There are differing ideas on tongue placement, and I think they can all be used for various reasons. But I want to discuss the unfocused Tah sound. You know that one especially in the low register where sometimes it’s a puff of air rather than good tone quality.

Here are some practical tips to improve your tone quality by focusing your Tah when articulating.

1. The Importance of Articulation Practice

First and foremost, let’s establish the significance of practicing articulation. It’s not just something you do in passing; it should be an integral part of your practice routine. Whether you’re warming up, working on scales, or diving into your etudes, incorporating articulation exercises is essential. Variety in your articulation patterns helps you develop versatility and adaptability in your playing.

2. The Precision of the “Tah”

Let’s delve into the heart of the matter—the “tah” articulation. I often find that many of my students, even those at the college level, tend to use too much air when articulating. This excess air behind the tongue can lead to imprecision and a lack of control.

3. Tongue Placement Matters

To master the “tah,” you need to pay close attention to tongue placement. Your tongue should be as far forward as possible without touching your teeth. This precise placement results in a sparkling, pointed articulation, which is crucial for achieving a clear and focused tone.

4. The Art of Air Control

A significant part of achieving a well-focused “tah” lies in controlling your breath. The key here is to hold in as much air as possible when you articulate. The more control you exert over your breath during tonguing, the more precision and focus you can achieve in your sound. This results in a cleaner and clearer tone, as opposed to a vague dispersion of air.

5. Monitor Your Stomach

To gauge your progress, you can use a simple exercise involving the observation of your stomach. If you notice your stomach contracting with each articulation, it’s a telltale sign that you’re releasing too much air. Using a mirror to keep an eye on your stomach and practicing to maintain a steady position will help you achieve a more focused and controlled sound.

6. Practical Articulation Exercises

Practical exercises play a crucial role in your journey toward mastering articulation. For instance, pieces that involve a lot of tonguing, such as the Bach E-flat Sonatas, provide a perfect challenge. Focus on holding in as much air as possible while maintaining a precise “tah.”

7. The Ultimate Goal: A Focused Tone

In the end, our objective is to achieve a focused tone that is free from excess air. With practice and control over your breath, you can ensure that your performance is characterized by a clear, rich sound.

In conclusion, I’ve found that paying attention to these aspects of flute articulation has significantly improved my playing. Whether you’re a beginner starting your musical journey or an intermediate flutist looking to enhance your skills, I encourage you to follow these guidelines. With consistent practice and a focus on your “tah” when you articulate, you can achieve better results in your flute playing.

Have fun!
DoctorFlute

*This blog article was edited by ChatGPT. What do you think?

Watch me demonstrate this:

In this video I discuss the exact position of the tongue necessary for a good clear Tah using embouchure, tongue, and support.

Let’s Talk Articulation – Focus on Your Tah – FluteTips 179

Practice Articulation to Improve Your Tone – FluteTips 155

FluteTips 38 Practicing Articulation

FluteTips 1 Articulation Tonguing Too Far Back

The post Flute Articulation – Focus on Your Tah appeared first on DoctorFlute.

This is how I get a full warm up for my practice session even though it will only be 15 minutes long. You really can cover all that is necessary in 15 to 20 minutes. When you do have the time for a longer practice session, this is still a great warm up routine. It will get you going, and get you ready to practice whatever else you have on your agenda.

But for today, 15 minutes is all I have. So, let’s get started.

Scales

The first thing I’m going to do is to practice my scales with Taffanel and Gaubert – the love of my life (my flute life!) Because I don’t have a lot of time, I’m only going to practice the flats today using Taffanel and Gaubert’s #4. If I had extra time, I would play all the way through flats and sharps, but that will have to wait until tomorrow. I am going to play #4 at a tempo that works for me but pushes my fingers. Using the metronome is always a great way to keep me on tempo.

Now, even though I’m doing this in a truncated period of time, I still must make sure that I am playing correctly and listening to my fingers. I always use all those articulations when I play Taffanel and Gaubert. It is very important that we wake up the tongue. The tongue is a muscle. Playing all those different articulations makes that muscle work.

Arpeggios & Tone

After scales I like to move into arpeggios. Today I’m going to play through Reichert’s 7 Daily Exercises #2. Now I like to practice Reichert by tonguing all the way through. Strangely enough, when I practice this arpeggio exercise like this, I count it as tone practice as well. Why? Because I think that when I tongue really short focused ta’s, then I have to make sure that the tone is focused in a tiny little package. It forces me to get a fabulous sound in a short period of time.

The longer you hold a note, the more you adjust your embouchure, and you fix things, and it can sound better and better. But if you can tongue and make that tone to be the tone you want in just a split second, then you know you are on the right track. So, I will tongue all the way through all of these.

Harmonics & Tone

Next, I want to work a little bit more on my tone. My next exercise is for the lip playing harmonics. I am going to play Reveille with harmonics only. In this exercise I only finger the low C, and I play the tune with that fingering. This makes my lip be in motion. I can concentrate on making the lip do all the work. It is a great way to work on flexibility with the lip.

Tapers & Long Tones

For the last few minutes of my short but important practice session I will work on long tones with tapers. I think if I am out of shape, my tapers are rotten. So, I like to consciously practice tapering all the time. Because I want this to be a 15-minute warm up I am not going to play from a high B, all the way down to low C. I will only play one octave. But I want that taper to be as smooth as silk. I want to taper down to nothingness.

Now there are reasons to do short tapers, and to learn how to do them in one beat. But right now, I am going to do long tone tapers as if I have all the time in the world to taper that note.

I have just finished my 15-minute practice and I feel nicely warmed up. In only 15 minutes I am not going to progress in my repertoire. But my lip will not go backwards! Then when I do have the time for a full practice, I will be ready to make good use of that session because my lip is in shape still.

If time is a problem for you, do not skip practice. Keep yourself on that 15-to-20-minute warm up schedule. You will cover everything necessary from tone, to articulation, to your fingers. This a fantastic way to get warmed up and stay in shape.

Have fun!

DoctorFlute

Watch me demonstrate this idea:

How to Warm Up in 15 Minutes – FluteTips 152

Always Warm Up Musically – FluteTips 144

What to Do in a 30-Minute Practice Session – FluteTips 119

30-Minute Practice Session Using Mozart Concerto in G

The post How to Warm Up in 15 Minutes appeared first on DoctorFlute.

Is practicing etudes a drudgery for you? Do you intentionally skip playing etudes? If that is you, I’m here to tell you to stop! Etudes are part of a rigorous practice session and reveal so much of what a musician needs to learn.

Etudes can be the bane of your existence, or they can be the gateway to playing well. There is a lot to be learned from etudes. But there are so many people that don't understand the benefits of practicing etudes. I probably was one of them - way back when. There was a time when I thought that playing halfway through an etude was good enough. It eventually repeated, so who cares about that middle tricky section? Oh dear, I cannot believe that I got away with that! Only later did I realize that was erroneous thinking.

At some point in my flute education, I had a really good teacher that told me how to practice etudes.  She didn't come out and say “here are the reasons.” Rather it was how she had me practice these etudes that taught me their strength. She helped me realize that there was music in etudes.

Then I Fell in Love with Etudes

Now I espouse that you can learn everything about music through an etude. I even wrote an article on this topic for Flute Talk Magazine. I have done seminars and workshops on this very topic, because it's near and dear to my heart.

An etude can teach you a myriad of things if you let it. So many of the students that I teach come to lessons without their etude learned. And then I proceed to take the etude completely apart so they realize that learning the notes is only one small part of that etude practice.

Now there are a lot of different etudes and I think every teacher has their thing with which etudes they love and want their students to learn. But I think we all generally agree that Andersen etudes are at the top tier of etudes. They run the gamut from ones that I would do with an intermediate sixth grader to ones I would have a graduate student play. Plus there are Kohler etudes and there are Druet etudes and scads more. It is not totally about which etude you are playing, just make sure you are playing etudes. 

Etudes Harp on Technical Issues

I want to give you some other reasons why you should practice etudes. I have this list of accomplishments that can be achieved through practicing etudes. This list came about because etudes changed my flute playing life. They really did. It was not playing solos that changed me as a flutist, it was etudes. We all know that etudes harp on a technical issue and they harp on it for line after line and sometimes page after page. You can have Andersen Etudes that are two, three, four even six pages long! When the composer targets certain aspects of playing that you get again and again and again and again what a phenomenal way to build your technique… if you are practicing it properly.

This brings me to the first point: etudes can build your technique. I wish that I had known this when I was younger because I would have had better technique at a young age. But for all of us at any age better late then never.

Learn to Practice Perfectly

The second point is to practice perfectly every time. Do not allow yourself to practice, go back and fix, and then re-practice. There is a way your brain works that when you practice you create a pathway every time you learn something and if you learned it wrong first then that path is now going the wrong way. You then have to re-practice correctly so many times in order to fix that wrong path even if you only played it once. Practicing perfectly is very important. This means begin slower. Do not allow yourself to have a mistake. Do not allow that to even happen one time. It takes a lot of discipline to do that, but it is very good, especially if you're planning on a flute playing career. With this method of practice, you will be happy when you're performing on your first recital that you've learned how not to play mistakes even that first time.

Practice with Articulations

Articulation is next on the list of what you can learn in an etude. Etudes have a myriad of articulations, often it is the same articulation that is being worked on in that particular etude. Placement of the tongue when you articulate is especially important. Learn how to get tone at the same time as you articulate. Putting your tongue in the right spot is a phenomenal thing to work on. We do not practice articulations enough. Part of technique practice that I have students use, is the 10 different articulations found in Taffanel and Gaubert's 17 Grand Exercise for the Flute. I have students practice etudes with many different articulations, not just what is written. This method can then be applied to solo practice. Technique can be learned if you use your metronome and 10 different articulations. Practice with articulations while you are learning your etude. It really helps to learn, and it is a strong way to practice.

Work on Tone

How about tone? Can you work on tone in an etude? Absolutely! When you are looking at your etude, and I think Andersen are especially wonderful in this, there are melody notes hidden among the myriad of technical notes. Practicing those melody notes you can work on tone. I think all Andersen etudes could be used in solo festivals. They are so phenomenal. But I would work on tone with a student by pulling out those notes. When you work on focusing tone on a tiny, short note it can really help tone. Tone disappears often when you are playing an etude because we are so bogged down with all the technique. So, stay focused on tone when practicing.

Find Your Cadences

Musicality is really something great that occurs when practicing etudes. Phrasing, when you find that melody and realize it moves to a cadence. You learn to shape the melodies within the technique and find your cadences. I teach students to play that melody like it is the most beautiful thing and it is the only thing that you are going to play. Then your job is to play the etude up to tempo with all the phrasing to the cadence points. It is a fantastic workout.

Learn to Play Through

How about a less concrete reason: concentration. Learning to play with concentration is learning to play through without stopping. I was one of those who could have benefited from this strategy much younger. Concentration is something I battle when performing.  Etudes are where you pay the piper and learn this skill. Practice by starting at the beginning of an etude (after you have already worked on it and know it) and put your metronome on at the tempo it should go. Now play through and pay attention and do not stop for anything. Do not fix a wrong note. Do not go back to catch something. Learn to play through. This a great technique that is often missed when working on etudes. Sometimes, when I have not learned an etude up to tempo but I’m half to ¾ the way I will put the metronome on and play with this skill in mind. Sometimes it takes more stamina and concentration at metronome speed 80 to play through the etude than it does at metronome speed 104.

These are several reasons why you need to be practicing etudes every day. I hope that you can see why practicing etudes can be so beneficial to all aspects of your flute skills.

If your teacher is not having your practice etudes, I do not think they would mind if you added them to your practice routine. You can find several at my website to download for free at the DOWNLOADS tab above.

Enjoy working on etudes. They should not be thought of as drudgery! Think of them as solos. Beautiful, wonderful solos that will make your playing rise to a new level.

Have Fun!

DoctorFlute

Watch me demonstrate this:

Why You Should Be Practicing Etudes Every Day - FluteTips 121

How to Practice Etudes

What to Do in a 30-Minute Practice Session

The post Why You Should Be Practicing Etudes Every Day appeared first on DoctorFlute.

Tension is one of those areas that we all need to work on. Tension in the embouchure can prevent you from getting the sound you would really like to have. The problem is we don’t work on this. It is oft times ignored in our practice sessions.

I want to encourage you to figure out what is happening in your areas of tension especially as they pertain to the embouchure. Special places of tension are in the tongue, jaw and throat. These tension filled areas prevent you from having the sound you want to have. Tension locks the sound in the mouth instead of letting the sound come out through a relaxed embouchure.

When you begin to work on relaxing the throat, jaw and tongue then your sound begins to loosen up and can then begin to soar.

Tongue, throat, and jaw tension are something that can plague us throughout our flute-playing existence. If I am especially tired or a little bit out of shape, the first tension that I feel is in the jaw.  After that, it shows up in the throat. It drives me crazy that when I need to have tension-free playing my jaw and throat tighten right up. This then gives me a tight tone. Then I get mad because my tone is tight, which in turn makes me tighter… it is a vicious circle.

Jaw tension leads directly to throat tension. Show me someone with a tight jaw and I’ll show you someone who has a tight throat. That is both good and bad. If I conscientiously begin to relax my throat, then it will be so much easier for me to relax my jaw and vice versa. I think about relaxing my throat first because it automatically relaxes the jaw.  

Tongue tension is a bit easier to fix at least it is for me. I think tongue tension goes completely back to tonguing incorrectly. If you tongue improperly then there is a chance that you have a tense tongue. I was watching a video of a vocalist talking about tongue tension and how you can massage the tongue. It was all a little bit too much for me to think about massaging my tongue! But it was an interesting concept. The cure for this tense tongue is to lighten up. Lighten up your tongue (and your double tongue). Keep the tongue loose when tonguing, don’t tongue hard or hen pecky. This doesn’t mean you can’t accent notes, or tongue clearly. But the tongue doesn’t have to be harsh in order to tongue everything properly. 

Double-tonguing is a big culprit when it comes to a tense tongue. A lot of people do this action incorrectly and thereby create a very harsh tongue. But if you keep the tonguing relaxed but still precise, you can move so much faster.  

Something else to think about when it comes to jaw tension is the pressure of your left hand first finger. Many times, I find that students use way too much pressure pushing the flute into the jaw. I test how much tension there is by using one finger to gently move the head joint off the student’s lip. If I can fling it away with one finger, then it’s good. It almost never is. By pushing into the headjoint and into the lip, the tension begins in the fingers, and then the headjoint pushes into the jaw creating pressure and tension. When my jaw gets tighter, I know for a fact that the pressure of my first finger pressing the flute against my lip has gotten worse.

To really relax that jaw, it's all about the throat. If you take a yawning breath, one that expands your throat and allows that upper part of your throat to open into your sinuses the tongue should go down.

Fast breaths in the middle of a fast section in music are rife with tight breaths. If I'm not prepared for a fast loose breath, then I will gasp for that breath instead of taking a quick relaxed breath that opens mu throat.  Do you think that kind of breath is too slow? Au contraire! An open-throat breath can be just a quick as the gasp. It only needs to be thought about. We are programmed to take that gasping breath. It takes a lot of thought to take the right kind of a breath. But when I think through the breath and take a yawning breath, it feels good in my throat, and my jaw is completely, completely relaxed. If you have any TMJ problems, it is definitely something that you'd want to work on.

Now, it's not easy to learn how to take that kind of a breath in the middle of a fast passage. You must work at it. You have to be consciously thinking about, "Oh, I took that gasping breath. Let me go back and fix it." Because you will want to erase the mistake of the gasping breath and teach your brain that when you come to a spot where you need a fast breath, it must be the right kind of breath. Your throat needs to be open. When your throat is open for a breath, then when you come back in, your throat will stay open. This in turn will keep your tone beautiful all the way through.

Quite probably 100% of you have some type of tension in your playing. None of us are exempt from having throat tension, jaw tension, and even tongue tension. Ask yourself if you are having some tension in one or more of these areas. Is your tongue nice and loose, and staying down, and not tightly coming up to do your tonguing, which will slow you down when you want fast articulation? Are you pressing with your first finger against your lip? Or are you taking the gasping breath that then tightens the jaw? How about your throat is it loose as if you just yawned?

Enjoy working on relaxing your tension areas because it feels so much better to play this way and it results in a better tone. Now that’s worth working on!

Relax your tongue, relax your throat, and relax your jaw you will be glad you did!

Have fun!

DoctorFlute

Watch me demonstrate this:

Relaxing Your Tongue Throat & Jaw When You Play Flute - FluteTips 118

The post Playing Flute Without Tension in Your Tongue Throat & Jaw appeared first on DoctorFlute.

Some flutists think they don’t need to double-tongue because their single tongue is fast enough. I’ve definitely heard some fast single tongues but none that are as fast as a well-working clean double-tongue.  Once you have this articulation down pat, a world of speed is open to you.

Let’s take a look at how to double-tongue so that your speed is not encumbered by a slow tongue.

I've done videos on problems with double-tonguing: how to do it better, how to do it faster, how not to rush. Today, I want to go back to the basics and explain how you double-tongue to achieve maximum effect.

I have come across some issues with students when I've taught them how to double-tongue and it all goes back to where they place their ta. There are many teachers out there that will give you different syllables to use and have different tongue placements such as tonguing between the lips. They are not wrong. There is more than one way to accomplish this goal. However, I feel very strongly that the position of the tongue on the roof of the mouth is very important for fast sustained and clear double-tonguing.  

It all goes back to the basics of where you place your ta. Now, when I've taught students from different cultures, even from my own culture it seems that when an articulated “ta” sound happens in speech it can be in different places in the mouth. I haven’t come across anyone who puts the “ta” in a different spot then the roof of the mouth. Generally, it is the exact location that differs. Once I discovered that, then I was able to help students better achieve how to single-tongue and then how to double-tongue.

The tip of the tongue should be thought of as a point. That point is then placed as far forward as you can get without being on the teeth. If you feel the roof of your mouth with your tongue right between the two front teeth is a little nob. Make sure that you are on the roof, not on the teeth. Then run your tongue back until you reach the ridge. After the ridge the roof arches up and then moves into the soft palate. It is helpful to pick up your flute and tongue a few short single tongues. Determine where you actually tap when you say “ta”. The correct spot is on that little bump between the teeth. While I say it’s between the teeth. I don’t actually mean to tongue on the teeth but on the roof of the mouth. I know that linguists probably have an actual name for that little bump, but I don't know what it is. Practice saying “ta” right there both in speech and on your flute. The articulation should be very clear and crisp.

With this in mind, most of the time the issues with double-tonguing are because that “ta” is somewhere between the bump and the ridge. When you double tongue and your “ta” placement is too far back then when you add the “k” sound that is placed either further back or the tongue has to move back and forth to bring the “k” forward. It should be obvious that this movement is a waste of time. You double tongue because you want to move fast. But a cumbersome tongue is not fast.

I used to have this problem in high school with double tonguing. I remember working on the Mozart concertos in the fast 16^th note sections and the roof of my mouth would feel bad. I wouldn't really call it sore, but it would feel like I needed a massage. I wanted to find a way to rub it. I think it was all because the K was forced to hit too far back causing this fatigue. Once I learned to place the “ta” properly I could double-tongue all day long and never, ever have an issue.

One of my early teachers, Georgetta Maiolo, with whom I studied both in high school and then again for my master's degree, had this easy exercise based on the F-scale to practice double tonguing. Try this exercise:

1. Say T-K-T-K-T (Actually speak this out loud.)
2. Make it nice and easy when you say it, and phrase it as a group of 5.
3. Now on a low F tongue that group of 5. Make sure to keep the tongue in the right spot. Don’t push it, don’t force the tone.
4. Next play up 5 notes from the F with that nice and easy tonguing.
5. On the top note (C) tongue the group of 5.
6. Double tongue down C to F.
7. Here is the tricky spot tongue a group of 9  T-K-T-K-T-K-T-K-T on the F.
8. Double tongue the F up to C and back down to F.
9. Repeat on the next note of the F scale.  

Don’t worry if you don’t get a good sound right off the bat. It is more important that your tonguing is correct. Tone will follow.

Some aspects to think about:

Always keep the tongue relaxed however keep the support strong.

If you let go with your support the tongue has to get stronger which makes the sound what I call hen-pecky. This is a choppy sound without much tone.

Keep the air going through the double tongue. When you say it with your voice there are no stops between the syllables. Make sure that is the same on the flute.

If you hear an extra thunk type of sound in your mouth, then your tongue is too far back. It has been allowed to move back.

The Thunk

Most of the time, students that come to me have that thunk tongue noise and they have no idea that they are doing it. They just do not hear it. They might feel something on the roof of their mouth, but they don't really recognize that it makes a noise. Once they start hearing it, then they fix the tonguing. But until you actually hear that noise your tongue makes, when it is in the wrong spot, it's a lot harder to fix. You just have to go by your teachers’ word that yes, they can hear it.

Once you feel that you are understanding and executing double tonguing in this exercise then it is time to put it into your solo. Approach double tonguing in a solo much the same way as you would this exercise. Take a group of four 16^th notes add the first note of the next group and tongue the group of 5. Then tongue the next group of 5. Now put those two groups together with your group of 9. Work your way through 16^th note passages in this way. Repeat going a little bit faster. It seems maybe a slow process, but it will keep you accurate.

All right, so the basics for double-tonguing, is to tongue forward right on that little knob right between your two front teeth and keep it there when you add your “k”. Keep your air pressure through the tonguing don’t close off the air stream. The tongue needs to stay light.  When you do this, you can double-tongue all day and all night!

Try it. You will find that this is a great way to double-tongue.

Let me know in the comments if you have any questions, I'm happy to answer.

Have Fun!

DoctorFlute

Watch me demonstrate this:

Fast Easy Clear Flute Double-Tonguing FluteTips 111

Single Tonguing 3 Different Ways – FluteTips 94

Single Tonguing to Improve Tone & Get Back In Shape Fast – FluteTips 79

The post Fast Easy Clear Flute Double-Tonguing appeared first on DoctorFlute.

I've written and made videos on how to tongue properly on the flute. I like that tonguing to be on the roof of the mouth with the tongue forward but still on the roof. I think this tongue is the most crisp and clear sound. However, I've learned that there is more color to a sound if the tonguing is varied in the approach to a solo.

When you articulate in a solo, there are different ways that you can effectively use single tonguing that allow for a different color in the sound. If we always tongue in the same spot. For example, if I'm always going to tongue on the roof of my mouth, as far forward as I can get, I'm always going to have that same type of sound. I can do it lighter or I can do it harder, depending on the particular piece, but it's still going to be that crisp "tah" sound. Which I really like! But, sometimes a passage will call for something maybe a little different and that typical type of tonguing is not always going to work.

I think there are typically three different ways to single tongue. However, they're not all actually single tonguing because one of these 3 ways doesn't use the tongue at all!

The first way to tongue is the more strident, more crisp single tonguing on the roof of the mouth, that I just mentioned. It’s my favorite way to tongue. It allows you to punctuate your sound. As a flute teacher, it’s a pet peeve of mine when students have come to me and have not learned to tongue correctly.

The second way is to tongue between the lips; or a little bit more on the upper lip with a gentle "tha" sound. In this method your tongue is always placed between the teeth and hitting the lip.

The third method to articulate and change the color of the pieces you are playing is to not tongue but use a "pah" sound produced between the lips. It is gentle sound that can seem as if the sound were coming from a distance. The sound gently comes forth.

These different ways to articulate have different uses and different effects. All three different tonguings can be used in one piece.

Take for example Ballade by Perilhou. It's in our fabulous a Flute Music by French Composers book. Right on the very first page of the solo there are opportunities to change the tonguing.

The opening of the solo is strong so I need to use the strong "tah" . The drama and forte sound gives me the opportunity to use my tongue to give crisp articulations to this opening. You can hear that it's strong, it's big, it's vibrant. I'm playing with a robust type of sound, and I want my articulation to match that. The second phrase is the same. It uses that strong articulation.

Now the very next phrase beginning in measure 11, calms down to an espressivo section. But it's still a mezzo forte. Here, I'm going to tongue this section, and probably most of the next four measures, on the lip. The articulation will be somewhat gentler between the teeth thus creating a different color.

Moving on to measure 15, there is a double piano on a 3rd octave D flat. this is a good place to use the very gentle pah made with the lips. This articulation will give me that very nice pianissimo entrance. There is still an opening to that sound, but it's a little different, and will be beautiful.

After that initial pah, I will go back to tonguing between the lips because it still needed to be gentle and I really liked the color of that articulation.

We often don't think of articulation as adding color to our sound. But articulation does add color. If I'm going to use the strong tah or the gentle pah and let that sound come out of nowhere, a different color is created.

Now if you start with a pah and you haven't ever used a pah before, let me just give you a little tip about how to practice it. Mark Sparks says to play a B, (B 4) which is your first octave B with good posture keeping your flute in line and start with a pah. See if you can play a steady sound. When you do the pah, you have to make sure you lift (your upper lip) up enough so that the sound can come out. If you don't lift enough and leave the lips closed, it's going to be airy. Then go up the scale putting a pah on each note and holding it steady.

I think that the harder part is starting a pah on a high note, because you have to have enough air pressure behind it. I have to make sure the air stream is raised, fast and that I have air pressure underneath it.

Each of those three different articulations gives you a little bit of a different sound and a different color. These colors are wonderful additions to our solos as the different colors make your solo so much more beautiful.

Give these tonguings a try. Find different places in your solos that you're working on that you could try these different articulations and see what you think about it.

Have fun working on tonguing three different ways.

DoctorFlute

Watch my video of this:

Single Tonguing 3 Different Ways - FluteTips 94

Fast Easy Clear Flute Double-Tonguing FluteTips 111

Single Tonguing to Improve Tone & Get Back In Shape Fast – FluteTips 79

The post Single Tonguing 3 Different Ways appeared first on DoctorFlute.

I find that there are three major problems with double tonguing that give my students problems whether they are high school students, college students or professionals. These double tonguing problems are universal and the fix can be applied to any solo. All you have to do is determine which problem is yours, then get to work fixing it.

Problem #1 The Hen Peck

Problem #2 Uneven "ta ka"

Problem #3 Fingers Move Faster Than the Tongue

#1 The Hen Peck Problem

Now, the first problem that I see with students is the Hen Peck. Most often this is the biggest problem with a student's double tonguing. I have seen it more often than not, when the person comes to me for lessons and they have a piece with double tonguing. This problem is when the air doesn't flow through the "ta ka". The result is that the tongue stops the sound, and each tongue is short and clip. The musical line becomes interrupted. Thus the Hen Peck sound.

The Fix

The first thing to do when trying to fix this problem is play through the passage slurring all the way. This gives your ear the sound of the musical line. You hear all the notes connected and beautiful. It's important to understand that what you hear when slurring is the way it needs to sound when you double tongue. You can't break up the musical line just because you are double tonguing. Recognize that when you slur, your air is moving through the passage, and your support is steady. Transfer this to the double tongue. Push your air pressure through the "tktk" so that the sound isn't clip. Copy the musical line sound that you heard when you slurred. Now it makes musical sense. A benefit is that it is so much easier and more comfortable to play this way.

#2 The Uneven "Ta Ka" Problem

The second problem I hear is the uneven tongue. This occurs when the t is fine but the k is uneven. Usually it's not the ta because you've used the "ta" your whole flute life, and now you have to add the Ks onto it. When you speak tktk it can be very even. But when you put the flute up, it miraculously becomes uneven. How does that even work?!!! You would think that if you can say it evenly, then you should be able to do the same on the flute. But alas, sometimes this is just not the case.

The Fix

The first thing to do is to speak the tktk in the same tempo as the passage. Make sure the tongue is very light. The t is very forward, making the k more forward. Keep it light and forward on the flute as well. The key to getting this even is to switch the t and k around. While you usually play tktk you will now play ktkt. Trust me it works. Make this way of double tonguing just as good as the original way. In other words, pretend that this is the method you must use from now on. You need to believe that this is your method. You have to be all in, because only then will your k muscle become just as strong and coordinated as the t. This really works! FYI it is absolutely the best way to fix triple tonguing issues as well. Backwards to go forwards!

#3 Fingers Move Faster Than the Tongue Problem

Whenever you're having trouble with your double tongue, and you feel "I've got it, I should know it. I've worked on it!" But it still doesn't come out smoothly. It's always because the fingers are faster than the tonguing. The tongue and fingers have come out of sync with each other, and you need to get them so that they're traveling the same path again.

The Fix

It's never because the TK is rushing. It's the fingers that are the problem. This means that you need to go back and woodshed slowly. Go back to the methods that you used to learn it in the first place. Use every articulation in your Taffanel and Gaubert book making sure that when using any articulations with tonguing that you always use double tonguing, even when slow. Use your metronome each and every time you practice this passage. That's all you need to do to fix this problem. It seems a simple solution, but it takes time. Remember it's not going to be fixed all of a sudden. It will take time.

Those are the three problems that will fix 99% of double tonguing issues. Now, analyze which one is your problem (or is it all 3?) and go about fixing it.

Have fun!

DoctorFlute

Watch me demonstrate this Fixing 3 Double Tonguing Problems - FluteTips 92

FluteTips 82 Getting Better Low Notes with Taffanel & Gaubert Number 8

FluteTips 86 Bending Your Pitch UP

The post Fixing 3 Double Tonguing Problems appeared first on DoctorFlute.

Single tonguing does a couple of things. It forces your sound to come together in a tiny amount of time. It helps you to get up close and personal with your embouchure. You have think about what's going on in the muscles of the embouchure. However, you must be intentionally working not mindlessly playing.

To work on this I like to find single tonguing exercises and etudes that use single tonguing. Tonguing through Taffanel and Gaubert #4 or #5 is a perfect exercise. I love to tongue through Reichert's 7 Daily Exercises #2. This exercise is a pattern of arpeggios. It is fantastic for the tone.

In etdues I will often begin with Anderson Op. 41 #2 and then perhaps move on to 21, 33, 15, and 60 from there. In these etudes I play only the single tonguing exercises.

When I begin to practice I want to take that tongue, my air, and my embouchure and put them all together in the short little bursts to get my tone to focus. I might take the rhythm apart and not play in tempo. So, that I can think about what my embouchure is doing and the pressure I have on my lip. When I'm out of shape sometimes I add more pressure onto my lip. Which is exactly what I don't want to do.

Now I'll go back to the beginning and play it maybe more in tempo.

Additionally, when I'm out of shape I can get tight in my embouchure. I firm up the corners, when what I really want to do is loosen them up. Concentration with my short tonguing helps me here as well.

Another aspect of single tonguing is finding the right spot on the lip plate for your air to blow across. I fool around with where does that air hit. Am I going to hit the wet part of my lip? I love to do that with all these tonguing exercises.

There's so much instant benefit from doing a lot of single tonging. The finger work even helps to get your muscles get more into shape. But when you use them to focus on your embouchure, you tone improves, and you get back into shape fast.

Have fun!

DoctorFlute

Watch me demonstrate this: Single Tonguing to Improve Tone & Get Back In Shape Fast - FluteTips 79

Single Tonguing 3 Different Ways – FluteTips 94

Fast Easy Clear Flute Double-Tonguing FluteTips 111

Getting Your Tone Back in Shape

Using Reichert Number 3 to Help You Get Back in Shape

The post Single Tonguing to Improve Tone & Get Back in Shape Fast appeared first on DoctorFlute.

Unsteady triple tonguing is an interesting problem that has a fun & challenging solution.

The best method that I have found to fix that problem is to practice triple tonguing in reverse. That is, practice beginning with the K sound rather than the T sound. The obvious emphasis in practicing triple tonguing is on the first T sound. For some, this emphasis makes the KTK become uneven. It definitely did for me until one of my teachers suggested that I reverse the triple tongue and begin with the K sound. It drove me crazy because it was so uneven. But, when I began giving the first K the emphasis and the other 5 no emphasis, it began to even out. Now you will still need to practice slower then normal because your fingers and tongue need to figure out how to work together but then you can increase speed and watch how it all comes together.

Go get some music with a passage of triple tonguing to practice. The Dutilleux Sonatine has a nice passage that has caused me some evenness issues. Use a metronome when you practice this backward. It really helps to keep the tempo dead-on-steady. You still need to concentrate and do the work of practicing backwards to cure the problem. Eventually, you will be able to triple tongue backwards and forwards without it feeling like work.

It’s great to do this with double tonguing as well. Because, I find a lot of times with my students that their TK TK TK is a little bit uneven. So, by switching the T and K around you begin to train the K to be just as strong as the T. This is the theory of why it it beneficial to practice triple tonguing forwards and backwards. You train the K to be as strong as the T – thus evening out your triple tonguing.

Try it and tell me what you think. It may be the answer you are looking for!

Have fun,

DoctorFlute

Watch me demonstrate this:

FluteTips 46 Practicing Triple Tonguing in Reverse

FluteTips 19 Low Register Tonguing

Practice with Me Low Register Tonguing

FluteTips 47 Pizzicato Tonguing

The post Practicing Triple Tonguing in Reverse appeared first on DoctorFlute.

So, let me give you another exercise to practice your low register, that I find really valuable for me and my students: #8 in Taffanel and Gaubert. T and G’s # 8 is a series of arpeggios covering all the keys and using major, minor, diminished, and augmented. It is set up differently than #10 or #11 and lends itself to low register tonguing. When I work on this for low register tonguing, I only use A and B in all their keys. I only work on those 2 exercises because they stay low using low C or D.

This very exercise begins with a low C, which is the most difficult note to tongue short with a good tone. Generally, before you figure out low short tones, only a puff of air comes out. How frustrating!

It is your job to figure out how to play this low C with a warm rich tone, all while using a very short tongue. To do this begin with a deep breath of air where you fill up your stomach and rib cage. Then, with your tongue placed on the rough of your mouth feel the support (pressure) behind that tongue and you release the tongue but not the air. The air pressure you have generated stays inside.

Only use the air that is in your mouth – not more air pushed out from your stomach.

Keep the tongue very short. If you allow the tone to be of any length, you will fool yourself into thinking that the sound came out because you held it long enough for the tone to come out. When you tongue very short you will hear whether or not a puff of air came out or an actual tone. Re-tongue notes a few times to see if you can make the tone come out properly. They do get frustrating if especially if they’re not working but after daily practice on holding air in and only letting out the air in your mouth you’ll find that you are making progress.

Breathing and proper support are key to learning how to tongue in your low register.

If I am out of shape, this is not my go-to exercise. They will not come out. I need my lip to be working properly before I can attempt to work on these then my tone will benefit from this exercise.

A very nice side benefit of practicing low register short tones is that your upper register will also improve from working on your low. Now, isn’t that cool?!

Try T&G #8 just A and B tonguing short tones and holding your air in. Work on getting the best response that you can, especially on your low C. (Hey, If you can get low C you can get any note!) See how much this work really helps you to focus all of your sound on a short burst. It will help you in every register.

Have fun!

DoctorFlute

Watch me demonstrate this:

FluteTips 45 Low Register Tonguing Taffanel and Gaubert 8

Practice with Me Low Register Tonguing

FluteTips 46 Practicing Triple Tonguing in Reverse

FluteTips 19 Low Register Tonguing

FluteTips 47 Pizzicato Tonguing

The post Low Register Tonguing Taffanel and Gaubert 8 appeared first on DoctorFlute.