Klarinet Archive - Posting 000329.txt from 1996/10

From: Neil Leupold <nleupold@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: tonguing
Date: Sat, 12 Oct 1996 18:16:02 -0400

> Someone on the list mentioned a clarinettist who could tongue at a
> metronomic speed of 160. In itself this is not very fast. I suppose that
> what was meant is four notes 160 times per minute, that is 640?
> Incidentally, for a good player, what is the maximum speed? 4 times 140 or
> something like that?

I submitted the post to which you refer. The clarinetist is Dave Neuman
of the San Francisco Symphony, and the speed in quadruplets is 160+ beats
per minute, which is (as you figured out) 640+ individual beats per minute.
He's probably closer to the 180 mark, which leads some to believe that he
is actually double-tonguing but just doesn't know it. With the advent of
very nimble double-tonguing, there is no practical limit to how fast a
person can tongue on the clarinet these days. There are double-tonguing
demons "out there" who can articulate quadruplets faster than any standard
Seiko Quartz Metronome can click (maximum speed on this metronome is 208).
But for single-tonguing ability, 180 is QUITE remarkably fast.

There are some pretty flexible understandings of tongue speed out
there which lead some people to believe they can tongue at a given speed
when they really can't. My personal criteria for determining true tongue
speed are measured in two different ways, and both ways have to be satisfied.
On any given single note on the clarinet, from lowest chalumeau E up to
altissimo G and higher, the person should be able to initiate repeated
staccato quadruplets at a given metronome setting -- for the duration of an
entire full breath of air on that single note. Set the metronome at whatever
your fastest speed is and match that speed without faltering in consistency,
until your air supply has been depleted to the point where you can no longer
sustain the tone. The second part of the test, after demonstrating velocity
on a static note, is to play scales at the same speed, including the chromatic
scale and scales in thirds, 6ths, and octaves - in perfectly clean, crisp, and
well-separated staccato, again without faltering in consistency. Perhaps a
third and final test would be to demonstrate that same facility by playing
actual literature involving such rapid staccato with equal ease. Thus, any
passage marked at your fastest tongue speed would be playable in crisp
staccato, regardless of whether or not it is actually marked for that style
of articulation (for guaging purposes only -- not that the music should
be performed that way).

What is considered good speed for a "good" player? I guess that depends
on what is considered a good player. If we're talking about professionals
in major orchestras, I'd say (s)he should be able to tongue fast enough to
handle most (if not all) of the fastest staccato passages in the clarinet
repertoire. The Mendelssohn Scherzo is typically played in the 88 range
in sextuplets, which translates to 132 in quadruplets. Rehearsal #10 of
the Nielsen Clarinet Concerto has a marking of 72, which translates to 144
in 32nd-note quadruplets. This is an excellent example of a disjunct
staccato melodic line which could be used to test tongue speed. If you
can play from rehearsal #10 to rehearsal #11 of the Nielsen Concerto at
the marked tempo (most performers don't), few would be able to argue against
it as a demonstration of "good" tongue speed.

Neil