i am a very good clarinet player but i cant tongue notes. ive just been useing shorter air. is this a promblem? and can you show me how

You need to gently stop your reed from vibrating with your tongue. You shouldnt even realize you're doing it. At first you'll feel it vibrating your tongue which will be a little weird but as you go it won't vibrate your tongue anymore. The best way to learn is to take off the mouthpiece and the barrel and play different rhythms and build up your tonguing speed. Start with TA TA TA TA. Then get faster to ti-ti ti-ti ti-ti ti-ti. good luck.

I sometimes find myself using shorter air instead of tounging, and I think the only difference is that tounging makes the note sound slightly better

Scale: Go from low C- play:CCCDEEEFG (hold the G), then CCCDEEEFGGGABBBCBBBAGGGFEEEDC. Increase speed. All scales. High, low. Use also CCDEEFGG---etc. Check out more when my advanced book "Clarinet Secrets" is soon published.