Multiple Tonguing 3: Practice Exercises for Tonguing. This video presents mixed or combination tonguing as well as double tonguing exercises. By Terry B. Ewell.  www.2reed.net

[music: Weber, Rondo]

1. This is the third video dealing with multiple tonguing techniques and it replaces my older video BDP #20 and adds some new content. This video will present exercises for oboe and bassoon as well as other instruments. All of these exercises are available for free on 2reed.net at this link:

https://www.2reed.net/bdp/bdp_articulation.html

2. There are several important points to stress when practicing multiple tonguing techniques. In the last video (BDP #19—English, and BDP #236—Spanish) I made the case for practicing long vowel articulations and not short vowel articulations. The consonants used with the front and back of the tongue should be as swift and as light as possible. It is best to think of this articulation as legato in style.

3. Keep the K consonant as far forward in your mouth as possible. This will help for lighter and faster articulation. Do not articulate the K consonant near the throat as shown in this picture.

4. Next, in order to perform fast, you must practice fast. Sprinters don’t get faster by imitating the running motions in a very slow, ponderous walk. Likewise, the fast twitch tongue muscles must be mastered at rapid—but controlled—speeds. I call exercises that target these fast motions “sprints.”

5. Last of all, having a variety of tonguing techniques is a real advantage for a performer. Mastering a number of different tonguing techniques allows you to choose the one most appropriate for the speed and context. These are the approximate tempos of my most commonly used tonguing techniques for divisions of four in a beat:

Single—up to 138

Mixed, combination (T K T T) 132-144

Double (T K T K) 138-180+

6. I find that the mixed tonguing is the most useful in many of the fast tempos needed and it sounds more like single tonguing than double tonguing. I was introduced to this type of articulation by Arthur Grossman and he in turn learned of the technique from Bernard Garfield. Please see Garfield’s article in Woodwind World.

Garfield, Bernard. “The Bassoonist’s Nightmare.” Woodwind World 2 (March 1958): 11.

 

7. Here are a few sample exercises. In the first exercise we have a five-note sprint. Here the double tongue pattern is given. Here the mixed tonguing pattern is given. I suggest that you practice all of your types of tonguing at the same time for efficiency: that is single, mixed, and double tonguing all together. Vary the speed of the exercises by starting slowly and then increasing the speed. In these little exercises always sprint to the end. Never slow down!

 

8. Here are exercises with two beats of sprints, which total nine notes. Again, practice this with different tonguing patterns. Once you have mastered two beats then try three beats and more. Be aware, however, that we are not working for endurance rather speed. If you find your tongue slowing at the end you are probably doing a sprint that is too long.

9. In this next example are sprints on scales. Use single, mixed, and double tonguing on these examples.

10. One more general comment about your practicing. Once you reach a failure speed, that is, a speed at which you can’t consistently do the exercise, then slow down the tempo and complete a few more repetitions so that you have it under control. I believe that it is important to end practice sessions with success, not with failure. Once you reach a tempo when you can’t continue, reduce the tempo and do some successful repetitions.

11. I have had colleagues and students complain to me that they don’t want to use mixed tonguing because it is extra work. Personally, I find the final result, tonguing that is fluid and which best matches the sound of rapid single tonguing, to be all the motivation I need to practice this technique. However, here is an example that might provide further motivation for you.

12. Mozart’s 35th symphony contains a passage where the bassoon is required to leap downwards with octaves in rapid 16th notes. The “K” consonant does not articulate well in the low register and especially when in a downward leap. Alternating the sequence of the mixed tonguing helps to solve this problem. Here a pattern of “T T T K” works quite well.

13. This ends our overview of multiple tonguing techniques. I do, however, have two other videos that apply tonguing techniques to bassoon literature. Please see my discussion of Beethoven’s Fourth Symphony in BDP #78.

Practicing Beethoven’s 4th Symphony: Articulation. This video discusses performance techniques and practice methods for the sixteenth note passages in the fourth movement. By Terry B. Ewell. Bassoon Digital Professor # 78. www.2reed.net.

YouTube: http://youtu.be/0GBi8uR4ZeM

 

14. Also, see my presentation of triple tonguing in the Weber Hungarian Rondo in BDP #191.

Triple Tonguing for Bassoon. Practice methods and literature. By Terry B. Ewell. BDP#191. www.2reed.net/bdp.

YouTube: https://youtu.be/3ssQMUU3Wvs

15. God bless you as you work diligently to improve your articulation!

[music: Weber, Rondo]