In this video I explain an exercise I came up with to help improve my double tonguing. Check out my tip on woodshedding technical passages: • Trumpet Tip on Woodshe...
Both work. It's good to let the pitch of the note determine the syllable. Ta Ka = Lower notes, Tu Ku = Middle notes, Tee Kee = Upper notes. Another determining factor is the length of the note. For example, for smooth and connected notes I would also use Duh Guh, Doo Goo, or Dee Gee.
Thanks, we had a semi-difficult double tongue lick in our marching band show this year and I was doing well until they upped the tempo to 172 bpm. Without this exercise I would have been left in the dust for sure. Thanks so much!
If anyone is having trouble choking on their tongue or not having enough air I realized it helped if I started with close to NO pressure of my mouthpiece on my lips as I double tongued. The sound starts thin and there WILL be spit flying everywhere since there's not full pressure as if you were normally playing. I did this for a while until I could double tongue at around 110 then I slowly started applying normal pressure and fixed minor tone issues. I highly recommend trying this to anyone else
I like using "ta" because it helps me achieve a darker, warmer, more open sound. Try blowing air saying the word "too" and then "tah", and take notice of your tongue level for both. Saying "tah" keeps the back of the mouth more open. This will help warm up the sound.
Hi. Sounds like you are on the right track. It will take time to get faster. Practice it every day. Be consistent, and do not go faster than you are capable. Stop when you feel like you are starting to break down. Be patient. Good luck.
I have been playing trumpet for 2 and a half years and I can honestly say that I am now pretty good. I have just recently gotten a good tone and my range is extremely huge for my age. When my band director brought up double tonguing and demonstrated it to my class I was sure I could do it. Being first chair everyone expected that I would pick it up naturally, but when I began to double tongue my tongue would constantly get stuck to the roof of my mouth as if I was sucking. Everybody was disappointed, so my band director asked the other trumpets to try double tonguing and surprisingly they could. During the next 3 months I have been trying to develop it but I keep on sucking on the roof of my mouth. My good friend a baritone player is extremely good at double tonguing and I notice that his tongue is really small compared to mine. Is that why I keep sucking on the roof of my mouth? I researched for answers and could not find any on this specific topic, I am hoping that you can help me out with this problem before May. During May my band director is going to test us on range and double tonguing and I do not want to embarrass myself again.
That's normal, it's easier without the trumpet there. Just more practice, try doing eighth or quarter notes with a "ka ka ka ka ka ka ka ka ka ka" tongue and it'll get easier eventually.
For the past 10 years that I've been playing trumpet I've never been able to double tongue. After watching this video and buzzing on my mouthpiece for about 10 minutes while watching Netflix I can do it! Not even marching with a drum corps has taught me this.
Go extremely slow and keep it simple. I like the exercises in the Arban book for double tonguing moving notes, and I would recommend using that to learn and improve. I like it because it starts simple and gradually gets harder into the moving notes. So most importantly, make sure you have mastered double tonguing on a single note first. Practice every day and practice slow. Good luck!
in this years show music we had to learn double tonguing it was hard cause I am just learning it but we had to learn,Ta and Ka, so this method does help this man has been taught well
I'm actually 28, and in the last 6 years I haven't played my trumpet much. Maybe a hour here and there, but that is it. This is something I can actually get my chops back in shape with me with.
I would be careful about that. This technique is really intended for brass players. I would consult a professional reed player for double tongue technique on saxophone and clarinet.
Good advice, similar to physical fitness. You need to start slow and increase as ones capacity increases instead of trying to start with the hardest only to leave one discouraged and or even injured
my gosh, been out of school for 20 something years and now they have this? My band teacher must have been from the dark ages. No wonder I stunk lol double tonguing triple tonguing different size mouth pieces good lord.
I havent mastered this technique by any mean but a very important part of articulating as not letting the tongue stop the air. always make sure that youre blowing.
Use the same method as shown here, but first practice the line slurred, focus on consistent note rythm/duration. Then single tongue slowly. I like to then do Ka (or Da) tongue exclusively. Then double tongue. In all cases start slow and speed up, using a metronome if possible. As you get to fast speeds, learn to focus on the notes at the beginning of the group (1st note in 4 16ths for instance), let the notes in the middle flow. Don't get caught up in each note. It can help to accent 1st note.
Try the one minute excercise. You can start at 80 or what fits you and go a straight minute and every day bump it up 1 bpm, its meant to be total muscle builder
The tongue is a muscle. I would treat it like any other muscle in your body. Slowly, but surely that muscle with become stronger and faster if you exercise it routinely. Good luck.
Ugh what's wrong with me?! Is it normal first starting out that I can do single tonguing much faster and longer and easier than double tonguing? "T-T-T-T-T" for me is fine and very fast, but after literally 2secs of "T-K-T-K-T-K" at the same speed, my tongue like seizes up and slows down almost like a tongue twister and the K's disappear. Is this normal? And is it possible that some people just can't do it no matter what (just like you just can't say "toy boat" 5 times fast)? Or with practice can anyone do it for sure? I feel stupid and frustrated! =(
Rachel, frustration is completely normal when you are beginning to learn to double tongue. If you can say "T" and "K," you can play it. You have to practice going between the T and K reaaaalllly slow first. Don't expect to be able to do it as fast as you can single tongue at first. You could practice doing it without your horn first. Go back and forth between saying "too" and "koo" on one breath until you run out of air. The key is to keep the air flowing. Good luck.
Exactly how I feel about doing triple tonguing! Like, I've gotten double down fine, but that triple tonguing... I know I *_can_* do it, and I've been practicing hard, but with where I'm at it just isn't a practical technique yet. Everything you wrote above sounds like exactly what everyone was feeling back in high school...I think it's pretty normal. Practice makes better, I guess, even if it takes its good sweet time of getting ya' there. I see that this is a 5-year-old post, but I hope by now you've mastered it, or at least haven't given up and gotten better... Good Luck!
Thanks again and I will do my best to make the KA with the back of my tongue ..... although it is difficult to tell myself: "Use the BACK of your Tongue".
Yeah, that's what i'm currently doing mixing up your exercise and combining it with the ones in the Arbans. it's just when i get to the moving notes it sounds not as clean. But yeah, thanks for the advice.
Hello I'm a senior in HS, Im a multi-Instrumentalist and aside from my username I also play all other brass and woodwinds. My two questions for you are if you have have any advice on taking on the Finale (variation IV) of The Carnival of Venice {the part when the player sounds like two people} and also if there is a similar technique that works with woodwinds? because when I attempt on saxophones or clarinets all it does is chip my reed because i use the trumpet techn. Any advice?
I would somewhat agree with that. I know the Arban Book has triple tonguing before double tonguing. The easier one is going to be the one you practice more.
the ' KA' is made by the back of the tongue. just blow air and instead of doing ta with your tongue, do 'KA' it feels awkward at first but eventually it'll get to a point where its almost as natural as TA
Have never heard anyone play with false teeth before. Did you talk to your dentist about the right adhesive for your teeth while playing? It can definitely make a huge difference. It most likely is going to feel like you just started from scratch. It will take some time and you'll no doubt have to show a lot of patience, but it can be done. Don't be in a hurry. Practice at a steady pace. You can do it.
arthur manning I played the trumpet Growing Up Put it Down for 35 years. started playing a few years ago with full upper and lower dentures. if your dentures fit properly and you use the proper amount of adhesive you can definitely play. Google train trumpet with Dentures videos there's some good guys out there with dentures. just like anything how could you get depends on how well and how often you practice.
I'm a beginner who's been playing for like 4yrs but still been not able to get my way around the trumpet.I've realised air passes through my left lip when playing my fingering is bad actually coupled with my tonguing any help?, cos I really want to play better to be able to identify key signatures without been told
Oh God PTSD flashback from high school, band director jacked it into the stereo and we played a 16th-note lick from one of Maynard's charts over. and OVER. AND OVER.
hey so I had a question. I am really new to double tounging and you say to use the back of your tongue but ka does not use your tongue so when I use ka it sounds really bad so I wanted to know if I can get some clarification.
Very nice video. Good teacher as well! But: I do NOT understand how I can make a KA when I play. There is no difference when I play with TA when I try KA.
Hey, I'm a junior in HS and I'm having trouble on the single tonguing alone, I start lower and when I'm around 84 or so then I start having a bit of trouble, any tips?
I was taught triple tonguing first, my director had said that triple tonguing is easier and helps when learning double tonguing. Would you agree with this?
Hey! I love your techniques on double tonguing and you seem like a great teacher. I have a channel on which I show songs that I play. I am a sophomore in high school. Can you give me your opinion? Thanks!
i can double tounge, its that when i play different notes double tonguing. like in 120 bpm in 16th notes, double tonguing C, D, E, F, quarter note G. i couldnt get it clearly
+JC Ayala I hear you. Double tonguing different notes up and down is challenging! May I offer these suggestions: 1. Five note scales are good! Keep doing that. But, may I suggest playing F-G-A-Bb-C instead? It is more in the middle of the range. 2. Slow down for sure. Keep it at 120bpm like you did, but play HALF NOTES going up! 3. After you slow down into half notes, focus on ALWAYS keeping the notes connected. Push the air over the tongue ALWAYS. Don't think of it as being 5 notes. It's one long note that you slice into five separate pieces. CONCENTRATE on alternating the front (Tu) or back (Ku) of the tongue. The tongue is the knife separating the long note.
Hi, i have a problem with double tounging, i see all these videos and i dont think anyone else has this problem. But, everytime i tounge with the back of my tounge with the "Ka", air builds up in my mouth, and it prevents me from tounging efficiently/producing good notes. Will this go away with practice? How can i prevent this? am i doing something wrong? please help me ):
I used to have the same problem. It will go away with practice. But first you need to practice your "Ka". Again, the same thing used to happen to me all the time. In one of the videos I saw on RU-vid, a trumpeter single tongued 4 notes using "ta" first. Then did the same thing but with "ka". I tried it myself. At first I was getting the problem; air buliding up. In fact, there was so much air that my mouth would burst. But through prtactice (everyday for 30-1hour for 2 weeks) my "ka" increased radically and I don't have that problem anymore. Remember, imagine yourself saying "ka". Do the same thing for "ta". If it helps, try saying "ticket" while playing the trumpet. Anyway, hope that helps.
