Continuation of the #CliffordBrown Educational Series. This post deals with Ghost Tonguing, one of the most defining characteristics of Clifford's playing. Feel free to leave questions in the comments section!
Thank you! I invite you to join the Facebook Live Q&A I'm doing tonight (Tuesday) at 8pm EST where you can ask any questions related to the Series. You can access it here: facebook.com/dominickfarinacci
That was neat how to ghost tongue within a rhythm. Knowing how to ghost tongue a rhythm allows one to organize rhythm sections into eight notes within an eight count rhythm to play any song. Thank you Dominick Farinacci for making it clear for a layman.
fenomenal playing and great explanations , thank you! i m watching your Clifford series videos for inspiration in my daily sax shed even though i am a sax player - best regards, Dimitri :)
Thank you Dimitri! I invite you to join the Facebook Live Q&A I'm doing tonight (Tuesday) at 8pm EST where you can ask any questions related to the Series. You can access it here: facebook.com/dominickfarinacci
I am classically trained and learned to ghost tongue parrot-fashion and would not have been able to explain the processes until now. Excellent Dominick excellent (inspired by the Great Clifford Brown).
Glad you enjoy it, Jeff. I invite you to join the Facebook Live Q&A I'm doing tonight (Tuesday) at 8pm EST where you can ask any questions related to the Series. You can access it here: facebook.com/dominickfarinacci
Hey Dominick, you said this was done with single tounging right? I try to make the sound Dah-Ngn but my vibration gets blocked out when I try to do the "Ngn" sound. Is the Ngn sound done by throat manipulation or are there possibly other ways to do it? Any love your work Dominick, you are my favorite trumpeter, a lot of rich Clifford in your playing.
@@Wanielyo Oh hang on - if you let the air around your tongue then it's a doodle right? I can do that but I thought this technique was something different. Very confused.
very well explained. I'm a classical player who has been wanting to learn this for a while but no one really has been able to tell me what they are doing. Or they didn't want to. In any case, from listening to your explanation, it sounds like the "n" sound is the default tongue placement throughout your phrases with the "da" attacks emphasizing the notes and groupings that give the phrase shape. Need to try this as when i try to play jazz it sounds too clean because my tongue is down and out the way like a classical player. If i employ the "n" placement it will make the sound hazy between the "da" attacks. Thank you for the info.
Thanks, Robert, I'm going to try to better explain this tonight. I invite you to join the Facebook Live Q&A I'm doing tonight (Tuesday) at 8pm EST where you can ask any questions related to the Series. You can access it here: facebook.com/dominickfarinacci
The ghost articulation is more "TH" than "N". The "N", in a strict sense, blocks air flow completely where "TH" allows air to flow a little. That being said - you sound great!
Great video Dominick! Would be nice if you'd provided a pdf of the lick you're playing here (I guess you offered a way to get it that I didn't see a link to here), but then again we'd be cheated of the process of transcribing it ourselves and learning it better, especially the positioning of the accents to get that true Clifford-like articulation. You've obviously worked through this process so many times it's second nature to you, but for us newbies to this approach, I can see that transcribing first and working through it slowly, will yield better long term results! Thanks for sharing your love for Clifford and helping us add this articulation to our arsenals. I find it similar to doodle tonguing, but with much more variation in the dynamics and accents. Excellent video! I'll definitely be sharing this with my students. One question, I'm having trouble using the "en" syllable while playing, as you say it above, "da-en-da-en." I have no problem saying that, but when I try using it while playing, the air column completely stops, however, if I use the syllable "dul" as in doodle tonguing, for example, "du-dul, du-dul, etc. I seem to be getting the sound your getting here is it possible you're using a different syllable that sounds like da-en-de-da to the listener, but is actually something close when playing, but slightly different than that? Aw if only I'd found this comment from 3 years ago; And I agree you sound great! dipsyfriday 3 years ago The ghost articulation is more "TH" than "N". The "N", in a strict sense, blocks air flow completely where "TH" allows air to flow a little. That being said - you sound great!
Love the video and you sound awesome! One thing though: when you talk about the Ngn sound there's no way you're actually doing that when you play because when you say Ngn like that it stops the air from going through your mouth. So what are you doing when you play to get that sound?
I feel like you explained ghost notes but not ghost tonguing. When you use the "n" as an example for a ghost note, the sound comes out of your nose. Great for scat singing but not so much for trumpet playing. An accented note usually follows a ghosted note, so try setting up the tongue with a "th" into a "d" through the lips (hard to explain...I get it!) I've been trying to teach this to students for 40 years which is why I got so excited when I saw the title to your video. I hope my explanation makes sense. You sound great btw.
Dominik, thank you. Perhaps you've already explained this misunderstanding but would you mind once again? When one says the letter 'n', the sinus passages open and air escapes through the nose, thus leaving no way to use the air to vibrate. I get the other 'doodle' tonguing concept, but in my experience, bone players have better success with this method. Have you got another, perhaps more in-depth thought in what you are doing when you are 'n'-ing?
I'm a little late to the game here, but when playing instead of "ng" I think more of an "L" to get the air around my tongue. You'll have to practice this alone to get some more pop behind the "L" articulation.
@@ethanhodes2348 I'm a bit late too. After watching Clark Terry and his doodle tonguing tutorial, do dl edl adl - OR - do dl de dl da dl. How would we apply Dom's ghost rhythms to Clark's doodles ?
The question about the "n" syllable blocking off the airway and the difference between this technique and doodle tonguing has been posed many times in this comment section but never adequately answered. If anyone reading this has the answers I would very much appreciate an explanation! In hope...
Hey I just saw this cause I was figuring out how to do ghost notes as well. Since I just started this today I’m not very qualified to give advice on this topic but I tried da and then dey/day and I felt like that was an improvement. Another comment on this video also tried using L. Hope this helps in some way if you were stilling wondering.
I think, Perhaps, that the vowel for a Ghost tongue is L instead of N? i think with n the air is stopped by the tongue. Could be a more accurate way of describing this to students, let me know what you think :) Love your videos and playing of course
Would be glad to help. I invite you to join the Facebook Live Q&A I'm doing tonight (Tuesday) at 8pm EST where you can ask any questions related to the Series. You can access it here: facebook.com/dominickfarinacci
Thank you for your comment a while back. Primarily single tonguing. I invite you to join the Facebook Live Q&A I'm doing tonight (Tuesday) at 8pm EST where you can ask any questions related to the Series. You can access it here: facebook.com/dominickfarinacci
Dom, listen, I really don't get what you're doing with your tongue to get that ghost note, and you don't say what you do. Other commenters seem to have gotten it, but articulating the letter "n" totally blocks the air flow. Using "n" can't be correct, so obviously you mean something else, and you don't say what it is. Of course I know how to tongue a note. But the "n" tongue placement? You've gotta mean something else.
Charlie Porter explains this a bit more, on his special effects part 2 trumpet video towards the end of the video. You open your mouth a bit more wider and make your tongue touch the ceiling of your mouth longer and higher so that the notes aren't completely blocked but a fuzzy note will come out.
When you're learning a new skill you need to start by accepting that you don't understand it. Think about what articulation is... what does the tongue need to do? Stop the air. The attack on a note is caused by a build of pressure in the mouth when the tongue does this. All of the old cornet method books describe tonguing in this way, including Arban. In the case of this kind of jazz articulation it is not a true attack but more of a momentary disruption of the air flow which is why it still sounds like air flow. Another thing that you haven't seemed to have considered in your comment is the general position of the tongue. Is the tip anchored? Is the tip allowed through the teeth? Does the part of the tongue that makes an 'ng' sound touch the roof, or the back of the teeth? What difference would all of these things make? You can't just watch one RU-vid video and expect to learn the skill. Stop reading this and go experiment with your trumpet!!
I think that’s right. An ‘L’ doesn’t block the air flow but gives you a fuzzy articulation of the desired note - and can even mask the exact pitch somewhat creating ambiguity. Saying “doodle” in quick repetition sounds like a lazy man’s double-tonguing.
Slightly misleading as the Nn sound naturally gets channelled through the nose (as is evident when he's singing). He really needs to rethink how he communicates what he's actually doing
