Tonguing

Kettledrum double cross-beat. So-called because kettledrums were associated with trumpets and borrowed the terms for their rhythms from those for tonguing^[1].

Tonguing is a technique used with wind instruments to enunciate different notes using the tongue on the reed or woodwind mouthpiece or brass mouthpiece. A silent "tee"^[2] is made when the tongue strikes the reed or roof of the mouth causing a slight breach in the air flow through the instrument. If a more soft tone is desired, the syllable "da" (as in double) is preferred. The technique also works for whistling. Tonguing (or articulation) refers to how a musician begins the note (punchy, legato, or a breath attack) and how the note is released (air release, tongued release, etc.) For wind players, articulation is commonly talked about in terms of tonguing because the tongue is used to stop and allow air to flow in the mouth. Tonguing does not apply to non wind instruments, but articulation does apply to all instruments.

An alteration called "double-tonguing" or "double-articulation" is used when the music being performed has many rapid notes in succession too fast for regular articulation. In this case, the tongue makes a silent "tee-kee"^[3]. (The actual tongue positioning varies slightly by instrument. Clarinetists may go "too-koo" but a bassoonist may actually say "taco.") Double-articulation allows the tongue to stop the airflow twice as fast when mastered. If the music specifies a pizzicato sequence, the musician might perform this as a rapid sequence of the articulated note, thus: "tee-kee-tee-kee-tee-kee-..." etc., in staccato. When beginning with "da", the second syllable is "ga".

There is also "triple-tonguing", used in passages of triplets: "tee-tee-kee-tee-tee-kee", or less commonly "tee-kee-tee-tee-kee-tee"^[4]. Cross-beat tonguing, used for dotted rhythms (Notes inégales: louré or pointé): tu-ru, with ru falling on the longer note on the beat^[5]. Such as:

- (=.)

tu-ru

There are different ways of tonguing for the flute. Some flautists tongue or articulate between the teeth, others do it between the lips as if spitting rice, yet others do it behind the teeth in the roof of the mouth in the same location where you roll the r. With this roof articulation the flutist thinks of the words dah-dah and for double tonguing it is dah-gah-dah-gah.

Tonguing is indicated in the score by the use of accent marks. The absence of slurs is usually understood to imply that each note should be tongued separately. When a group of notes is slurred together, the player is expected to tongue the first note of the group and not tongue any of the other notes, unless those notes have accent marks.

Trombone players must lightly tongue many slurs by tonguing "da"; otherwise, the result would be a glissando.

A more formal, but ambiguous, term for tonguing is "articulation".

See also

• Flutter-tonguing

Sources

1. ^ Encyclopædia Britannica, 11th ed., Vol. 15, p. 764.
2. ^ Arban's Complete Conservatory Method for Trumpet The Authentic Edition, p.7
3. ^ Arban's Complete Conservatory Method for Trumpet The Authentic Edition, p.153
4. ^ Arban's Complete Conservatory Method for Trumpet The Authentic Edition, p.153
5. ^ Brown, Rachel (2003). The early flute: a practical guide, p.23. ISBN 0521890802.

This article relating to woodwind instruments is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.v · Categories: Woodwind instrument stubs Articulations Tongue Wikimedia Foundation. 2010. Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая? Joey Jeremiah Hard Hat Riot Look at other dictionaries: Tonguing — Tongu ing, vb. n. (Music) Modification of tone for a rapid staccato effect by the performer s tongue, in playing a wind instrument, as a flute. In {single tonguing} only one kind of stroke is used, the tongue articulating a rapid t; in {double… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English tonguing — [tuŋ′iŋ] n. the use of the tongue in playing a musical wind instrument, esp. for more accurate intonation of rapid notes …   English World dictionary Tonguing — Tongue Tongue, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Tongued}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Tonguing}.] 1. To speak; to utter. Such stuff as madmen tongue. Shak. [1913 Webster] 2. To chide; to scold. [1913 Webster] How might she tongue me. Shak. [1913 Webster] 3. (Mus.) To… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English tonguing — n French kissing. A term popular among British teenagers in the 1990s. It was included in Just Seventeen magazine s article, lingo of lurve (a guide to the slang of dating) in August 1996. ► We weren t actually doing it, only tonguing in the back …   Contemporary slang tonguing — /tung ing/, n. Music. the manipulation of the tongue in playing a wind instrument to interrupt the tone and produce a staccato effect. [1805 15; TONGUE + ING1] * * * …   Universalium tonguing — n. manipulation of the tongue when playing a wind instrument in order to discontinue the tone and produce a staccato effect …   English contemporary dictionary tonguing — /ˈtʌŋɪŋ/ (say tunging) noun the manipulation of the tongue in playing a wind instrument to interrupt the sound produced to establish separate notes. {tongu(e) + ing1} …   tonguing — n. Mus. the technique of playing a wind instrument using the tongue to articulate certain notes …   Useful english dictionary double tonguing — Tonguing Tongu ing, vb. n. (Music) Modification of tone for a rapid staccato effect by the performer s tongue, in playing a wind instrument, as a flute. In {single tonguing} only one kind of stroke is used, the tongue articulating a rapid t; in… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English single tonguing — Tonguing Tongu ing, vb. n. (Music) Modification of tone for a rapid staccato effect by the performer s tongue, in playing a wind instrument, as a flute. In {single tonguing} only one kind of stroke is used, the tongue articulating a rapid t; in… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English 18+ © Academic, 2000-2024 Contact us: Technical Support, Advertising Dictionaries export, created on PHP, Joomla, Drupal, WordPress, MODx. Mark and share Search through all dictionaries Translate… Search Internet Share the article and excerpts Direct link … Do a right-click on the link above and select “Copy Link”