Articulation is one of the most frequently discussed techniques and clarinetists are constantly working to perfect it. While preventing articulation problems is best, correcting them seems to be an ongoing task with my students. I have come across those who articulate by touching the roof of the mouth, those who use anchor tonguing and throat articulation (like a cough) along with articulating with the bottom of the tongue. Other common problems include heavy tongues or too much of the tongue mass touching the reed.
Many of these flawed approaches will cause visible movement in the embouchure. This movement is often one of the easiest ways to discover that there is a problem. Unfortunately, many other poor techniques can often go unnoticed and can therefore be much harder to correct as they become a permanent habit. I have divided the elements of articulation into separate categories, however, if one is malfunctioning, you may find that you are still dissatisfied with your articulation approach. Read each topic carefully and work to constantly refine each part.
General Fundamentals of Articulation
1. The tip of tongue touches the just below the tip of the reed. Make sure the tip of your tongue is doing the majority of the work. Many have success imagining aiming for a couple of tastebuds back from the tip. Additionally, I recommend touching the reed just below the very tip of the reed’s edge.
2. Keep your tongue high and arched inside your mouth. If you think “eee”
combined with “ooo,”
this will help keep your tongue lifted and will promote a clear and focused sound. You can also find this position by whistling a low note and then a high note. Notice how your tongue moves up inside the mouth for the high note.
3. Keep the movement of your tongue to a minimum. You really want to allow only the front third of your tongue to move – that is – the front third of the part of the tongue we can actually see. The middle and back of the tongue stay high and somewhat anchored between the top molars.
4. A light touch of the tongue is crucial no matter how fast or loud you are playing. If your tongue is heavy, you will find that you tire easily and are unable to play quickly. Keep the motion light, pointed, and precise.
5. For me, the most effective articulation syllables end with an “eee” sound combined with “ooo” forming a resulting “eu” (as in “teu” or “deu”). Syllables such as “tah” and “dah” can cause the tongue to drop, make the air move slower, cause jaw movement, and make the tone hollow and spread.
6. Keep the embouchure and chin perfectly still while articulating. Practice in front of a mirror. If you see movement, there is a flaw in some part of your approach. Aim for an embouchure that is so still that if someone could watch you play but was unable to hear you, it would be impossible to tell if you were articulating or slurring.
7. Blow with a steady stream of air no matter if you are holding a long note or playing 20 staccato sixteenth notes in a row. Train your tongue to act as a “release” mechanism instead of an “attacker.” Take a breath, put your tongue against the reed, BLOW, then release the tongue to start your sound. Think of it as a three-step process: 1) Breathe, 2) Set – which means tongue on the reed and air blowing, then 3) Release. So, sound or no sound, it always feels
like you are playing a single sustained tone. Support your air through every articulated note while maintaining a light tongue motion. As you get better at this approach, your three steps will occur very quickly and will become more automatic.
“But, I want to tongue faster!”
When the topic of articulation arises, clarinetists often wish they could play faster and cleaner staccato. In my opinion, in order to perfect your staccato, you must actually take a large step backward and retrain the fundamental approaches of your tongue. Use the exercises below so you can start with the most gentle tonguing motion possible and slowly progress to the three different types of staccato styles that I use.
1. Reed Buzzing – Just barely place and hold your tongue against the reed very lightly as you play an easy note such as a low C (see below). Touch the reed so lightly that you merely dampen the sound only slightly while still allowing the tone to sound. Think about how you say the word “thee” and think of the buzz sound as the “th” portion of the word and the normal or open sound as the “ee” part. At first, you may produce a sort of stuttering sound. That usually means you need to back off and touch the reed with less pressure. Aim to keep the tone as steady as possible while buzzing. First, start by practicing going from an “open” sound (or normal sound) and then transition to the buzz. Give yourself plenty of time to perfect this before working to move more precisely in time with the metronome. This exercise will help to promote a light touch along with refined precision.
2. Legato Articulation – Any time you are faced with a staccato passage, approach it first with a very light and long articulation with lots of air support behind your sound. This sound is very smooth and connected. Aim to make every touch to the reed produce the same sound. Some syllables that can help to promote a very gentle tongue stroke are “thee,” “loo,” “lee,” “nu” or “nee,” etc. To practice legato, choose any slow melody that you like. Practice it slurred a few times while observing the natural phrasing. Then, play the same melody with every note tongued in a legato style. Aim to create the same result you achieved while slurring. A melody I like to use for legato practice is Danny Boy.
3. Marcato Articulation – The marcato style produces the type of tone you would generally use while playing a march. With marcato, there is a more defined separation than legato, however, the air continues to blow through each note. Find this style by allowing the tongue to make contact with the reed for a slightly longer period of time than with the legato style. There will also be a very subtle increase in the pressure of the tongue on the reed, but it is very, very slight! An appropriate syllable here could be “too” or “tee.” The opening four measures to Sousa’s Stars and Stripes Forever offer an ideal example of when to play marcato. As you progress further in the piece, you will see all three types of staccato that are covered next!
Staccato Articulation
As you have perfected the above exercises and have successfully eliminated any jaw or lip movement, you are ready to work on your staccato styles. I will define and discuss the three types of staccato that I use. This is my own language that I have developed in my teaching. Others may use similar approaches and may have different names for each. Keep in mind that staccato means “detached,” “spaced,” or “separated” and only sometimes it is very short. The tempo and rhythmic value of each staccato note play a big role in how short or long your staccato should be. I remember a teacher once telling me that a staccato indication cuts the value of the printed note in half. For instance, staccato half notes are played as quarter notes with quarter note rests while staccato 8th notes could be imagined as 16th notes with 16th rests in the silence.
1. Stopped Staccato – This form of staccato is the first type that I teach to students because it is pretty straightforward and is the easiest to grasp, in my opinion. It also trains players to blow through and use good air support which is very necessary for the other types of staccato. With stopped staccato, the tongue starts AND stops each sound. Stopped staccato is ideal in a passage where the notes are a bit quick and you need a clear and crisp response. To produce an effective stopped staccato, hold your tongue in contact with the reed, blow your air, release the tongue, and then quickly replace it back onto the reed. All the while, the air should be blowing as if to play a long tone and you will feel a build-up of air pressure while the tongue is on the reed. The sudden and explosive sound may surprise you at first and you may even squeak a few times when you first try this. Dismiss your squeaks and keep your wind strong. That explosive sound is the goal and it takes a while to get used to it. Eventually, it will turn into a controlled and immediate sound. Listen for a clear tone and avoid a staccato that is overly “pecky.” Be sure to check for movement while watching yourself in the mirror and avoid extreme heaviness in the tongue (revisit the reed buzz above to keep the tongue gentle but air strong – this can be challenging to pair together). Useful syllables to think of are “toot” and “teet.” A good example where I use stopped staccato is in the third movement of Dvorak’s New World Symphony: the 8th notes in the solo starting in measure 14 need to be crisp and a stopped staccato does the trick. When the same motive appears later in the upper register, I still use stopped staccato but with a more gentle tongue stroke. The 8th notes can also be played with a rebound staccato (coming next). In chapter 3 of his Clarinetist’s Compendium, Daniel Bonade outlines a wonderful approach to learning stopped staccato that is a gem for clarinetists. Click HERE to view this free PDF. As you refine your stopped staccato technique and get used to having reliable and consistent airflow, you can move away from using this method altogether and aim for more nuanced staccato styles. As I mentioned before, I have found that it serves its purpose to get started with staccato. There are some divisions in pedagogy on this topic.
2. Rebound Staccato – The rebound staccato is very effective when playing a lot of fast articulated notes in a row. Here, you think more about starting the sound because each start will take care of each end simultaneously. The result is a rebound effect as your tongue reacts sympathetically to the initial sound produced. Imagine a magician saying, “Ta-da” as he finishes his big trick. The “da” syllable acts as the rebound. If we think of this idea with articulation, change your syllable to “T-tee” and allow the “tee” to be a delicate rebound from the initial “T” sound. Without vocalizing, try it with a “loud” whisper. The air must behave as if the “T-tee” is a single motion rather than two separate activities. As you improve, add more syllables. “T-Tee” then “T-T-Tee” then “T-T-T-Tee” and so on. Once you are consistent in saying the syllables, try it on the clarinet. Let’s use the famous clarinet excerpt from Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Try playing the 8th notes with a stopped staccato and the 16ths with a rebound staccato. The end goal would be to play the 8th notes with an “open” staccato once you know your air is reliable (see below).
3. “Open” or “Air Release” Staccato – An open staccato is ideal when the staccato notes are “lifted” or need a little bounce to work with the style of the music. For example, the main theme of the third movement of the Mozart Clarinet Concerto contains notes that are often lifted and bouncy. The repeated G’s and A’s that appear as 8th notes are to be lifted and light. If they are played with a stopped staccato approach, the light and bouncy character may be harder to achieve. Start the sound with a clear tongue release and end the sound with an air release. Keep in mind that for the most ideal results, the abdominal muscles will remain activated and great support from down below is critical. Focus on the feeling of expansion or imagine your core is like a tree trunk (see Breathing and Blowing). Articulation syllables like “tooh” or “teeh” work well here. Most of your efforts will come from your air with a very well-defined and purposeful “hee.” Your upper body may bounce a little like a singer warming up (think vocal arpeggios like “hee hee hee hee hee”) and it will feel like a lot of work, but I think it is worth it for isolated moments. As you get better, you’ll bounce less as you keep the support pushing forward. Playing a whole page of music like this would be exhausting, but for this short bit in the Mozart, it’s doable. Work to have direction in your phrase so you avoid a small decrescendo on the air releases. Think “forward” motion and play the passage legato with your preferred phrase shapes before you try it with an open staccato. Remember, the open staccato is just for the 8th notes. The staccato 16ths could be played with either stopped staccato or rebound staccato.
Be sure to go back through all of these exercises again and again. Chances are, one of your approaches will become more refined each time.
Think of articulation as a process with the understanding that it takes time and consistent work. You must spend a little time working on it each time you pick up your clarinet. Even professional players can lose their articulation skills if neglected. Some will even say that they can tell a difference if just one day goes by without articulation practice! Be proactive with your articulation skills and you will reap the benefits.
Advanced Articulation
Just when you thought you had it all down, there is more! Yes, many clarinetists double tongue and use other articulation techniques that move well beyond the traditional fundamental approaches to articulation. Kornel Wolak has done extensive research and has produced a book explaining many advanced articulation techniques. Be sure to check out his materials!