hey everyone,
um.. yeah, i guess i'm having trouble double tonguing in the poulenc sonata 1ts movement peice. and i have to perform it in a school concert soon , and i don't know what to do, any tips on double tonguing?
love thomxxx

hey there i know the very piece your on about, the bit at the bottom of the first page right? i had nightmares about it before my grade 8 exam! this is gonna sound a bit daft but i think the key to getting over the double tounging is not to worry about it, the more relaxed you are when you come to do it then the easier it is, its all about trying to keep your tongue light. My advice would be to just stick at it, you can practice it anywhere even without your flute just by saying t-k-t-k-t-k to yourself trying to keep it even, people might think your a bit mad but if it helps then its worth it. Hope that makes sense!

Good luck with the concert!

I can totally understand what you're going through, I tried for about 3 months to double tongue, and I've just decided to wait till I start having lessons with my new teacher at Uni.

Perserve though, especially so you can play the Poulenc. I recently bought a CD of "Twentieth Century Flute Concerti" and I bought it just ofr the Poulenc! It's such a gorgeous piece of music. My friend played the 1st movt for her A2 recital, I couldn't get it out of my head for a month after! And she spent ages learning to double tongue just for that bit, so it'll be well worth it in the end.

Good luck for the school performance as well.

hornplayer x

i've tried this very same movement from the Poulenc Sonata, and it is a horribly difficult passage ive somehow got into the habit of FLUTTER tonguing that passage which isnt good obviously, my friend whos doing this for her exam soon also had problems, and its merely just practise that will sort it

and if you think the Poulenc Sonata is bad....feel sorry for bassoonists learning the 1st movement of the Mozart concerto...and just you wait til you see the Carnival of Venice!! streams of double tonguing there!!! it isnt pretty!

thomxxx,

Have you GOT to play this piece?
Next question is how many of the audience know what you're supposed to be doing? Can you get round it another way?
Is the concert performance part of your assessment?


(I'd personally cheat if no one else knew it, like play it slower and fast single-tongue it. or mime to a CD!)

I don't recall anywhere in the Mozart bassoon concerto that requires double-tonguing. Please correct me if I am wrong.

Decide which consonant sounds to use, I use d - g and keep them equal, don't stress one more than the other. It might be easier to start away form the instrument (my sister kept telling me to shut up when I was siting there saying dgdgdgdgdgdg etc). Then practice from one note to the other slowly, and gradually build up the speed. Start with 2 and then build up to 3 and 4 etc. It's also easier to start in the lower octave.

Good luck!

I think it depends on how important your teacher thinks double-tonguing is and/or how fast you can single tongue.

I don't see any reason why a player couldn't single tongue it, it's not all that cumbersome at the appropriate tempo.