**This blog has been edited to include proper credits for where information was obtained.
It’s always nerve-wracking writing blogs related to woodwind technique. The simplest answer for the anxiety I feel when putting pencil to paper is as follows: there are different perspectives. Sure, there are areas where one answer is most certainly not right because it’s unhealthy. For example, having your fingers flat and pressed into the instrument is wrong because it’s unhealthy and could lead to tendonitis. There are other topics like clarinet assembly where there is a right and a wrong way to put the joints together. However, the order in which the parts combine does not matter. Some start with the middle joints and move outward while others, like me, start from the bottom up. The topic in this article is simply a difference in perspective. It is no more right or wrong than another one. It’s just different. With that being said, let’s continue with the subject for today: Articulation.
Let’s play a game of True or False, shall we?
When articulating/tonguing on a single reed instrument, you strike the reed with your tongue. True or False?
It may be tempting to say that this is true, but let’s talk about this first. It’s always good to hear different perspectives, and there is another perspective here. For now, let’s perform an activity.
Take your index finger (any hand and it should be clean) and place it in front of your mouth as if you were shushing someone.
Blow air across it
Now do the same thing, but place your tongue on your finger, then release the air by releasing your tongue. Essentially, you’re stopping the air with your tongue, but the air pressure is still there. Do this over and over: release, return, release, return. Make sure to keep the air speed constant. You know when you’re doing this correctly when you hear a popping noise every time your tongue returns to your finger.
For more information about this exercise, Michael Lowenstern has a wonderful video where he demonstrates it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ytdtPIdmG0&t=167s
This is an example of the Release Tonguing concept where the tongue does not strike the reed. Rather, it releases from the reed. The air starts with the tongue already on the reed, then it releases. If you imagine a water faucet being turned on, it’s the same concept. All the faucet does is release the pressure that’s already there.
Fig. 1 (Left = tongue on reed, Right = tongue released from reed)
Now, once this concept is understood and worked on with the student, there are a few benefits:
The air is continuous and does not stop intermittently. All that is happening is the tongue is releasing from the reed.
This reinforces light tonguing, which can be difficult to work on with students. If they’re thinking about tonguing as a release instead of a strike, then lightness becomes much more possible for them.
This helps the single reed student avoid excess tongue movement, which often prevents the tongue from moving at various speeds.
This concept can also be demonstrated when whispering “dee” or “tee”. If you really feel what your tongue is doing, it’s probably touching the back of your top teeth, but it’s definitely not striking them. It’s actually releasing from them.
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