Is it possible to double tongue on clarinet

Make sure to do this in different registers. I usually start my double tonguing practise with something like this, over two and a half octaves C6 is my usual limit for double tonguing :. And there are three that I use regularly for double tonguing practise. Stop after 15 minutes, or do something else for awhile.

Obviously this one is also good for single-tonguing. And when it comes to triple-tonguing, I usually reach for select bits of 4. Select bits because it does go a little too high later in the study, when all I really want to practise here is my t k t t k t, which I find infuriatingly tricky sometimes. I usually stop here. My advice to you is this: practise double tonguing for minutes a day, and then forget about it.

And enjoy the little successes. Do your victory dance when you do it for the first time without thinking. And if you have questions, please do leave a comment below! One thing I find very helpful is to reverse the t and k attacks for practice — actually sometimes even in performance if that lets me put the t on a note which would be trickier with the k.

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Learn how your comment data is processed. My interest is in describing a new system of tonguing that will facilitate repeated articulation at fast tempi. This method is a synthesis of single tonguing and double tonguing techniques. I have successfully applied this technique to my playing over the past year and have used it in performance repeatedly.

My colleagues cannot discern when I am using it and when I am not. I believe that anyone can learn this technique and hope that it opens a new vista of technical and musical possibilities for those of us who do not possess a "snake" tongue. Most clarinetists who have achieved a high level of technical execution understand the mechanics of tonguing and know how to practice to develop rapid articulation. However, it is clear to me as a student of the clarinet for almost forty years and from discussing the subject of rapid articulation with many excellent players, that we all have a physical limitation as to the ultimate speed we can achieve.

In fact, I would offer that these tempi are out of range of the majority of players. So what do we do as performers when confronted with a fast passage that is intended to be articulated and is beyond the limits of our tonguing ability? You must remind yourself that you have become capable of tremendously fast tongue speeds, while the tongue itself should feel lazy, relaxed, and slow. I had one student whose only difficulty with double tonguing, from the very first day he tried it, was to slow it down enough so that his speed could be measured on a metronome!

After several minutes of experimentation he finally slowed it down enough that, while he held a long open G, I "clocked" his double tonguing tempo at four beautifully tongued notes per beat at a metronome marking of On-the-reed multiple tonguing, as I have described it, continues to please me very much.

I have now used it for several years and I have taught it successfully to players who have been interested in learning it. I spent most of one summer gaining a command of the technique, and during that time I never let it take up too much of my practice time at any one sitting. During the following fall, I felt confident enough to use on-the-reed double tonguing during one of my solo clarinet recitals. My naturally slow tongue need never be a problem again, and that is gratifying!

Record the metronome markings at which you can single-tongue repeated open Gs both four to a beat and three to a beat. Momentarily putting the clarinet aside, simply sit in a good playing position and say the words "Tuttle-uttle-uttle-uttle" etc.

Take up the clarinet and single-tongue a few repetitions of open G again, this time at only a medium tempo. This is just to become reacquainted with the reed, and to relax the tongue. Begin a fairly long open G with a regular single-tongued stroke, taking care to pronounce it "Tuh" as in the first syllable of the word "Tuttle. Begin another open G with "Tuh" but this time finish the word "Tuttle" by returning the tongue to the reed after "Tuh" in the manner of "tle.

Staying relaxed, return the tip of the tongue to its resting position b y passing it downward over the tip of the reed, pronouncing the s yllable "Uh. The tongue is now ready for another upward stroke, as in pronouncing a nother "tle," and to be brushed past the reed tip again on its way t owards the roof of the mouth.

Now another downward stroke, brushing past the reed tip again, to r eturn to the resting position in the bottom of the mouth. Repeat this whole process, quicker but still without extreme speed; in o ther words, do a very relaxed, smooth, and even "Tuttle-uttle-Uh. Remove the reed and mouthpiece from the mouth and say again, " Tuttle-uttle-uttle-uttle" etc. Replace the clarinet into the embouchure and do it again on the open G, this time adding another stroke: "Tuttle-uttle-uttle-uttle-Uh.

Keep practicing this on open G until the double tonguing begins to sound like very fast single tonguing, very smooth, even, and homogeneous. The tongue need not move quickly to achieve this similarity. At this point you should stop practicing this technique. It is very important to let the tongue rest now. Normal practicing, using only the usual single tonguing technique, may be resumed. Follow this procedure again later at other practice sessions, still using open G only, until you are satisfied that the effect is a good one, and that the up-and-down strokes sound identical to a listener.

After you are satisfied with the effect, record the metronome marking at which you can tongue four open Gs to the beat by using this form of double tonguing. Compare this with your fastest tempo for single tonguing four notes to the beat. Triple tonguing comes later. Extend the procedure a tong tone followed by "Tuttl-uttle-tuttle-uttle-Uh," etc. After doing that exercise on thumb F, do the following also on that note: Tuh-tuttle-uttle-uttle-Uh" in the rhythm of: music.

Repeat the foregoing exercise, and then slur this passage: music. Now, using the double-tonguing technique, play the following exercise: music. The next step is to repeat the last exercise, this time tonguing every note in all four measures rather than slurring the last two.

In this manner, double tonguing has been accomplished while rapidly changing pitches. Now do the following two four-measure exercises first, the one containing a slurred scale; second, the same one played all tongued up a whole step, thus transposing them from F major to G major: music.

Transpose all eight measures the two exercises together have become one longer one down to E pure minor in the lowest octave of the clarinet's range.