-09-30 00:00
Practice. Force yourself to tongue with the tip of the tongue on the tip of the reed. Practice.
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Author: Tyler
Date: 2005-09-30 03:00
I am against telling students to tongue on the tip of the reed, as this can lead to problems of clicking noises unless ultimate lightness of the tongue is achieved, and such precision is necessary for this technique of articulation that I consider in unpractical. I do think, however, that playing with the tip of the tongue fairly high up on the reed (1/4 down is pretty low) is useful in clean articulation.
As for problems articulating in the high register, I can relate because I have just recently started to fix a similar problem for myself. In order to keep the throat from tensing up and making sure it stays in an open position, all the while maintaining a high tongue position (tongue touching molars in back but overall relaxed), I have been telling myself to just "LET the high notes come out, however afraid I am that the tone will be bad or that I'll squeak." The result, when I think this to myself while playing tongued scales all the way up to the top of my range, is usually a result of great response and even vibrant and focused tone in the high register.
Oh, and air support and air SPEED are important in articulation, too.
-Tyler
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2005-09-30 11:35
I remember a Yamaha WX7 wind synth back in the late '80s - I couldn't get that to work as it was designed to be tongued right between the tip of the plastic reed and the mouthpiece tip rail, and I always tongue the underside of the reed below the tip, so that wasn't for me at all - I don't see why I should have to completely change my technique just for that. Plus the fact you can't keep any right hand fingers down when going across the 'break' as that did all sorts of strange and undesireable things.
Even on oboe/cor I tongue the underside of the reed (obviously not as far below the tip as on single reeds), but as a general rule across the board I'm not using the hard 'ta' but the softer 'da' tongueing. And definitely not the sloppy 'dthaaa' tongueing.
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Author: Arnoldstang
Date: 2005-09-30 13:39
There may be a reed strength issue here also. If the reed is too soft for high register then tonguing on the tip might make the reed shut down. Perhaps the solution is tonguing further down on the reed, using a heavier reed or making the tongue action very light. Oral cavity is obviously very important here. Interested to hear ideas on this topic. John
Freelance woodwind performer
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Author: Brenda
Date: 2005-09-30 20:33
A #3 could be too soft for you. The only way to see is to try the reed in your box that feels harder, or actually buy a few 3.25 or 3.5 reeds to feel the difference in the upper register. In my lessons I used to argue with the same John (above) who told you this, and guess what? He was right. Another teacher told me that I had to use a reed that was just slightly stiffer to achieve a smooth transition between large intervals. And as much as I resisted, he was right, too. So the trick is to get a reed that's a little harder but not so hard that you're fighting it or making airy sounds with it. As with anything else, see what works.
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Author: Asheeka
Date: 2005-10-01 19:09
ok, I have tried a 3.5 and it made an airy sound... so I really don't know what to do! thank you for all of your help!
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Author: sömeone
Date: 2005-10-02 04:12
Airy might mean a embouchure which is not well established yet, a reed not well suited with the set up, or possibly simply, too hard a reed. Anyways, how do you set up your ligature? That's very important too.
I'll assume you use a traditional double screw metal ligature. Make sure it is placed according to the borderline shown on the mouthpiece (if there is any, if no, make sure the upper limit line of the ligaure is under the bark line of the reed, but not too low, check: http://www.kbyutv.org/press/americawelcomes/images/stoltzman.jpg
for a guideline....hehe......
Once the reed is aligned and centred with the ligature in place, we'll start screwing. Make sure both crews are loosen up, not TOO LOOSE, just not tight:
1. Tighten the upper screw, NOT TOO TIGHT, to check how tight it should be, try moving the side of your with your fingers and see if they budge, if they do, you did not tighten enough and you'll have to start over.
2. Next, tighten the lower screw just as much as the upper screw.
3. Finally, loosen the upper screw until the screw will move easily, but NOT LOOSE. Apply the same idea to the lower screw. Now, you are ready to play! But remember that results will always vary depending on different factors, you will need m ore experience to figure out just how much to adjust on everything, including how much to loosen up etc. Good luck!
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