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Re: Quick/fast Tounging?

Author: DAVE
Date: 2003-03-28 05:06

SuperC,

You must first understand that tonguing is a struggle for every clarinet player. I used to be very worried that my tonguing would never get better while the rest of my playing was going just great. I always had a fast tongue, but I could not control it. Tonguing at 132 was not that bad, but at 112 or 120--forget it! Also, for me tonguing moving notes like scales has always been easier than one note repeated quickly.
Okay, my point is this--You must learn to tongue very precisely with a lot of control and without lots of force. Learning to tongue is not fun because it must be done slowly. When I studied with Combs, one of the first things he had me do was simply start an open G without the tongue and carefully PLACE the tongue(not attack!) on the tip of the reed with only the force required to stop the reed vibrating and nothing more. He would have me say the word "articulate", and bring my attention to the T sound as an example of how hard to touch the reed. It is important to place the tongue in the same place with the same pressure EVERY time. Once this step is under control the tongue is simply released and the tone resumes hopefully without any harshness. It must be said that during the interval that the tongue is at rest on the reed, the wind is fully supported. It is very important that there is no accent with the tongue. Accents are created with the air, not the tongue.
It has taken me a long time to implement these ideas into my playing. Just a couple of years ago I became Very frustrated that I couldn't tongue anything. I was reading at the time Pamela Weston's Book "Clarinet Virtuosi of the Past", and I think (I could be wrong about this) I read that people long ago used to tongue just about everything. That idea coupled with the idea that I have tried everything else, I thought why not tongue all of my scale practicing? I was very good at slurring my scales, and why not?, I had been doing that for 15 years!! I think you will be good at whatever you practice most. My tonguing has improved drastically since I made that decsion; I don't really struggle much with of any piece with tonguing. BUT then I took a look at The Bartered Bride Overture. I don't see how that can really be done w/o double tonguing. I can do maybe a measure at 144 or 150, but no way measure after measure. I would love to hear what other people do with this piece. If there are people that really tongue it, then I guess I have a lot more work to do.

DAVE
P.S. Sorry about the long post; I am feeling a little verbose tonight!

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