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Re: Overcoming Anchor Tonguing

Author: clarinetguy ★2017
Date: 2016-08-02 21:22

Jarmo Hyvakko said:

>I have been anchor tonguing for whole of my life, anchor tonguing meaning that the tip of my tongue is touching my lower lip whole the time and I am beating the reed very near the tip of the reed with a spot somewhere backwards from the tip of my tongue, without even knowing the name of the technique.

This goes to show that the technique does work well for some people, and if it does work, there's no reason to change.

When most people think of anchor tonguing, they think of the tip of the tongue resting against the bottom teeth. In Keith Stein's lengthy discussion of anchor tonguing in The Art of Clarinet Playing, several variations of the technique are mentioned, including placing the tongue on the gum just below the lower teeth or placing it on the inside membrane of the lower lip. He discusses another method that I've never seen discussed elsewhere, but perhaps it was widely practiced at one time: it involves "placement of the underside of the tongue tip on the lower lip membrane and gliding it roller-fashion back and forth into the angle where the reed and lip meet." (p. 25)

David Pino (a very devoted Stein student) has a short discussion of anchor tonguing in his The Clarinet and Clarinet Playing. He doesn't exactly advocate it, but he admits it works well for some clarinet players with long tongues.

Many years ago I studied at summer camp with Larry Maxey (who also studied with Stein). Maxey mentioned it in a discussion with several of us. I had never heard of it before and he didn't suggest that anyone try it, but he did mention it as an acceptable method for those who felt most comfortable doing it that
way.

Nicholas, by now you've probably tried a number of things. If traditional tonguing still isn't working for you, take a look at Keith Stein's book for his many anchor tonguing suggestions. I'd also suggest taking a look at Roger McKinney's tonguing article (not anchor tonguing) and his suggested "n" or "nu" tongue syllable:
https://www.tcnj.edu/~mckinney/tonguing.htm

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