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Throat tensing/closing up when tonguing

Author: McDonalds Eater
Date: 2021-02-28 10:05

Hello everyone, I just discovered the Clarinet BBoard and I'm delighted with all the positive exchange of clarinet information! I'm excited to become part of this lovely community and hopefully provide some of my knowledge

I wanted to ask you all about this since my teacher unfortunately could not really help.

I have discovered that my throat tends to close up/tense when I'm tonguing. This is becoming especially apparent when playing the Mendelssohn scherzo and playing in the clarion/upper register.

One of the ways I like to practice tonguing is playing the notes all legato first. Say I play a scale; I play it all slurred/legato first to get the feeling of having the air moving freely and continuously; then I add the tonguing. But for some reason, the free feeling of blowing doesn't translate to when I add the tongue. I have checked to see if my air stops by creating an intentional embouchure leak, and my air is always constant. So I don't think it's the air.

Could it maybe be because I am "stop-tonguing?" Since my early days of clarinet I got taught the stop-tonguing and use it as my main source of staccato.

I must also note: I used to anchor tongue. I found out a couple months ago, and just last month I got fairly comfortable with the tip of my tongue hitting the reed, but now I'm having this tension problem. So if this has anything to do with the tension problem, please let me know!

I'm not looking for a magical secret, but does anyone have any practice tips or exercises to practice tension-free articulation? Or does anyone know what could be the problem?

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