Question 1. Hi Jens! First off, thank you very much for the "Tip Tuesday" series. I have greatly enjoyed reading and learning from these posts. I would like to know more about your approach to "Anchor Tonguing" and how one would benefit from this tongue placement technique. Also, if you would have any suggestions and/ or exercises for players looking to switch from a traditional tongue placement/ onset to Anchor Tonguing. Thank you very much for your time and I look forward to seeing answers this weeks questions!
Answer 1. Anchor tonguing is something I discovered naturally when I was younger. That is to say, just by experimenting a bit, I liked the result. No one told me what it was and the only teacher that ever asked me about it (Bill Dimmer in Edmonton) had the eternal wisdom to just leave things alone and not make a big deal out of the fact that I was trying something different and experimenting. My obvious problem was clean articulation and easier control in the upper register. Nothing too extreme, just G on top of the staff to high C. I theorized that if the tip of my tongue stayed placed where my lower teeth meet my gums, then there would be a permanent arch to the middle and back of my tongue. This would help me increase air speed and compression (especially the compression) which is critical to playing in the upper range. I also theorized that since only the most minimal of changes actually takes place between the top of the treble clef and everything above it, that I wanted the most minimal movement possible taking place inside my mouth. Although I can now verbalize it somewhat, this was a concept first inspired in high school when a great trumpeter (Gary Guthman) came through our school and said that if you can play a G on top of the treble clef stave, you could play the double G above that. Of course, it seemed ridiculous to a young player who only dreamed of what that must really feel like, but I vividly remember my excitement watching how easy he made it look and that made me curious.
With the tip of my tongue striking the top of my mouth, it seems to automatically lower the middle of my tongue causing a loss of pressure. That loss of pressure causes a slight vacuum inside my mouth (have you ever accidentally burped while holding a note? Same thing but more extreme) which made higher notes more challenging and I figured there had to be a way to make it look and feel as effortless as Gary made it seem. IAnchor tonguing also gives my notes in that upper fourth (and eventually beyond) a roundness and ‘ping’ to the front of them that was missing when I would tongue striking the tip against the upper part of my mouth. By keeping the tip of tongue permanently placed where my lower teeth meet the gum line, I felt like I could just touch the notes and that they seemed closer together. Today I call that feeling the compression of intervallic relationship.
Bottom line is just to experiment with it. Nothing bad will happen to you if you are curious to try and keep an open mind and positive attitude about the work process.
