Articulation Exercises Are Tone Exercises

This is something that "they" say (heck, I say it a lot too). We were talking about this in the Dojo the other day, and I wanted to share the ideas with you and invite you to consider how the Clarinet Ninja Dojo could positively impact your clarinet playing and your happiness.

How to combine a tone and articulation exercise:

Things to remember - and remember again - and again…

1. Keep your air moving while your tongue is in motion.
2. No, really keep your air moving when you tongue notes.
3. Seriously, don’t mark every note with your air.
4. Don’t blow more air when you are tonguing; use the same amount as when you playing legato
5. Your tongue should be in the same position when you tongue as when you slur.
6. Your voicing should remain in the same place as when you slur.
7. Only the tip (or tip area) of your tongue should move when you tongue the clarinet.
8. Every staccato note should be the same tone as a long tone, but just a brief moment of it.

The Journey to Articulation Control

That can be viewed and understood in one sitting, but it is many years' worth of trial and error mixed with brief moments of success and perhaps longer moments of despair and dissatisfaction. Listen, I get the previous statement is a little negative - however, the fact you are reading this is going to mitigate a lot of what I just said :)

Effective Practice Routine for Clarinet Articulation

Here are some ideas that, employed to create an effective practice routine, can smooth out the bumps in the process of attaining the articulation control you have always dreamed of.

Combining Articulation and Tone Practice

Articulation and tone should be practiced as one concept as much as they are practiced as separate concepts.

The place that you "voice", or your standard way of playing the clarinet, should be the same place that you voice when you tongue on the clarinet.

The Interplay of Tone Production and Articulation

In essence, our tone production does not exist in a vacuum. It must support and enable good articulation. It could be that an adjustment to your tone production needs to be made to have good articulation. I dare say that there will have to be some kind of adjustment made. There is good news here; this adjustment will make your tone better in the long run.

True Statements About Air Support and Tonguing

Some true things:

- If the air is “supported” correctly in one’s legato playing, there is a possibility that the tonguing can be clean, clear, and fast.

-You should not have to use “more” air or “blow harder” to get a good articulation. 

-Tonguing is the release of the reed (the tongue pulling back from the reed), not the initial touch of the tongue to the reed.

Ok, there is a bunch of stuff that is, as far as my clarinet education and background go, totally true. I have not heard anybody say anything that is wildly contrary to any of that information.

Blueprint for a Consistent Practice Routine

The more important thing—how do we find our way from understanding to ability?

I got you, but keep in mind what follows, while it will produce immediate improvement in your playing, isn’t going to immediately create the perfect tonguing you want in the next week or two. What follows is a blueprint that you will find your way through with a consistent practice routine.

Finding Your Starting Place

Find your starting place. Make a high “C” (concert pitch) on your mouthpiece alone. Be able to hold it for 10 seconds at an MF dynamic. This is going to provide a place to start with the right air, voicing, jaw/teeth pressure, and tongue position.

Next, put the metronome at 60 and alternate a whole note with tongued quarter notes (four). Make no change in your air, voicing, or jaw/teeth pressure. There should be no change in tone quality (yes, I know it’s an unpleasant sound) or pitch. If there is a change in pitch, try again and really put your mind's eye on what may be changing—because something is!

Long-term Practice and Feedback

Keep in mind that this may take a week to accomplish. Maybe more. It is something to check in on as you work on both tone and tonguing. Playing on only the mouthpiece offers a great deal of feedback. It's a very particular and undeniable feedback that is incredibly helpful in helping steer ourselves the right direction.

There is more to do to attain complete control of the tongue, but this clears the road of many potential roadblocks.

Conclusions:

I don’t know if you noticed, but this didn’t get into where your tongue should touch the reed or what part of your tongue should touch the reed. Believe it or not, these ideas are secondary to this foundation. This exercise puts your tongue in a good place without telling you in words where it should be. Your clarinet is going to tell you where it should be (or at least the mouthpiece will).

This type of foundational work will prevent an untold amount of challenges that traditionally accompany getting the articulation/tonguing that you desire. There’s more to it -for sure. The Clarinet Ninja Dojo goes into more depth, offers individual feedback and suggestions, and has a community of people ready to support and share—you should check it out.