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 Tongue Relaxation
Author: joeyscl 
Date:   2007-06-19 22:22

Well we all know the more relaxed we are, the Faster we can tongue...

Now my problem is: How do you get the tongue to relax in the first place??

One day I would be able to tongue at 160~168 bpm on an Open G (errr... about once every few months), and the next day I would feel tense especially in the tongue and barely able to do 104 (this when its BAD... 1/2 the time). So how do i get the tongue (or even my whole body) to relax in the first place? Interestingly, that day when i was able to do 168, after i finished practicing, i wasn't able to do it as fast anymore (tension setting in?).



Post Edited (2007-06-19 22:24)

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 Re: Tongue Relaxation
Author: hartt 
Date:   2007-06-20 03:49

By no means am I an expert on tonguing but I did change from anchor tonguing to tip to tip.

There are numerous books that contain tonguing/relaxation, etc.
Two that come to mind are Keith Steins THE ART OF CLARINET PLAYING and David Pino's book THE CLARINET AND CLARINET PLAYING. In Stein's book, he writes about how to relax the body parts.
Both these books are readily available and cost about $12.

You might also read the articles in Shermsn Friedland's sectionwithin the BB entitled Shermans's Corner. [http://clarinet.cc/index.html]

Also, if you do a search on here typing in tonguing/relaxation or other combos of words, you will get many 'hits' on prior posts from over the years.
The list of authors is extensive. A few are Ken Shaw, John Moses, David Dow, Katrina, Hat Brend Siewert and many more who are well deserving of their contribututions.

I would think that if you can tongue at 160-168 once every few months, you are not really tonguing per se. You are probably flutter tonguing. If you want to start seriously practicing / training your tongue, your speed of 104 would need to be halved........and that's just the tempo.

There is more to tonguing than just hitting the reed. Coordination of tongue and fingers, breath support, focus, embouchure, etc.

regards
dennis

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 Re: Tongue Relaxation
Author: Aaron 
Date:   2007-06-20 14:25

If you understand the basic motion that the tongue should be making, you won't need to fret over how much to "relax" the tongue. Interestingly enough, forcing yourself to relax probably will lead to the exact opposite.

Instead, I've found it very helpful to understand the mechanics of tonguing, embouchure, finger position, etc. and using that understanding (and LISTENING always) to correct my playing.

Try this article. It, along with Julie's other teaching have been extremely helpful:
http://www.keynotesmagazine.com/article.php?uid=23


Aaron M

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 Re: Tongue Relaxation
Author: joeyscl 
Date:   2007-06-21 01:56

Well, i should say, when my Tongue is relaxed, It understands the Mechanics, when its not relaxed, it is Not relaxed.

And no, i cannot flutter tongue (I can't even "roll" my tongue)

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 Re: Tongue Relaxation
Author: cigleris 
Date:   2007-06-21 14:27

You need to really relax you mind and the body will follow straight away. Also it's about strenghtening the tounge. Start slowly and work it up. We all have periods when the tounge feels lazy, it's the first thing that goes if you take a week off.

Peter Cigleris

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 Re: Tongue Relaxation
Author: joeyscl 
Date:   2007-06-23 02:44

i meant it was really fast AFTEr i took a week off... lol (Go figure)

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