Texas Bandmasters Association
Bandmasters Review • June 2014
20
MEC:
Do you have any resonance fingerings that
you prefer to use?
JD:
Yes, I use fingerings that make the sound of the
throat tones more consistent with the rest of the range,
a little bit more substantial, and usually this makes
the pitch better. You have to find the best fingerings
on each instrument, but it’s usually the C key and
maybe the third finger of the right hand and the third
finger on the left hand for B-flat. For A, sometimes
more fingers. For G, sometimes I use just the C key. I
use some kind of fingering for G, G#, A, and B-flat. I
place myself in the group’s pitch, but most of the time
with the groups I play in, I’m just pulled out a little
at the bottom of my barrel and a little in the middle.
Incidentally, I have taken my own student groups,
like a clarinet quartet, who have been struggling with
pitch. I’ll say, “oh, for heaven’s sake,” and I’ll pull all
the clarinets in this way and it improves everything.
MEC:
So let’s talk about common bad habits you
have observed.
JD:
Using a “tah” articulation instead of “tee” is
a common problem. The “tah” syllable pushes the
tongue down and makes the sound less centered,
and the tonguing much more laborious. Often this
problem is caused when teachers tell students to open
the throat and blow. If someone’s got their tongue too
high in the back of their throat and they’re restricting
their air, tell them to relax the tongue, but don’t tell
them to open their throat. You never want to push the
tongue down when you’re playing the clarinet, which
is what they do when they open their throat.
MEC:
Usually, the only way to manipulate your
throat is with your tongue.
JD:
Exactly. If you push your tongue down, you get
a horrible, open, ugly sound that doesn’t fit any of the
music you’re trying to play.
Another problem is that a lot of students are told to
have an open C position between their thumb and first
finger on both hands, and that makes for bad hand
position for both hands.
MEC:
Because it’s too wide and too stressful?
JD:
Yes. And as I’ve said, I’m not a fan of neck
straps unless they’re really young kids with tiny hands.
Even then, you have to be sure they’re still trying to
hold the clarinet correctly. That’s the important thing.
MEC:
So do you have them push up on their top
teeth?
JD:
A little bit. I think of leveraging both hands
toward the top teeth and having the hands balance
the clarinet in their mouth against the top teeth.
Depending on the age of the student, you can test it
by hearing the tone quality of their high notes. If they
get to clarion A, B, and C and it won’t come out, they
have started to bite too much. If you just have them
move the jaw slightly forward, all of a sudden it will
come out, and it’s like magic.
Also, stopped articulation is an expression that has
become misunderstood. There’s too much attention to
taking the tongue off and then putting the tongue back
on, which is technically what you do, but it should feel
like one very small gesture.
MEC:
So, you recommend not talking about that
too much?
JD:
Right, because if you start talking about
stopped articulation, people think that they have to, to
use Larry’s quote, “embed the tongue in the reed”, and
they don’t. Just barely touch it, and it will be quiet. If
they’re touching it at the right place (at the tip), it will
stop. Otherwise, it gets much too forced and lacks in
good shape.
But for me, the biggest mistake that teachers make is
to tell the student to “open your throat and blow.” That
causes the student to push their tongue down, causing
the sound to become raucous and out of tune, and the
tonguing to become forced and inconsistent. It is the
thing that drives many other problems.
Clarinet Clari ty: An Interview wi th Jul ie DeRoche