Keith was blown away when listening to Rampal recordings in his youth. Each note was so clear. (Rampal, Baker, Hubert Laws. Watching YouTubes, can always see their tongues). When trying to duplicate this, Keith realized that there was not always enough time to put tongue between lips.
TONGUE POSITION AND USE
• Use TOP of TIP of tongue
• Tongue feels parallel to upper lip.
• Tongue is in curved over position.
• Tongue is NOT pointy
• Top of tongue touches back of upper lip
• Tongue off back of upper lip.
“Pop” exercise
• Make a “pop” sound--hollow sound.
• Feel the “pinch” between the top of your tongue and the back of your upper lip.
• Try doing it without any air., then back to tonguing on your flute.
• Listen to Rampal Telemann Fantasies—lots of ping in tonguing.
DOUBLE TONGUING
• In double tonguing, when the tongue is too straight it moves back and forth and gets in the airstream, creating airy tone.
• Concentrate on release of the note rather than the impact. [YES!]
• Create resonance in mouth --“Rampal is kind of like a flute beat boxer.”
• Find the balance point from the hollow sound
• Practice scales: make pop sound first--don’t play. Single tongue up then double tongue down. Then play the same pattern on your flute.
Some of Keith’s favorite recordings
• Rampal Telemann Fantasies--all
• Rampals’ Greatest Hits Gossec Gavotte.
(We practiced opening phrases of this piece.)
“Separate you from your air.”
Back to double tonguing:
When in that “pop” position, make a “ku” sound.
(We practiced Carnival of Animals with just pop sounds. then added double tonguing. then sound)
Practice F scale single tonguing off back of upper lip.
• Not too much air. First on T’s, then Ku’s. Like saying “cue” or “cute.”
• Tongue is in a rolled over position.
• Go back and forth using first pop sound, then playing.
Q: Why does double tonguing ruin the sound?
A: Tongue is changing position, changing direction of air.
Sal Amato--Keith’s teacher—had resonant double tonguing like in Piston mvt 3.
Creating stability in sound--tongue rocks while in a forward position.
• Try emphasizing the Ku.
• Try to not feel angles changing as go up an down double-tongued scales
•
Halloween Double Tonguing (Keith’s October treat!)
Feels like it goes up in your head. Makes a spooky sound. [Think how this involves the cranial muscles. I think of this as ‘above the equator.’]
HANDS
• Pay attention to how your hands feel when your fingers are up.
• Left hand--Play an A. Then move G finger back and forth.
• Right hand. Put at your side, then lift hand and look at the natural shape of your fingers.
Mozart D Major Concerto 1st movement
• 2nd theme—needs Ping in sound.
• Don’t allow tongue to move move back and blow harder [this is because the space is bigger so to keep pitch same has to blow harder--this causes the lips to open which causes more airy tone—vicious cycle]
• I want to hear the top of the tongue touching the back of the upper lip.
• Try reaching out the tongue when breathing. This opens the throat. [YES! Stick that tongue out when inhaling to get the feeling!]
• Hubert Laws playing amazing grace VIDEO-watch his tongue come out when he breathes.
The performer applied this to Mozart to good result.
Also demonstrated her newly acquired buzzing skills.
• When buzzing, blow most of air out. so can’t help with air.
• Buzzed D scale, then buzzed D scale with Vibrato. Scale sound lots better.
• Now Bach C Major mvt 2.
• Buzz double tonguing--don’t worry about the pitches.
• When you want to get louder squeeze the air [between back of upper lip and top of tongue. Also for accented notes. [Great for controlling phrase shape.]
Taffanel-Gaubert #1
(Baker used to practice this with breath attacks.)
• Had student do 4 note tone study with measured vibrato on each notes, plus repeat in 1 breath [a usual exercise I teach. Example: b, b-flat, a , a-flat, b, b-flat, a , a-flat]
• Now student tries “womping on T-G #1. quarter note=86.
• Womping style. Then matches sound while double tonguing, first slow, then fast.
• Keith says to cover more of embouchure hole with lower lip
Now back to VIBRATO
• No “Beavis and Butthead” vibrato.
• Keith’s sounds more “Wow, Wow”. Underneath side of the vibrato is flatter.
• Use Amazing Slow Downer on ipad or iphone [I DO THAT often].
• Example: Baker playing movement 1 of Bach E Major Sonata
• Listen to pitch variation.
Vibrato Exercise:
• 3 times slow then to a regular vibrato.
• [I think this has to do also with the tongue position, in addition to the coverage of the embouchure hole.]
• Touch base with both the high and low sounds in the vibrato.
Baker, lots of pitch change, but no volume change. Sounds violinistic.
Slow downs:
• Nyfenger recorded Baker on reel to reel and slowed it down. Then Keith slowed down, too. Compared.
• Amazing Slow Downer now also available on ipad or iphone. Some free apps do this, too: Slow Down Music and Tempo Slow.
• Baker took 78’s of Heifetz recordings and slowed down to count number of pulses of vibrato.
Enesco-part 2, the double tongued section.
• “Womping” exercise on every other note. Then on to the descending 16th notes. [I hear this as a way of teaching stable tongue position, together with covering the embouchure hole the correct amount. I have been teaching rabbit faces on descending patterns for years.]
• On descending slurred arpeggi, choose not to womp, so keep tone in the richer zone.
• Passage starting on high A-flat. Use tukeeyukeeyukee. Keith calls this “Yucky tonguing.”
Double tounguing patterns
(Taffanel-Gaubert #4)
1. slur 3, tongue 1: double tongued t--k, then back to dt
2. tongue 1, slur 3; double tongue tk--, then back to dt
3. .tu kee-yu-ka
4.tykeeyukee, then back to all double tongued.
Try Carnival of the Animals with all these patterns
[Also try on Bach C Major 2nd mvt]
Ta--aa-ka
on each note of T-G #4
If Kuu syllable is really forward then no need to start single pickups with T.
Definition in Slurs
• Womping T-G #1 again
• Then back to the descending chromatic passage in the music
• [Now rhythm is clearer--structural notes have deeper resonance]
• Again, in descending slurred patterns, try womping certain notes to create more resonance and better rhythm. Keith wants to hear more than just fingers.
• Try with NO tonguing.
William Tell Overture
• Slow down vibrato.
• Underside of the pitch is important in the vibrato.
• Try going to higher and lower side.
• (When playing treacherous high notes, look for the lower side of the vibrato. You can make much more diminuendo. Examples: end of Enesco slow movement or opening of Leonore #3 Overture.)
• Halloween tonguing in the 16th notes.
• Very bouncy (like a ping pong ball), but structurally beautiful.
• Use less air! Take fewer breaths!
• If you know your throat is grabbing, but you can’t get rid of it, then
• use the right part of tongue on back of upper lip, and the rest of your tongue goes into a really good position.
Keith’s favorite current flutist is Bart Kuijken.
Listen to his Bach G minor Sonata
VIBRATO EXERCISES
• 6 pulses at quarter note=56
• 5pulses at 68
• 4 at 92
• 3 at 124
• Change number pulses. Make it a game! Call out numbers.
• Speed of vibrato is the same, but the note length changes.
• Keep vibrato going in all dynamics.
Cornelius Reid vocal teacher until age 96...until the day before he died.
His Schirmer Book: Bel Canto Principles and Practices says:
When body is poised the right way, the vibrato will be the right speed.
[I am currently reading this book and others by Cornelius Reid. Look for posts about these writings in coming months.]
END OF CLASS.
