 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: max678
Date: 2025-12-03 01:52
Hi all,
I'm a high school clarinetist who has always been struggling with articulation. It's a lot better than it has been, but I'm getting a little bit stuck on something I can't figure out.
To start out, I would like to say that I have a bad habit of moving my tongue forward as I tongue more and more repeated 16th notes. I don't believe that I anchor tongue, but I can end up hitting the reed with the middle of my tongue. This is getting better over time, but it's always a long journey when it comes to articulation, especially for me. Anyways, I keep having an issue where my right corner leaks when articulating. As my tongue moves forward, this gets worse, but I'm still not sure what's causing the leak. Even if I am articulating with the tip of my tongue, I find it very difficult to not leak air from my right corner.
I've already narrowed down a variety of issues that this could be -- I don't pulse my air or chew/close my throat at all. I can find my chin creeping up (putting more pressure on the reed), but eliminating this doesn't seem to fix this issue completely. Do any of y'all know what could be causing this to happen only to my right corner?
I'm currently doing a variety of articulation exercises, including "buzzing" and some other ones assigned by my lesson teacher. The issue for me is more about not knowing what to focus on. Since I can't pinpoint exactly what is going on, I'm struggling to make progress.
-Max
Post Edited (2025-12-03 01:53)
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2025-12-03 02:37
I would back up to the basics of embouchure first. It sounds as if there is some straining or unnatural sort of posture you have taken that is causing you to put unnecessary strain on the right side when you get "worked up" (by that I mean lots o' stuff going on at once). It should be obvious that you are not supposed to use a "smile" embouchure (entirely counterproductive), but it may not be obvious that the best conscious posture is to bring the corner of the mouth down and slightly back. Yes this looks weird (your face should look kinda like a parrot), but it works.
NOW........there should NEVER be any leaks (keeping in mind there should NEVER be any strain......only control.
As for the articulation, you may be thinking of this backwards. You must think of the tongue LEAVING the reed (this is the conscious part of tonguing) NOT hitting the reed. The tongue is PLACED on the reed to stop it from vibrating. You release the tongue to achieve the sound. It should feel more like you are spitting out a small thing from your mouth like an unwanted coffee ground. NOTHING gets "hit." Try practicing the placing (silence) for two beats and then the release and sound for two beats (quarter note equals 120 beats per minute). Once you get the "feel" of it slowly, you can start trying this closer to speed.
..............Paul Aviles
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Author: graham
Date: 2025-12-03 03:27
Agree with everything PA says.
Have you viewed your playing in a mirror? If not, do so. Or video yourself. Look to see what might be leading to this.
Embouchure problems lead to tonguing problems and vice versa. Consider what works as a whole. The forward tongue position is not necessarily the culprit.
Consider using a lower profile beak mouthpiece design, after you have done all of the above.
graham
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Author: max678
Date: 2025-12-03 18:20
First of all, thank you.
Second of all, I completely agree that I am generally thinking of articulation as the tongue starting the reed instead of leaving the reed. That's something that I've realized over the past few weeks and will be working towards undoing all of the reinforcement I've done of this counterproductive way of articulating.
I do think that one of the things that has happened is that I've conditioned myself to put extra tension into my right corner as a part of the action of the tongue moving. I'm not really sure that happened, to be completely honest. Knowing me, I probably started doing that out of stress and the want to be able to articulate better. Do you know a good way to "un-learn" habits like that?
-Max
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Author: max678
Date: 2025-12-03 18:24
I have tried playing in front of a mirror. At first, I noticed that both corners would move when I articulated, but now that I'm a bit better, it's difficult to notice any movement. I do believe that there is still tension being added, but it's becoming more difficult to see visually.
Also, I don't know too much about clarinet setup, especially when it comes to mouthpieces. I'm playing on a D'Addario EV10 Mouthpiece with D'Addario Reserve 3.5+ strength reeds. Do you think that this setup would be contributing to this issue?
-Max
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Author: kdk
Date: 2025-12-03 21:59
max678 wrote:
> I'm currently doing a variety of articulation exercises,
> including "buzzing" and some other ones assigned by my lesson
> teacher.
So, you *are*studying with a private lesson teacher. Is he/she a clarinetist? The obvious next question is, what does your teacher say or think is going on?
> The issue for me is more about not knowing what to
> focus on. Since I can't pinpoint exactly what is going on, I'm
> struggling to make progress.
This is what a private teacher is there for. Before anyone here can make meaningful suggestions, you should tell us what your teacher has already suggested and what has or hasn't helped. The teacher can see and hear you. No one here can.
Karl
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2025-12-03 22:01
I'd approach whatever the issue is by isolating it, and doing some slow repetitive exercises that emphasize the correction. Of course you just do that for awhile, shake it off and proceed with your regular practice. You should start to experience some improvement over the course of a few days. Continue as needed.
.............Paul Aviles
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Author: kdk
Date: 2025-12-03 22:06
Paul Aviles wrote:
> I'd approach whatever the issue is by isolating it, and doing
> some slow repetitive exercises that emphasize the correction.
> Of course you just do that for awhile, shake it off and proceed
> with your regular practice. You should start to experience
> some improvement over the course of a few days. Continue as
> needed.
>
I agree, except that you need to know what to isolate. That's where a skilled and experienced teacher can help.
Karl
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Author: max678
Date: 2025-12-03 22:28
Thank you all. I'll talk to my lesson teacher about this (this has been discussed in the past, but my articulation is/was such a tangled mess that the problem changed constantly) and work on pure isolation and reinforcing the correct technique. What would often happen is that we'd make major progress during lessons, but then new issues would pop up in between, which is why I came here instead of talking to her.
I honestly think that I tend to just be impatient and get unsatisfied when progress doesn't happen as quickly as I want it to. I've been doing everything that has been said here, and I came here out of dissatisfaction from my practice. I was so frustrated with how slowly I've been making progress with articulation that I posted here hoping that someone here would say something that would magically fix my articulation, but of course, that's silly.
I'll just keep practicing. This is something that I think is holding me back in a huge way, but it'll just take time.
Thank you all for responding.
-Max
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Author: Philip Caron
Date: 2025-12-03 23:35
Sometimes you can isolate a problem by deliberately trying to DO it, to exaggerate it, to temporarily make it worse. If you find you can do that, then you've probably also found what is causing the problem. If that produces an "aha", then move on to trying to deliberately turn the problem on and off. Then practice the "off" version.
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2025-12-04 21:29
I think there is truth in the "over problem the problem."
Learning (and particularly RE-learning) correct articulation is not easy. Robert Marcellus once likened it to potty training.
My recommendation for the "two beats on, two beats off" might be a place to start. Start with sound....probably just an open G. Then "place" the tongue on the reed for two beats (say quarter note equals 120 per minute). During this time, you will still be blowing air.....it just won't be going anywhere. Then you release on the count of three for two beats. Concentrate on the feeling of the tongue moving AWAY from the reed. This is the essence of correct articulation. So the exercise will feel like so: PLACE........RELEASE........PLACE.........RELEASE, etc. doing a series of those through ONE BREATH.
how's that for specific?
................Paul Aviles
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Author: kdk
Date: 2025-12-05 01:48
Paul's suggestion to start with *sound* is on the money. You have to be articulating SOMEthing - it should be the best sound you can produce.
It will be interesting to know what happens to the air leak if you concentrate on producing a clean, even sound with a relaxed tongue and a well-formed embouchure. You mentioned (if I understood you correctly) that the contact point between your tongue and the reed seems to creep toward the middle of your tongue. The leak might be caused by your tongue, pushing the lips slightly out of line. If you practice controlling the sound carefully for Paul's articulation exercise, the leak may stop on its own. If it doesn't, slowing things down and isolating the tongue motion from the technical demands of notes and finger motion will give you a better chance to feel what's going on inside your mouth.
But you need to work with your teacher on this. It isn't a peripheral issue that you can tackle on your own while you and she work on etudes and repertoire. It's a central issue that affects everything else you do. Helping you overcome it is part of her job as your teacher. She is in the best position to hear and see what you're doing while you play. Also, take your comment about impatience to heart. You need to hope for small but cumulative improvements. If there were a magic change that would fix everything, you'd probably have found it already. Relax, be methodical and don't over-react when your result isn't perfect.
Karl
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