When I’m out of shape or taken some time off from practicing, I do a lot of single tonguing to get back into shape fast! It is truly amazing how single tonguing can get you back on the path to tone.

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