“The tongue is simply a kind of spring valve that contains and releases the appropriate impulse of pressure of air behind it.”
John Krell writes in his book Kincaidiana
Krell’s comment is a great one to change your mind about “tonguing”. I think we all start out by thinking that we begin a note with our tongue, by touching the roof of our mouth with the tongue. As we mature in our playing we understand from this statement, that when we take in a breath the tongue is actually holding in place until it is released, which then forms the sound. This is a very freeing concept to creating “tonguing”.
When we are beginners, we learn to tongue with a “To, Too or Tu” sound. We impart the “tongue reaches out and touches the roof of the mouth” concept. Eventually, as we mature as musicians, we want to add to the musicality of a piece. Changing your approach to your articulation to compliment a particular piece or passage is one of the ways to hugely affect musicality.
This change in your tonguing is done by creating different levels of intensity of the airstream, changing the shape inside the mouth and of course changing the placement of the tongue. This placement change will happen naturally at first as you change consonants and vowels in your approach. This will take some experimentation on your part and a good aural concept of your goal for the sound.
Why change your tonguing and What will change?
Each one of the suggestions below will impart a different character to the music, for example:
- Sharpness of the attack at the beginning of the note = clarity, definition, confidence, musical intention, intensity
- Color of the sound produced is changed with various articulations – Use this to convey the music the way you want it heard.
- Clarity of phrases – Do you want to anchor the start of the phrase with confidence, hit it with aggressive intensity or slide into it with a mysterious feeling?
- Clarity of change of direction or mood in the music – This identification of the notes on which a passage is defined really clarifies how the music is heard.
- Technical passages become cleaner and more accurate – Make sure that your articulation is intentional. Don’t just get the note out but make it sound the way you hear it in your head and the way you would like to have your audience hear it.
- Musicality of each moment can be isolated and emphasized with articulaton.
- Your performances will have more polish and more depth of understanding as you define, clarify and create direction in you music.
Examples of tonguing changes:
- Tah or Tuh – This creates a change in the shape inside the mouth which changes the color of the sound.
- Tut – The “Tut” sound creates a sharp beginning and ending to a note when needed. Maybe in a march or in marching band?
- Do, Duh – The vowel change creates a tone color change and using the “D” sound to start the note is the effect you want for gently melodies or a legato sound.
- Poo, Pff – This is actually just air escaping through your lips/embouchure without the use to of the tongue to start the note. This creates a mysterious or very soft sound.
- Legato = du, da, dee, lu, la, or lee – More soft or gentle approaches for your experimentation.
- Staccato – Light, sharp tongue. Sometimes if feels like you are holding back some on your air to get it separate and clean rather than fluffy. Sounds like a pencil point on the music stand.
The flutist uses the tongue to articulate the beginning of each note. The motion of the tongue is similar to that used when pronouncing the word “to” or “tu” (In American English). Notice that the tongue, near the tip, is striking the roof of the mouth right behind the upper front teeth. The tongue actually acts as a valve releasing the air into the instrument. Only the tip of the tongue should be used in this basic attack. Air pressure is then built up behind the tongue and when it is quickly withdrawn, the air column starts the tone. During this process, it is important to keep the tongue as relaxed as possible and to strive for a clear beginning to each tone without creating excessive tongue noise.
As a student advances in skill, the placement of the tongue prior to the attack will vary slightly. The tongue should strike closer to the teeth as they play lower in the range or louder in intensity, and higher up on the alveolar ridge as you play higher in the range or softer.(Ott)
Dr. Hal Ott, Flute Professor, Central Washington University, Ellensburg, WA
In general, the tongue should not protrude between the lips. French flutists, on the other hand, can use that tonguing sound as it is part of their language and results in a lovely, soft articulation for them. To hear music from the French Flute Solos collection played by a French speaking flutist is indeed a treat. You will be surprised at the difference in the sound and flow of the music with this type of tonguing.
“Tut” is the sound which results when a note is started and stopped with the tongue. This is not the normal practice. It is not the effect you want when articulating a note, it takes more time to execute in the music and it does not allow notes to flow. I have, however, suggested its use in a marching band type situation, where the flutes are trying to make themselves heard and the music can be more separated.
I really like the example of a water sprinkler to understand how the tongue interrupts the airstream without stopping it. You can think of that “too,too,too” continuous sound with an articulated beginning to the pulse.
Do not allow a student to “tongue” with their throat. Some students try to stop the air as it comes out of their throat instead of using the tongue. You can see and hear the difference, so watch for it.
Articulating Low Notes
“It is very difficult to articulate the notes below the low G with any degree of certainty, but the discreet opening and snapping of the G key (fingering the right had in the meantime) at the exact instant the note is tongued somehow starts the air column vibrating and helps achieve a clean attach.” (P. 22)
William Kincaid Kincaidiana
Slurs
Slurs are introduced in school band books and beginning flute books very quickly after a student has learned to tongue each note. The physical performance of slurs can be difficult for them because they cannot hold notes very long yet and have probably played their quarter notes like eighth notes, leaving a slight pause in between notes. Their challenge is to hold the notes that are marked slurred without stopping their air. Here is a great tip: Write out an exercise that is made up of quarter notes or find something they know. Have them play trying to not stop the sound, but tonguing each note, like tenuto quarter notes. These notes can be the same pitch to even simplify things more. When they can do that successfully, have them try to slur a passage. The slurred notes will seem much longer to them when they do not tongue because they need to hold the tone (air) for a longer time. This works well.
Double Tonguing
This special type of tonguing is used for quick duple (notes in sets of two) passages. You alternate the tip of the tongue with a point further back on the tongue resulting in pairs of syllables such as “ta-ka”, “tee-kee”, “du-gu” or “tu-ku”. The student should use small tongue motions, keeping both of the tongue strokes close to the front of the mouth. This is the most efficient and helps maintain constant breath support and an open throat. Do not move the lips or jaw while tonguing.
Flutists should learn to double tongue in about the 7th – 8th grade level in school so that it becomes a familiar and comfortable alternative to single tonguing when needed. The music never tells you to double tongue, the tempo is just too fast for you to single tongue , so you must resort to this specialized tonguing. Be sure you keep it in your monthly practice assignments.
See Techniques Exercises Resources page for suggested double tonguing exercises.
Triple Tonguing
The same basic process is used to learn triple tonguing. This type of special tonguing is intended for fast passages grouped in threes. Try “ta-ka-ta” or “duh-guh-duh”. You then accentuate as follows: “ta-ka-ta, ka-ta-ka”, never using two ta’s or two ka’s together. Not often needed, but an important part of articulation study. Try it out on some etudes even if they have other than all tongued articulation noted.
See Techniques Exercises Resources page for suggested triple tonguing exercises.
“Double and triple tonguings are immensely troublesome to some players, for pressure and tension accumulate and paralysis sets in as the tempo increases. … the solution is the continuity of air and a relaxed tongue just springing away from the pressure of the moving air. It is sometimes a helpful practice to first slur such passages and then superimpose the double tongue on the established breath line. The sharper syllables (te-ke, etc.) tend to chip at the air and musclebind the tongue, hence the blunter sounds of “doogoo” for the double and “doogoodoo” for the triple tonguings. These blunter syllables help to equalize the discrepancy in attacks and relax the tongue. Practice them in slow motion, for even here the double should be indistinguishable from the single tonguing. For the more staccato and rapid passages, a bit sharper consonant and a little tension in the lips will provide an elasticity that will produce a quasi-staccato without interfering with the flow of air.” Pp. 20-21
William Kincaid from Kincaidiana
Flutter Tonguing
Flutter tonguing, actually an extended technique, makes the notes have a tremolo quality because the airstream is disturbed by quick movements of the tongue. It will be noted in the music with something like ”flutter” written above the notes usually with a bracket showing which notes are to be included in the flutter tongued passage.
There are two ways to create this effect. The first, and most accepted way, is to blow a constant airstream, relaxing the tongue, and rolling the tip of the tongue as one does when pronouncing a Spanish “r”. The second is produce the effect by blowing a constant airstream, relaxing the tongue and rolling the part of the tongue that is used in clearing the throat or gargling. Like a growl. Many flutists cannot flutter tongue and must use the growl approach.
Here are some exercises to use to in you tonguing practice:
Beginner Level
Rubank Intermediate Method for Flute
J.E. Skornicka, A.C. Peterson
Page 10 – Staccato
Page 13 – Accents
Page 35 – Double tonguing
Page 39 – Triple tonguing
Intermediate Level
Platonov
Thirty Studies for Solo Flute
Edited by Ervin Monroe
#3 in G Major – Double tonguing practice
#8 in D Major – Let’s you work on tonguing high notes jumping up from a lower note.
Advanced Level
Donjon, Francois and Johannes
Etudes de Salon
Edited by Ervin Monroe
Page 14, measure 25, which is rehearsal letter “C” – Double tonguing
Page 20 Quatrième Etude, Presto –