TXTubaTeacher wrote:Hi Folks,
Does anyone have any suggestions on helping young players understand how to keep their jaw in place when articulating? I've usually had a lot of success with having them articulate off the horn, just blowing an air stream and placing a finger on their chin. However, I have one student that just can't seem to get the hang of it. He's almost chewing every note. He's only in 6th grade so this problem hasn't really hit him too bad yet, but I fear that when he plays music with faster articulations he'll be doomed. I know there are some excellent music educators that frequent this site... I was just wondering if you might have suggestions for me. I'm always interested to get a different pedagogical approach. Thanks!
1. Is the student tonguing to the lips or tonguing to the back of the teeth? How to check? Some players have actually managed to make a sound and articulate by pushing the tongue to the inside lip aperture. This is called a "aperture tunnel articulation". When playing they will make a chewing motion. There are several ways to spot this. Do the muscles under the jaw (above the adams apple) become slender and tighten close to the lower jaw bone? This is a possible indication of the lip tonguing. Another easy indication is low buzzing with an embouchure visualizer. You will be able to see the tongue in front of the aperture when the student buzzes in the low range on it.
2. Does the student have a speech impediment or lack the ability to move the tongue to the roof of his mouth/side to side/etc? It is not uncommon, as similar to webbed feet, to have skin/tissue that makes the tongue more attached and very difficult to articulate. Many times this can be noticed in slurred speech as well, but is a medical issue. "Tee" sounds will come across as "See" and require a lot of muscle work to even sound like a "Tee". Have them move their tongue all around in their mouths to prove they have the facilitation to actually articulate! Otherwise all the effort in the world would be a lost cause.
3. Can the student double tongue or make the articulation clearer with a "k" sound? Although we view double tonguing as an advanced/intermediate technique, it can be utilized to clear articulations. It grossly exaggerates tongue movement and also makes you move the tongue back farther into the mouth to help the "k" speak. This could alleviate the jaw movement "mashed potatoes" motion by requiring the tongue to be in a pivoted position instead of a jutted position. Maybe just saying double tongue articulations, doing them on the mouthpiece, and focusing on the feeling of the "t" in the double tongue articulation would lead to a migration of that same technique in their single tonguing.
4. Are they actually articulating at all? Throat articulations are common among beginners as well. It comes as a result of not putting the effort forth to LEARN "t" articulations. They huff the notes and make a jaw motion similar to "pwaah", which would lead to an exaggerated jaw motion as well. Even fixing things on the mouthpiece and speaking the articulations would not address this issue if they do not do the EXACT same things (even if awkward at first) in the horn.
If it does not get better with work and examination, the next step would be getting their tongue "typed" using the Reinhardt Method. Once the student is typed you can use the appropriate Reinhardt exercises/evaluations to address the issue on a more appropriate level.
Because we can not see the student or the situation specifically and because she has not been typed it is very difficult to address finite articulation issues.
