Klarinet Archive - Posting 000684.txt from 1996/02

From: "Lorne G. Buick" <mcheramy@-----.CA>
Subj: Re: curiosity (double tonguing)
Date: Fri, 23 Feb 1996 09:11:35 -0500

I'd like to second DN's thoughts below- I've been double tonguing for
years, and have always found that the more I practise it, the _better_ my
single tonguing gets. (cleaner and faster) Also in long tongued passages or
studies, my tongue slows down due to fatigue doing straight single
tonguing- sometimes double-tonguing a few notes gives enough of a rest to
keep the speed up.

Lorne Buick

>> I think that the reason I've hesitated to investigate this area as it relates
>> to my own playing is my belief in the old adage, "If it works, don't fix it".
>> I'm afraid that if I start to think too much about what I'm doing and how
>> I'm doing it, the clean and relatively rapid single tongue which I can
>> usually count on, may take a hike for good. Any thoughts?
>
>I've heard of players on other instruments having trouble defining the
>area where single tonguing leaves off, and double tonguing takes over.
>According to those who do this technique, (I'm married to a flutist, and
>sit next to a good bassoonist who double tongues) one needs to overlap
>the speeds for both techniques, so that you can shift from one to the
>other on the fly without any audible evidence. I think the chances of
>losing one's ability to single tongue are just about nil.
>
>So maybe I'll work on it *this* summer!
>
>David Niethamer