Double Tounging

[gnrguitar64]

can anyone help me on double tounging?
basiclly, i know i can do it, but its just that it sounds really weird, not like my usual sound when in the lower registeror when moving throguh notes
any help is appreciated

[tubaguy9]

Ask your teacher

[Todd S. Malicoate]

Daily exercises, starting VERY slowly, using the "D and G" or "T and K" syllables on repeated notes and trying to make them sound the same. As Brain pointed out, it takes a long time.

There is no substitute.

[Rev Rob]

Bloke, I appreciate your advice, because I have had the same experiences as the person who initiated this thread.

[Uncle Buck]

IMHO, most students and amateurs start trying to learn the technique too early, use it too much, and would benefit more from spending the time developing a better single articulation technique. And yes, I was definitely included in that group. I spent a lot of time in high school trying (and trying is the key word) to play Carnival of Venice. I would have been much better served working on breathing and basic articulation technique. The threshold of moving from single to double articulation should be pretty high.

On the other hand, working on Carnival gave an impatient, immature high school kid (me!) a reason to practice. And a humbling experience when a friend and I played it as a tuba/trumpet duet at Solo/Ensemble. (We were both pretty good high school players, but our Band Director probably should have stopped us. The look the judge gave us after we finished taught me more than a whole boat-load of lessons.)

[Uncle Buck]

Kids seem to be able to "grasp" things more easily than older people.

Very good point.

[gary]

All good advice but I've found what works best for me is playing four 8th notes and a half note on a single pitch using a single tongue. Then repeat that using a double tongue and try to match the sound of the single tongue. Go back and forth between single and double always imitating the sound of the first. This should be done as slowly and as many times as needed. Let the sound be your guide.
Gary Sienkiewicz

[Roger Lewis]

Call your cat:
kitty...kitty..kitty...kitty... etc...

Using this thinking can make things a lot easier. Another aspect to consider is your attack style. Most people lift the tongue up and then pull the tongue down. My style is to lift the tongue up and then just relax it and let the air blow the tongue out of the way. This leads to using the air more efficiently and to using much less muscle in the tongue so that the singel tongue is much faster using half the muscle required of the tongue. it also makes sure that the air is at the front of the mouth where it belongs.

Most younger players do not blow through the attack at they should and decrease the air to the "K" sound and then all you hear out of the bell of the instrument is the sound of the tongue slapping around inside the mouth.

All I did was read what Arban had to say about it and 5 minutes later I was double tonguing without any problem.

Don't over think it it is very simple. It ain't hard.

Roger

[Rev Rob]

And an old pocket watch goes ticky...ticky...ticky...tock Not.