I found that when I learned to tongue in the manner that Herbert L. Clarke and later, Claude Gordon tongued, my upper register multiple tonguing cleaned up right away.
This method of tonguing is what Claude Gordon referred to as "KTM" ("K-Tongue Modified"). It is described in the opening text pages of Herbert L. Clarke's "Characteristic Studies" book, and also described in two of Gordon's books - "Brass Playing Is No Harder Than Deep Breathing" and "Tongue Level Exercises".
From "Characteristic Studies for the Cornet":
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Herbert L. Clarke “The tip of the tongue rests slightly against the lower teeth, while the center (front center) of the tongue strikes against the roof of the mouth.” |
There are also several excellent descriptions of this method of tonguing available on the Internet:
http://mattgraves.netfirms.com/k_tongue_modified.htm http://www.trumpetguild.org//itgyout...ass/Purtle.htm
From the Q&A section on Jeff Purtle's Site:
Quote:
Why is it important to single tongue K Tongue Modified?
This is not an optional item. Without tonguing this way you will never experience accuracy, tonguing speed and ease of playing especially in the upper register. Incorrect tonguing disrupts the tongue’s arch in the front of the mouth working against Tongue Level. Everyone uses Tongue Level when they play. Most people are never taught about correct single tonguing. The very tip of the tongue always remains in contact with the top of the bottom teeth and you produce the “T” just slightly back from the tip of the tongue. This is in the front middle of the tongue, hence Claude Gordon coined the term “K Tongue Modified” because like K tonguing it is in the middle of the tongue, but modified to be more forward toward the tip. Here are some people I have spoken with that I know tongue this way: Arturo Sandoval, Doc Severinsen, Frank Kaderabek, Wayne Bergeron, Bob O’Donnell, and Claude Gordon and his students. Claude Gordon learned this from Herbert L. Clarke, who taught it to all his students. Also, Armando Ghitalla tongued this way and taught his students this."
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Once the player has learned to tongue using the KTM method (if he doesn't already tongue this way naturally), he or she will find that also changing the multiple tonguing (Triple and Double Tonguing) to this method will allow for a faster, cleaner articulation, and in particular, the ability to multiple tongue right to the top of the range will be facilitated.
Hope this is helpful to you.
Sincerely,
John Mohan