double/triple tonguing

[brnt99]

I am a recent comeback player. I have by' hit and miss' developed a practice routine consisting of Caruso exercises, lip flexibility exercises, scale studies, improvizing studies, and site reading studies.I would like to know if it is worth the time and effort to practice double and triple tonguing.My uninformed take is that double and triple tonguing is an archaic showman trick.How often do professional players use double/triple tonguing in their day to day playing?

[David Oulton]

I'm not a professional player, but I do use double tonguing in community band and quintet...makes certain passages easier to play (e.g. fast tempo sixteenth notes). I never did learn to triple tongue (so I usually have to slur fast tempo sixteenth note triplets - which are fairly rare in my repetoire).

David

[ This Message was edited by: David Oulton on 2002-02-08 09:29 ]

[trickg]

I use double tonguing quite a bit and every once in a while, I'm called on to tripple tongue something. It just depends on where and what you are playing, but as my Dad used to always say (although it wasn't in relation to playing trumpet) "it's better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it."

Besides, I use articulation studies as a means of making sure I'm using my air right. For me, if i'm having trouble double and tripple tonguing, I'm also having some problems with range, endurance, flexibility and accuracy. Just think, if you get good at double and tripple tonguing, think what it will do for your single tonguing.

Work on it and put it in your tool box for a later day.
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Patrick Gleason
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"95% of the average 'weekend warrior's' problems will be solved by an additional 30 minutes of insightful practice." - PLP

[_Don Herman]

Again, I'm also a CP and not a pro, but I play in a community orchestra and ou church's Praise Team. Both venues have me double and triple tounging pretty often. For me, it's a necessary skill (and one I need to work harder on, of course).

My teacher is a professional (Principal of the Colorado Springs Symphony) with about the fastest single tounging I've heard. He considers double and triple tounging a given for me (and we now and then find out it's not)and by extension any player with a goal of playing in a group today (young ones excepted, of course).

I share your pain, but gotta' learn it. I have a sampler of British band music with a lady playing cornet who triple tounged through an entire song. Very fast. Very wide intervals (octave plus) while zipping through it all. Scary. Humbling.

Gotta' go practice! - Don

FWIW - Don
_________________
Don Herman/Monument, CO
"After silence, that which best expresses the inexpressible, is music." - Aldous Huxley

[PH]

I am mostly a jazz musician, so I rarely use multiple tongueing (unless I am on another Lee Morgan listening kick!). However, I have found that practicing the first page or two of the double and triple tongue exercises from Arban everyday-slow, forte, and legato (dahgahdahgahdah) is one of the best things I can do for my chops, my airflow, endurance, and relaxation.

In my student days, when Mr. Adam kept assigning double tongueing I blew it off. I thought that since I was a bebopper and I would never have to play "Scheherazade" it was a pointless assignment. Once I started doing it (in the manner described above) some amazing things happened. Even though the Arban exercises barely leave the staff, I found that adding 15-20 minutes of multiple tongueing work to my daily routine improved my sound and endurance and added a minor third to my usable range in about 4 weeks...AND THAT WAS THE ONLY CHANGE I MADE IN MY PRACTICE!!!

[NCTrumpet]

I agree with PH in that practicing multiple tongueing affects many other aspects of your playing. Twenty minutes of double/triple tongueing is like 45 of anything else. Constant control of the air and attention to articulation serves to enhance endurance, flexibility, and a bunch of other stuff.

Plus, you gotta 'think' reaaal hard about what you're doing. That always helps.

JC.

[walter]

[ This Message was edited by: walter on 2002-09-20 07:05 ]

[Yoinks]

Also, frankly, very few of us will ever either
A: be good enough to only play jazz.
or
B: only want to play jazz.

In actuality, even though it may be good for your playing, any player of any seriousness will come across A LOT of VERY demanding double tounging exercises.
Lets list some:

The Hummel: Don't even think about the third movement unless you are very adept at multiple tonguing, and often this is one of the FIRST concertos young players run across. So there it is from the very start.
All the Arbans solos have it, MANY of the good orchestral excerpts have a lot of multiple tonguing, much, much Literature from places like Russia, like the Arutunian(tons and tons of double tonguing) have it as a standard element.

Also, on top of these solos, and many, many more, a lot of the contemporary band literature you will run across, and a lot of stuff in a pit orchestra for shows will have it.

The worst thing of all? Many, many solos, just have a very small amount of multiple tonguing in them, but that small section is extremely difficult. Nothing worse than being able to perform some whole big long solo, except for some little two bar passage of multiple tonguing stopping you.

[Quadruple C]

[ This Message was edited by: Quadruple C on 2003-12-18 13:38 ]

[_PhilPicc]

I was once very proficient on both double and triple. I found out when I let it slide I not only lost that ability but some other parts also. It does not take that much effort to bring it back but it does take dedication. I think it definately helps on single tonguing. I practice both double&triple to music on the radio while driveing. It's not quite the same but it certainly helps. and that's extra practice time.

Like some other posts said, you cannot have to many guns in your arsonal.
Regards,
Philip S.

[Lazarus]