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RE: Tounging

Author: William Rappaport
Date: 2024-03-10 20:32

I use a variation of Harold Wright’s method of articulation—basically it’s a combination of Robert Marcellus’ ideas and Harold Wright’s. The placement of the tongue on the reed comes from Marcellus—1/4 inch back from the end of the tongue on the top side of the tongue (the part of the tongue you use to say the letter T when you touch the roof of your mouth) touches 1/4 inch or so down from the edge of the reed. Marcellus said, laughing as he wrote it down in my Cavallini Caprice, “toot’s the magic word.” Harold Wright said to be sure to remove the tongue from the reed to begin every staccato note. I combine the two into “removal-toot”—clear short toot with a deliberate removal of the tongue. I also find that leveraging the clarinet securely against the upper teeth with my right thumb helps give the tongue something stable to work with. I don’t try to prepare the fingers as Bonade and Marcellus taught—Harold Wright didn’t do that, and I go with him on this. Of course you must have a fast continuous air stream as you articulate. You are releasing short bursts of air successively into the clarinet with this approach.

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