Author: sömeone
Date: 2005-10-15 13:26
YES.
But it is....very, very difficult.
I have a very good article on double tonguing by the American oboist Don Jaeger (must say that not many educators of oboe in the rest of the world aside from Americans are as open to share their knowledge on oboe technique, oboe teaching resources in the US seems to double everywhere elses.) If i can i will post a short excerpt of the La Scala di Seta solo by the anoymous player of the Berlin Phil on http://www.oboistgallery.8m.net/ as soon as possible, just to show you the possibility of it. Well anyways there is another excerpt in the site from a Scotland player who plays the Marcello Concerto with a double tongue twist which is rather mind boggling.
I'll quote this from Don Jaeger's masterclass book published by Hal Leonard. If you can get this book, very useful insight into oboe technique.
Anyways:
There ultimate and effective learning of the teqachnique of double tonguing depends on two things; (1) slow and careful practice over many months,
and (2) the use of a reed which is NOT too hard and which supports pitch on the air stream (MY comments here, again this is going to be a personal thing, but i suggest using a softer reed for the first 2-3 weeks.). It will not develop by having to use a tight (pinched) embouchure. Assuming that your reed is functioning properly, the way to approach the process is as follows:
Begin by thinking about the way you normally toungue a note. In essence we make the same motion with the toungue as when we say the syllable TUH. Say to yourself as rapidly as possible - tuh, tuh, tuh, etc. The consonant T is formed at the tip of the toungue. When we say the syllable KUH, the consonant is formed in the back of the throat. Say to yourself as rapidly as possible - kuh, kuh, kuh, kuh, etc.
You will note that you can only say these syllables so fast before you begin to become "bogged down". If you are playing a long passage, you can only go so far before control is lost.
Now try alternating the TUH and the KUH as rapidly as possible. In most cases we find that not only is the action faster, but that it can go on for a much greater length of time before losing control. This then is the benefit of double tonguing, and can, as indicated earlier, be learned and controlled after some experience.
Back to me:
The exercises that follow in the method are illustrated through sheet music, so i'll try to transcript them through words to make it understandable through words.
As a beginning preparation. Play the scale only with normal TUH tonguing. From this point on we will only use T for TUH and K for KUH.
(Play a descending Eb major scale starting from Eb in the space in this form:
4 quaver notes in the span of 2 crotchets, all toungued and slow, and then D, 4 quaver notes, C etc. in succession, until the low Eb.)
Since the K is weaker and must be strengthened, repeat the study using only the K. Try to make it as short and strong as possible. At first the study must be done VERY SLOWLY.
(Repeat the pattern of the scale like stated above, only this time using KUH.)
Now alternate beginning with T on one note and K on the next.
(TUH for the first quaver and KUH for the 2nd and TUH for the 3rd and KUH for the 4th etc.)
You will probably also notice that as you go lower in the scale, it becomes more difficult. Do not worry about that too much at this point. As the ability to make the K shorter and stronger develops, so will the ability to double toungue in the low register.
Remember much is dependent on the balance of your reed. If your reed is too open and you are having to use too much embouchure pressure to control the reed, double tonguing will be almost impossible, especially in the low register.
(Back to me.)
That itself will take weeks, maybe months, and will differs between different passages of music. So when the basic is achieved in a rather faster tempo, try adding other forms of articulation in between different patterns of scales and start practising slowly, again. I am still patiently practising and my teacher is patienly tutoring me on this.....from a few thousang kilometers away through the phone. Haha....Good luck!
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