Articulation

HOW SOUND HAPPENS ON CLARINET AS RELATED TO ARTICULATION

On clarinet, you have the instrument including the bell, lower joint, upper joint and barrel. You also have a mouthpiece, ligature and reed. Once you form the correct embouchure, you blow into the clarinet mouthpiece which is also OVER the reed.

As the air travels over the reed (again with the correct clarinet embouchure and correct placement of the reed on the mouthpiece), the reed vibrates and resonates through the clarinet to make the sound. So, if you blow into the clarinet you’ve made a clarinet sound.

Now, starting that sound is basically called articulation. And, if you wish to start other notes consecutively (one after the other), you are articulating on the clarinet. In order to do this, you start these notes with your tongue. It is possible to just start the sound on clarinet without the tongue; however, doing this note after note is nearly impossible (especially if you wish to play with any speed).

So, the tongue acts as a valve for air to enter the clarinet over the reed. Your mouth is set (the embouchure), you put the tongue on the reed, you blow, and then release the tongue from the reed.

Now, to re-articulate, you have to return the tongue to the reed. Basically, you are deadening the vibrations of the reed ever so slightly to make the sound of a different note (whether it is the same or different pitch). If you do a series of notes quickly, you are articulating with your tongue quickly.

Read a complete description of Clarinet Articulation here.

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