 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Jessica
Date: 2001-06-08 21:26
Ok, I am playing a song that is supposed to be at tempo 120 but I cannot get it past 108 because I tongue too slow! Does anyone know any techniques that could help me tongue faster? Thanks in advance.
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2001-06-09 05:02
I haven't managed to speed up at all in 30 years. I believe some people have handicapped tongue nerves or muscles, or the tongue operating part of the brain, but those who are not handicapped will never believe another person is unless they can actually see a leg missing or something. Others can suggest all the methods that did not work with me.it. When playing fast I either have to modify the articulation, or play flute on which I can very successfully double-tongue. I avoids music styles needing fast tonguing on clarinet - no G&S clarinet parts!
Good luck. But if nothing works just console yourself that no one has yet found a way of getting colourblind people to see like the rest of us. There are just a tiny few non-visible handicaps that are generally accepted.
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Author: Fred
Date: 2001-06-09 13:30
One of the bb's other contributors once suggested getting a correct look at the problem first. Tongue open G as fast as you can. If your speed is fast enough on open G, then the issue is not a question of how fast can you tongue. Now the issue is coordinating fingers with tongueing. It makes a dramatic difference in how you approach the problem.
All that being said . . . I'm pretty slow myself.
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Author: Mindy
Date: 2001-06-09 13:41
Is your tip of your tongue on the tip of reed? it helps a lot I am slow also but I am getting better. I wish you luck.
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Author: Keil
Date: 2001-06-09 13:42
The tongue is a muscle and like any other muscle in the body it has to be excersied and developed for it to work at it's peak. Articulating is one of the first skills to go down hill when one stops practicing. I've came up with a simple articulation excersise which enabled me to increase my single tongue articulation. Bascially what i do is on an F scale starting on chalemau (spelling?) F go up on octave in 16th notes in a slur two tongue to pattern making sure that i cleanly articulate the tongued notes. The pattern goes (F G) A Bb (C D) E F (G F) E (D C) Bb A (G F) do this pattern 3 times and the arpeggio of the scale in triplets once and proceed to the next pattern. The notes in parenthesis are slurred. I then alternate that pattern with a tongue two slur two patter basically tonguing the notes that were slurred before and slurring the notes that were tongued before also doing this pattern 3 times ending with an arpeggio in triplets. Be sure to have your metronome clicking away at a reasonable tempo that will allow your tongue to move freely and comfortably. Once you're able to do it cleanly at a slow tempo just increase the tempo by one or two clicks until you reach that goal of 120. It did wonders for my articulation. I started at MM=60 and worked it up to 120 then exceed 120 and got it up to 140 something single tongueing. Feel free to add variations to the excersise. I like to mix the T2S2 (tongue 2 slur 2) pattern with a S2T2 pattern and then adding a fully articulated F scale. It becomes a race. What also works is to make sure you keep the distance between the reed and the tongue as minimal as possible, Two large of a gap can slow you down.When you feel your tongue getting tired which will happen that's when you know something is getting done. Work through the exhaustion and plug away. You'll find that little moments of rest ie when you're slurring really help.
I hope this helps
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Author: William
Date: 2001-06-09 15:33
After years of trying to develop a faster tongue--and failed--I resorted to mastering double and triple tonguing techniques for those situations where my single tongue is not fast enough. I still cannot double-tongue as fast as some trumpet and flute players I sometimes hear, which leads me to suspect that I still suffer from "slow tongue syndrome." As far as the tongue as a muscle that can be strengthened through use, I believe that is true, but even with trained athletes, there is a limit everyone has with regard to quickness of reaction and speed of performance that defines wheither one will "win the race" of come in second every time. The Tiger Woods, Brett Farves, Micheal Jordans, Larry Combs, Sabrina Meyers and Ricardo Moreles of this world are "born" and not developed. Practice, of course helps, but innate ability is always a factor in separating the true "pros" from all of us amatures. For all of us that "can't run fast enough," we cheat and find short-cuts--I double and triple tongue. Good clarineting, and don't forget, there is always, slur-two, tongue-two.
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Author: Dee
Date: 2001-06-09 15:53
In addition to checking how fast you can tongue on the open G, check it just for a measure or two. If your technique is undeveloped, you'll only be able to tongue quickly for a very short time. So you want to check it when you are "fresh."
There are many things that can interfere with quick tonguing. Check these things out too.
1. Is your jaw moving at all when you tongue? This really drags you down. Tongue slowly on an open G and place your left hand under your jaw to check it out. This is a very common flaw.
2. Are you moving too much of the tongue? Or using too much tongue on the reed?
3. Are you tense? Tension will slow the tongue down dramatically.
4. Are you tonguing too hard? The tongue moves much faster if you use a very light touch.
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Author: Jessica
Date: 2001-06-09 17:52
Thanks for the suggestions everyone! I have one question... Dee said make sure your jaw isn't moving, well, sometimes my jaw moves and sometimes it doesn't and I'm not quite sure why, can anyone help me???
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Author: Tim2
Date: 2001-06-10 03:33
It is important as you are tounging slowly to menatally concentrate on you tongue, that it is the only thing that is moving. It takes much concentration but can be done. You can look in a mirror or what I do, Put my hand on my chin or jaw to feel any movement. A responsive reed helps greatly in the effort to have a still embouchure (thanks, Mark) and a moving tongue.
Keil know what he's talking about. The jist of it is using the metronome to inch up your speed and then to use different articulation and always take a period of rest in between each sput of tonguing. A minut or wo of tonguing, rest a minute, then go at it again. The tongue is a muscle and needs to rest.
I am one of those who are tongue challenged. But, I have been able to increase speed much in the way Keil has discrible and I have added to. But you have to use it or lose it. It goes back to normal if you don't practice the tonguing to keep the speed up.
I wish you luck. Work at it and you will be rewarded in what you can do.
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Author: mw
Date: 2001-06-10 05:38
our teacher has giben us an exercise (that she received while at MI) and it works very well to increase tongue speed, especially for those who have never really spent much time trying to develop speed. you start slow and just work faster. yes, when you are getting tired it means you are working the right muscles. spped comes. it also goes away if you don't keep up practice as Tim & Keil indicate above.
Best,
mw
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2001-06-10 11:31
30 years ago my max speed was about 4 tongueings per beat at 80 beats per minute. It never sped up, even though I once put a huge effort into it, using techniques as listed above, and eliminating all those limiting factors suggested above. My tongue simply will not respond faster than its built in maximum speed, just like Wiliam said. (-: to William - very few people understand this.
Try all the techniques though. They may help you.
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Author: Suzanne
Date: 2001-06-11 03:41
The things Dee brought up are so important. If you stop and think about it, the only thing that really needs to move is the very tip of your tongue--like a flicking snake (sounds stupid but the imagery is there). Why do we get the jaw involved when all that is necessary is to just stop the reed from vibrating? The very tiniest, gentlest, most miniscule touch of the tip of the tongue on the reed will have the effect of stopping the vibration, which is the whole point of tonguing. Try it--play a long note, and just very, very delicately and gently touch the tongue to the reed--it will stop the sound, surely. Move as little as the tongue as possible, and the less that you have to set in motion, the faster you will be able to go. Relaxation is also tantamount. Experiment with something: TRY really hard to tongue, say, open G, as fast as you can. REALLY TRY. HARD. Then, relax your whole body and just let yourself play. See what happens...
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2001-06-11 15:22
Suzanne's logic possibly does not hold weight. Try moving just the fingernail section (or the next one as well) of a finger. Now try doing it fast. Would any clarinetist seriously consider that if they moved only part of their fingers then they could play faster.
By the way I DO tongue with only the tip of my tongue.... Perhaps that is my problem!
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Author: Laura
Date: 2001-06-17 18:06
I had that problem too, and it was really annoying.I couldn't toungue anything above 100 bpm 16ths, even if it was an open G. Anyhow, I didn't have a private teacher, so I applied my usual solution. I got mad. I dragged out my Rubank intermediate, went to the back, and used the runs as warmups. I also got a hold of Mozarts clarinet concertos, which you can get free on the internet if you look hard enough, and ried some of those fast tonguing runs. Just a couple days ago, I checked, and now I can tongue upwards of 130 bpm 16ths, Though the clarion and altissimo register is still rather slow. Other than that, try to find out how you toungue, and how other people tongue, so that you know that you do not anchor tongue.
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