 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Johnny Galaga
Date: 2005-01-12 03:42
It seems like the tongue can move from side to side very quickly. Have any clarinetists ever used this for rapid tonging ? I tried it for a little while a long time ago and got nowhere because I couldn't do it evenly.
Is it worth practicing ?
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Author: JessKateDD
Date: 2005-01-12 05:14
I once knew someone who could tongue sideways at amazing speeds. Others can do the same thing with an up and down motion, called "flip-tonguing". I am very good at bouncing the tongue off of the reed, which enables me to tongue legato sixteenths up to 250. If side to side works for you, then try to get some control of it and be prepared to use it when the opportunity presents itself. Sometimes band transcriptions will take tremolos from the violin music and put them straight into the clarinet parts. These tonguing tricks work quite nicely in these instances. I remember putting my bounce-tongue to good use in a transcription of Tchaikovsky's 4th symphony. If I remember correctly, Holst put tremolo in the clarinet part in his band version of Jupiter.
That said, the side to side tongue should just be in your bag of tricks for those rare occasions. The rest of the time you should just tongue normally.
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Author: DavidBlumberg
Date: 2005-01-12 13:26
I've been able to side-tongue since 7th grade. It's faster than any double tongue. The advantage is that it isn't limited in the extreme high registers (I know soloists from Military Bands who can't double tongue past 1st finger high B.) Neidich can double tongue past it easily and I think Spring can too, but it is a lot harder than notes below that.
Jess - bouncing the tongue? So your tongue tip is hitting the reed straight on?
Post Edited (2005-01-12 13:30)
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Author: Vicky
Date: 2005-01-14 04:51
I think it is worth practicing! I don't think there is one "right" way to tongue. Do whichever way works the BEST for you!
Good luck!
Vicky
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Author: mattahair
Date: 2005-01-14 10:31
My "normal" tonguing is from the side. I've only recently been trying to make myself tong straight on. What is the "regular, every-day" tong? Surely there's a "right way".
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Author: DavidBlumberg
Date: 2005-01-14 12:10
Probably not what he is talking about. The poster (I think) is asking about swinging the tongue from side to side. My hunch is that you are tonguing from the side on one side only - yes?
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Author: John Stackpole
Date: 2005-01-14 12:17
Dumb question:
What is "double tonguing"?
Twice as fast? (As what?)
(Last time I checked, I had only one tongue in there.)
JDS
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Author: Squirrel
Date: 2005-01-14 14:08
As I understand it, double tonguing is a technique that's used in brass instruments a lot where you close the air off at your throat (not sure how to describe it best) like you're saying the consonant "k" in between using your tongue to stop the air, so you can make the air stop twice as fast. "Double tonguing" is kind of misleading, because you're really going t-k-t-k-t-k-t-k and your tongue's only doing the work for the "t"s. There's also triple-tonguing, but I'm not really sure how that works, and I don't think either are used very frequently with clarinets (My teacher said he's never found a piece in which he's needed to double tongue, but he's particularily good at normal tonguing and he doesn't play much very modern stuff, which I think is the music that requires it...).
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2005-01-14 15:37
"Flip" or "bounce" tonguing can also mean moving your tongue up, touching the reed a little back of the tongue tip and again with the tip of the tongue, in the same motion. James Collis perfected this and called it the "rebound" staccato." I know one of his students, who can effortlessly pump out staccato 16ths off the end of the metronome.
I find it easy to do a single rebound. The difficult part is to get your tongue back down to do the next one and even them out.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Alphie
Date: 2005-01-14 21:27
A colleague of mine can side-to-side tongue excellently. He can tongue 16th up to at least 200 like this.
I'll quote Vicky on that there isn't one "right" way of tonguing. You have to find the way that works the best for YOU. I'm under the impression that American clarinettists are far more rigid than other nationalities in their opinion that tip-to-tip tonguing is the only acceptable way. To me this is ONE acceptable way of many, if it works for you.
As I've mentioned before I used to know a girl who used the bottom side of her tongue. She sounded just fine and very fast too. Another friend of mine in Germany uses the very back of his tongue close to the root, putting the tip of his tongue like a curl behind his teeth. His reflexes at the back are much quicker than his tip. He has a prestigious job in an orchestra. This is what the Americans call "anchor tonguing". What's wrong with that if it works, and why making such a fuzz about it as if it were a paria?
Alphie
Post Edited (2005-01-14 21:29)
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