Posted by js on January 06, 2002 at 17:27:04:
In Reply to: Double tonguing posted by Doug on January 06, 2002 at 17:01:48:
Simply spend more time working on it...perhaps with a B.E.R.P. on your mouthpiece when you're wasting time (watching network news, college/pro sports, browsing tubenet ;^), etc.)
I wouldn't worry so much about the mechanics. Focus on how you want it to sound, and the mechanics should define themselves. Too much mechanical analysis leads to frustration and negative results.
At first, produce repeated "K" articulations (no regular "T" articulations)...very slow tempo major scales with a pattern such as "quarter note followed by four sixteenths" on each scale step.
I've never met anyone who couldn't learn to do this - provided they were (finally) determined to perfect it, and they realized that "tensing up" wouldn't help. Learning skills like this is boring, and requires dedication and motivation. Select your own performance of a piece that requires double-tounguing as your motivation for mastering the skill...perhaps a modest goal such as a march like "Thunder and Blazes", "The Circus Bee", etc.
Joe "If you can say '[Here] kitty-kitty-kitty-kitty-kitty' quickly, you can eventually learn how to do it through an embouchure with clarity." S.