# How wind instruments work



## Jaws

Oh dear I have just had experience of sitting next to someone to play chamber music who had clearly had a teacher who couldn't play very well themselves. Can I just point out that on the clarinet or any other wind instrument when you play a staccato note, tonguing hard or putting an accent on the note to make it shorter is the incorrect way to play staccato. A staccato note is a note that is shortened, and what shortens a note is what happens at the end, what you do to the beginning of a note has no effect on this. 
If your teacher asks you to tongue harder to play staccato you need to change teacher as this shows that they don't know how to do it themselves and as this is fairly basic you won't know what else they are going to teach you that is wrong.


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## Head_case

Lucky you - no doubt you put them in their place and showed them what a great teacher you are 

I barely play clarinet, although when I do staccato, it requires the tongue to be pushed against the reed to quickly terminate the note. 

On the flute, staccato is easy with the tongue flipping the lid of the palate. Slurred or tongued staccato is played as if it is double tongued or shorter. 

I've never heard of anyone tonguing harder to play staccato. That would defy the physics of soundwaves surely? 

Maybe the student was just confused and just needed a little support.


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## OboeKnight

For some reason this seems to be a common misconception...I just don't think tonguing techniques are taught correctly. Maybe it's difficult concept to teach, I'm not sure. A lot of beginners accent staccato notes, maybe because they are trying to hard to make them short. 

I like to think of staccato notes as "separated" just because calling them "short" tends to cause people to clip the notes.


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## OboeKnight

Well, since I can't edit, I apologize for using the wrong "too" in my previous comment...I overlooked it.


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## Head_case

It's okay...using the wrong punctuation...or no punctuation at all...is what we see with the deteriorating standards of 'phrasing' which is common to music and grammar alike....it doesn't matter since we can work out what is intended....but it is poor etiquette to correct one's grammar....as it is...the lack of punctuation....so perhaps it is...to correct one's staccato? Somebody put a damm full stop somewhere in all of this and make it articulated clearly!


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## Jaws

Head_case said:


> It's okay...using the wrong punctuation...or no punctuation at all...is what we see with the deteriorating standards of 'phrasing' which is common to music and grammar alike....it doesn't matter since we can work out what is intended....but it is poor etiquette to correct one's grammar....as it is...the lack of punctuation....so perhaps it is...to correct one's staccato? Somebody put a damm full stop somewhere in all of this and make it articulated clearly!


That might depend on... whether... it makes musical.... sense when.... the staccato.... is LOUDER than anything else, and drowns out at least 4 other..... instruments. It can.... become very..... stressful....


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## Head_case

Playing ensemble should be fun 


The great thing about playing ensemble is, that no one gets to hear the micro breathing or overtones of the flute player - a bit like a choir where the breathing marks are not apparent as the choir breath at different points to break up the discontinuity.


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