How best to tongue (there's gotta be another verb for this)

[Whitmores75087]

Anyway, I have a habit of slapping the end of the fipple with my tongue to get some explosion on the notes. But all I've read says I should not touch the fipple, but do a sort of "tut tut" with the tongue behind my teeth. But the notes end up sounding a bit weak that way. Would anyone with more expertise (almost anyone, really) like to comment?

Tom

[JohnPalmer]

There are lots of ways to tongue, and each way affects the initial attack in some manner. Experiment with your tongue placement, from a "doo" attack, to a "too" attack, to sounds I can't type, but I'll try, like a "dull" attack, or a "der" attack (do these over and over to get the full effect). These two have to do with the vowel sound the inside of your mouth makes. It might take hours to find the right sound, or even days, or weeks, or months, or years, or decades. (sorry )

[whistlingblacksmith]

All I know is I never come close to the "north" end of my whistle with my tounge, yet my attack is sharp and strong. Seems you're just going to get spit in your whistle if you get your tounge right up to the mouthpiece.

[Isilwen]

No, there isn't another verb for that term.

What you should do is to say or whisper "Tah" into the instrument; the "T" sound you make creates a nice separation between notes. "Dah" also works, but it tends to be a bit softer of an attack than "Tah." Also, if you want to develop your tonguing, you can just practice without an instrument. Just practice saying "Tah" at varying speeds and rhythms. (I remember doing this every day in Band class...)

Hope that helps.

[Michael Sullivan]

Why not say "striking" a note instead of "tonguing" it? or "popping?"

Or anything that sounds less dirty and more like the sound that you make?

[BrassBlower]

On 2002-11-01 09:13, Michael Sullivan wrote:
Why not say "striking" a note instead of "tonguing" it? or "popping?"

Or anything that sounds less dirty and more like the sound that you make?

"Strike" is already taken - it is a grace note below the target note.

[Michael Sullivan]

Drat.

[klezmusic]

I used to use the "TAH" technique for tonguing, but lately I find myself doing something a little different. My embouchure has also changed from my early days, although I still have a preference for playing out the far right corner of my mouth. I play with the "intake" hole of the mouthpiece just inside my pursed lips and in front of my teeth, so it is not near my tongue - the whistle is always in front of my teeth. This may not work for fatter mouthpieces, such as Sweets or Susatos - I don't own any, so I can't test it as I type this. Will check later at HMT.

This reminds me - we had a customer return 2 simply lovely non-tunable Dixon D's b/c the fipple vent and the tone holes didn't line up precisely along the same vertical plane. I tested both whistles and found that the hole alignment actually facilitated my "corner" playing, giving me a more comfortable hand position with easier hole coverage! (it also didn't bother me the least in the center-of-mouth position). If any of you are "right corner" players, I have 2 great whistles for you. Sighting down the whistle in playing position, the toneholes are slightly to the left of the fipple. From now on, I will align all of my tunables thusly.

Anyway, back to the topic. To tongue, I push the tip of my tongue up against the back of my teeth (flat of the tongue against roof of mouth), and pull sharply backwards from that position - the syllable actually has an element of PTAH in it, I think, b/c the lips are closed. The tongue in the retracted position is about in the center of my mouth.

As for nomenclature, I sometimes like to say "mouth articulation" instead of "tonguing", but I'm not sure that it's any less suggestive.

One thing I am sure of, you can't spell it "tounge" and get away with it here.

/Wendina

[edited to add comment about hole alignment]

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: klezmusic on 2002-11-01 12:13 ]</font>

[Isilwen]

Yes, the word 'articulation' could work...