 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: BGBG
Date: 2015-12-06 03:02
I practicing songs, I was wondering if it is better to play consecutive notes in single bursts of air which I guess might be called staccato, or in a continuous breath, just for coordination, regardless of how you would play for ,say,a concert. Or just either way as you choose?
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2015-12-06 08:11
That is actually a VERY good question.
The answer is that you ALWAYS blow a constant stream of air (with some rare notable exceptions of course) !!!!!
Tonguing in general and staccato specifically is achieved by the PLACEMENT of the tongue on the reed (only enough force to stop the reed from vibrating). The placement of the tongue on the reed STOPS THE SOUND ONLY. It is when you remove your tongue that the next note is sounded. Larry Combs would tell it like this: "Say the word "articulation." You only ever put as much force on the reed as you do when you say the "ts" in the word "articulate."
So your mouth will feel like a blown up balloon or a bicycle tire. Your reed/mouthpiece is the "valve." Open, the air comes pouring out. Closed, it is just held back at the tip of the reed ........ but you are still pushing the air !!!!
As for musical considerations, I would mostly practice the notes of a given piece of music AS I WOULD PLAY IT. Slurred notes would be practiced slurred (running together without separation) and notes not indicated to be slurred would be played tonguing each one in succession (as described above). I said "mostly" because while practicing you CAN mix up articulation and rhythm (depending on what needs to be improved) to provide different ways of looking at the problem area.
Of course in PRACTICE, you want to play S-L-O-W-L-Y to learn the coordination of fingers, cleanliness of articulation and various rhythms CORRECTLY first.
..................Paul Aviles
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2015-12-06 08:29
I second what Paul said. I used to play staccato notes with bursts of air too, but I learned to play with a continuous stream of air. Remember, the clarinet makes noise because of the reed vibrating. So learn to keep air going through the horn even when your tongue is pressed up against the reed keeping it from vibrating.
US Army Japan Band
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Author: brycon
Date: 2015-12-06 09:28
Depends on the music--style, tempo, rhythm, expression. I use both air and tongue staccato as well as a combination of both. Using one type of tonguing technique for all music makes no sense to me: string players use various bowing techniques, pianists use different touches and pedal combinations, etc.
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2015-12-06 16:38
You can vary the sound for certain, but (with notable exceptions such as the "Kuku" in Beethoven's Sixth Symphony for example) when you interrupt the flow of air, re-energizing the reed takes longer which equates to a delay that you cannot accurately control........which is not staccato, it's just sloppy.
Of course I have running notes in mind as I say this.
If you have an isolated note that needs to be short, the last thing you want to do is stop that note with the tongue ("TUT"). You want some natural taper even if ever so briefly (like a plucked note on a string). This execution is done with the abdominal muscles being halted by the counter pull from the diaphragm. The resulting end of the note will still have a slight "tail."
It's helpful to note here that there should NEVER be any interruption of the air column anywhere else between the gut and the reed (this always remains an uninterrupted column).
.................Paul Aviles
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Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2015-12-06 17:59
Paul Aviles wrote:
> If you have an isolated note that needs to be short, the last
> thing you want to do is stop that note with the tongue ("TUT").
> You want some natural taper even if ever so briefly (like a
> plucked note on a string). This execution is done with the
> abdominal muscles being halted by the counter pull from the
> diaphragm. The resulting end of the note will still have a
> slight "tail."
>
>
> It's helpful to note here that there should NEVER be any
> interruption of the air column anywhere else between the gut
> and the reed (this always remains an uninterrupted column).
I'm never comfortable saying "never." Even "tut" may be needed in some very secco contexts. But, beside a constant air stream, the other important point to make about isolated notes is that the air still needs to start before the tongue is taken off the reed to start the note. The sloppiness and imprecision come, as Paul has said, from the delay of having to wait for the air pressure against the reed to build for the tone to begin. To produce a clean, clear sounding start to the note the air pressure must be already developed before the reed is released.
Karl
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Author: dorjepismo ★2017
Date: 2015-12-06 19:57
"with notable exceptions such as the "Kuku" in Beethoven's Sixth Symphony for example"
A really notable notable exception is the Eb player in Berlin doing Mahler's First. Or maybe he was just exaggerating because of something the conductor said in a rehearsal.
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Author: BGBG
Date: 2015-12-06 20:51
I guess tonguing is the correct word. Makes more sense to blow steady so it 'flows' and 'tongue' if and when necessary.
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