Author: Jarmo Hyvakko
Date: 2018-03-16 10:34
There's nothing wrong with anchor tonguing. Ken Shaw in his writing draws a very black picture of it.
First of all anchor tonguing doesn't necessarily slow down your articulation. If you happen to have a longish tongue, using a tip-to-tip technique may even slow down you because you have to bend your tongue upwards to reach the tip of the reed. And that causes tension that stiffens the movement.
Second, using a portion of your tongue a bit further back gives you a possibility to variate the quality of the attack by slightly shaping the form of your tongue and thus the size of the area your tongue touches the reed.
Third, anchor tongue doesn't necessarily dullen the sound. What is dull? Dark, covered, soft, mysterious? What is clear and centered? Reedy, too bright, screaming, thin? There is no need putting more lip between the reed and teeth, actually i have exactly the same half-of-the-red there that Ken Shaw describes. That helps me keeping my tongue long, straight and relaxed in my mouth.
Actually it may help you to get more core to the sound, if you have quite thin lips, as i do. Because when your tongue lightly touches your lip (not your teeth!) it gives more substance to your lower lip, makes it thicker. One thing is sure, it has no effect whatsoever to your lip support in your embouchure. If you bite the mouthpiece, you bite it, no matter how you articulate.
So, anchor tounging is not a mysterious tropical disease, you have to cure. It's just an other way to articulate!
Jarmo Hyvakko, Principal Clarinet, Tampere Philharmonic, Finland
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