light, fast, single tounging

[Bruceneibaur]

Hi

so I learned how to double tounge at a very young age. It has been very useful in the various ensembles I've been in. But because of that my single tounging is slower than the average trumpeter my age (I'm a junior in college. ) so my double and triple tounging has become a crutch in certain situations. Does anybody have any good advice to develop the fast, light single tounging that say clarient players would have to learn? If I were teaching somebody myself I would say practice with a metronome. Are there any good excersises in specific that would save time, but really focus on that issue?

[Turkle]

I got my single-tonguing much better by including it in my daily 1-hour technique workout. For jazz purposes, I run through scales from 60-120 at 4 notes per click, going through the "cycle of fourths" alternating ascending and descending scales. I hope that makes sense. Anyway, I single tongue it first, starting with the ascending scale, and move it up 2 notches per repetition. The point is that gradually you work your tonguing speed up to where it totally overlaps with your double-tonguing. Mine is at about 104, so I make sure I can always double and single tongue my scale exercises that quickly.

Hope this helps, sorry if the above is confusing.
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Yamaha 8310Z trumpet
Yamaha 8310Z flugel
Curry 3.

[dalmavs]

I like the Gekker Articulation Studies. I had the same problem, and the exercises in the front of the book helped the most (the 1 minute drills). It expands upon the Clarke drill.

[Andy Del]

The best way to develop a good, light single articulation is to practice a good, light single articulation. (well, duh...)

BUT, you should also bear in mind that there have been and still are, many fine players who have a slow single tongue and use multiple tonguing much more frequently than some. I personally know one who had a very successful 30+ year career as a solo trumpet in a major symphony orchestra.

We should all develop our skills are far as possible, but this doesn't mean we need to go for the impossible, or rely on other valid techniques to perform successfully.

cheers

Andy
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so many horns, so few good notes...

[Bruceneibaur]

thanks for the feedback. if anybody else thinks of any other good excersises, i would like to hear them.

Thanks!
-Bruce

[BrianCade1]

Try Tongue Level Studies by Claude Gordon

[Steve A]

Might seem like a non sequitur, but I find that most of the exercises designed to improve tonguing by focusing on the tongue, or ramping up metronome with repeated notes, etc., don't do a whole lot of good for my articulation. If, however, I improve the basic ease with which I can produce a sound (tongued, or breath attacks), so that the response is immediate, and the sound is colourful, then my articulation suddenly gets easier, faster, clearer, and just simply better. Happily, virtually everything else does, too. Unhappily, it's harder and more mentally demanding work than just turning on a metronome and repeating things, and I don't always get it right. I never regret trying, though. For me, articulation is mostly about response/efficiency.

[Gchalick]

There's a minute tonguing exercise that works pretty well. You set a timer for one minute and then a metronome for a speed that isn't too fast, but still is challenging. Start the timer and tongue at the tempo, taking breaths when necessary. First just single tongue, then only do the K part of double tonguing, and finally K-t tongue (which is just reversed double tonguing). Focus on all your notes sounding the same and m having inimal tongue movement. As you do this for a while, you'll notice a lighter and faster tongue.
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The battle is not man vs. the trumpet..... Its a battle between man and how far we can push us to make this wonderful thing we call music. -Vincent Chichowicz

[Craig Swartz]

I'm not certain of exercises, per se. Do you have a concept of what you want to sound like, and can you record yourself to see if you are making progress towards that end? FWIW- for speed and lightness, the tongue that moves the lease will work the best, IMO.

[Bruceneibaur]

So here's another question for anybody to answer. With the fast light tounging, i've always wondered how everybody else does the fast 16th notes in September by Earth Wind and Fire. I can't single tounge that fast, but it sounds weird when i double toung the line. What does everybody else do in that line to make it sound as crisp as it does in the recording?

[rlk]

[Craig Swartz]

Listening to EWF just now, the tempo of September is just a hair faster than 120 by my watch. We used to play this a hundred years ago when I was doing rock bands and the 16ths shouldn't be a problem to single tongue. If they are, I suggest you are trying to accent way too hard which is binding up your tongue, or, as I wrote in a post above, your tongue is moving way too far between its position on long tones and articulating. You might adjust this a bit by using the syllable "tee" for these, and at first, for most of your tonguing to try to move its position a bit forward and up- closer to its point of creating the articulation. And you might also experiment using "dee" to lighten things up and relax the tongue. And, of course, if you're in a band doing this on gigs, they might have the tempo kicked way up from the original, too, especially if you're doing it late in the evening after everyone's had a few.