We are having seating try outs this week for concert band. I have been 1st chair for every year, but this year I will have some competition. And well, the piece we have to play has some tonguing in it(as well as pratically every piece the clarinet plays), well when I was just learning on how to play the clarinet my instructor never taught me how to tongue, and throughout these years I have been trying to tech myself(really hard to do when I have been sluring the clarinet for years). In the piece we have to play there are some really fast 16th notes, tonguing. I can kinda do it, but its not as crisp as I would like it to, any suggestions?

i had a hard time tounging fast cuz i play the bass. my director last year told me some tips. make sure u tounge at the very tip of the reed with the very tip of your toung. i was tounging way too heavy and it made it SLOW! the only way to go really fast, though, is to practice goin fast alot.

I learned that you have to hit the tip of the reed with your tongue when tonguing anything. I was taught to think ta when tonguing fast...don`t know if that would help you.

My suggestion would be to get a private lesson teacher who can sit down with you one on one...I just recently had a student that I need to reteach how to tongue because he taught himself and learned wrong. If you learn wrong you have to go all the way back to step 1 to relearn it all....he is on his 3rd week of lessons and we alway start off with tonguing (ta ta ta ta)

fast air, and keep the top part of your tounge to the top part of your reed for maximum speed! that`s what my band director tells us. we`re doing "american overture for band" and there`s some crazy 16th notes in there too!

yeah i agree with them, i play b flat clarinet, and my teacher taught us to think ta or two. and yeah when your doing fast ones like sixteenth notes, keep it real light, same with staccatto, and keep the air flowing. Good Luck to you!