 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Sue G
Date: 2008-08-25 18:46
Hi
Really sorry - I appreciate that the issue of tonguing has been covered very extensively on the board - I've searched through many posts on th subject already.
My query is a very basic one :
How on earth do you know which notes to tongue and which not to in any given piece of music ????
I only play easy listening "sing a long" 60's type of music but I can't work out which notes I should tongue and which not.
Can anyone advise me please as I'm trying to improve my sound.
Thanks
Sue
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Author: Katrina
Date: 2008-08-25 18:50
Where to tongue is usually "in" the sheet music. In sheet music, you tongue the beginning of each note, unless it's under a slur (a curved line). You tongue ONLY the FIRST note of slurred groups.
If you're playing by ear, tongue most notes. If you're copying a vocal melody, and the singer sings one syllable over many notes, tongue the beginning note of that syllable.
Hopefully this answers at least part of your question...
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Author: Sue G
Date: 2008-08-25 19:23
Hi
Thanks Katrina - your comments are very helpful - exactly what I wanted to know.
Much appreciated
Sue
:))
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Author: mrn
Date: 2008-08-25 20:01
It's an art--you have to do what you think sounds good. Here are some of my random thoughts as I ponder this question, in no particular order.
Obviously if you have two of the same note consecutively, you must use the tongue--otherwise you have one note, rather than two.
If you're playing vocal music, it might help to think about what the consonant sounds are in the words, since those are the vocalist's articulations (if the consonant is a voiced one like "l," "n," or "r," for example, it might make sense to slur instead of tongue--especially if the consonant does not fall on a downbeat). It also helps to consider whether what you're playing is a subdivision of the beat--you might want to slur some eighths or sixteenth notes, while still tonguing at the beginning of each beat. Variety is also a consideration. There are no hard and fast rules.
Example: (Yellow Submarine by the Beatles) "We all live in a yellow submarine." (I would tongue everything except that I might slur "in a" for variety)
("Misty" by Erroll Garner) "Or it might be the sound of your hello..." (I might slur "Or it might be the" and tongue everything else--or possibly slur "Or it" and tongue everything else.)
"In a," "and a," "or a," "gimme," and other little phrases like that that run together in speech or sound like pickup notes seem to suggest slurs. Abrupt rhythmic changes/syncopations seem to suggest tonguing, so as to accentuate the rhythmic contrast (in "Eleanor Rigby," for instance, you'd probably want to tongue both syllables of "Rigby," even if you slurred the word "Eleanor")
("What a day for a daydream" by the Lovin' Spoonful) "...custom made for a daydreaming boy..." (I might slur "custom," tongue "made" and the first syllable of "for," slur "for a" together, tongue each syllable of "daydreaming" and the first note of "boy," and slur the other note(s) of boy)
How's this for a rudimentary general rule of thumb for vocal music: Pretty much any note that needs an accent or additional stress (because it's a strong downbeat, for instance) ought to be tongued. For all other notes, you have more leeway, but if in doubt you can usually assume they are tongued. Notes that function like pickup notes or that are weak subdivisions of a beat can often be (but don't have to be) slurred together--especially if you have many short notes in succession. Multiple different notes on the same syllable are usually slurred.
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Author: Sue G
Date: 2008-08-25 20:17
Brilliant !
Thanks so much for taking the trouble to write such a detailed post for me.
I've got a lot of practicing to do - I tend to slur mst of the time - I'm sure my sound isn't a clear as it should be. Problem of being self taught I suspect.
Thanks again
Sue
:))
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