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Question: I'm Having trouble Tonguing on The Clarinet Can you Help!?
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
Are you brand new and having trouble starting a note with "ta ta ta"!? Or have you been playing for a while and are having problems articulating fast rhythmic patterns!?

The number one mistake on both accounts is not enough air or good breath support!. Make sure you are sitting up straight and breathing from your stomach!. When you breathe, your shoulders should not rise or fall!.

Now try this: grab a straw (like from a McDonald's cup) and blow through it!. Now use ONLY your tongue to stop the air from going through the straw!. Then without inhaling again, pull your tongue back quickly and resume blowing!. This is the concept for your clarinet!. The reason you are taught to say "ta" is because 1) when you say "t", your tongue hits at the spot it needs to hit on the reed to have the best response, and 2) the "a" syllable forces you to pull your tongue back to allow the reed to vibrate!.

Now if you've been playing for a little while and you get that concept, the "ta" syllable loses its value!.!.!. your tongue ends up moving too far to be effective in fast tonguing passages!. Try saying "tee" or "dee" instead!. This not only will help your tongue move a but faster, but will give you a better tone!.

If it's specifically fast notes that you are having trouble with, just start very slowly and use a metronome!. Say you have to play 16th notes at quarter note=120!.!.!. that's a pain in the butt! LOL Just pretend those 16ths are quarters, and keep playing it at 120!. Once you get good at that, make them 8th notes!.!.!. then start speeding up your metronome 2 clicks at a time (120, 122, 124, etc) and play it over and over again!. You will find that you can increase your speed a lot more than you thought! When it starts to get sloppy again and you are making mistakes, take it back down till you can play it perfectly 10 times in a row!.!.!. then take it up a click and play it 10 more times!. And again, make sure you are using lots of air and pushing it through!.

It sounds like a lot of work- and it is- but it does pay off in the end! This also works with hard fingering passages and scales!.

Another way to work on tonguing, is get an etude book (C Rose, Lazarus, Klose) and go for it! Take everything in it very slowly if you have to, but make sure your articulation is clean and accurate!.

Anyways, asside from the basic "how to" of tonguing, there is no real shortcuts!. It just takes time and practice- not marathon practice, but consistant practice EVERY DAY!.

Good luck and have fun! :)Www@QuestionHome@Com