Single and paired tongue-strokes

On wind instruments, the different kinds of tongue-strokes are described by the masters of the past by the means of syllables, such as te, de, le and re.  The consonants used in articulation syllables differ per country. Whereas in Italy the preferred consonant is e, in Germany i is used in many treatises and the French like u. It is likely that these differences originate from shape of the inside of the mouth while speaking the native tongue.

Fig.1 Example from Girolamo Dalla Casa Il vero modo do diminuir (1585)

              Fig.2 Example from Joachim Quantz Versuch einer Anweisung  die Flöte  traversiere zu spielen (1752)

Fig.3 Example from Hotteterre le Romain Principes de la Flute Traversiere (1707)

From as early as the beginning of the sixteenth century, until the end of the eighteenth century, leading instrumentalists and pedagoges felt the need to teach their students, in treatises such as Opera Intitulata Fontegara by Sylvestro Ganassi  upto the Ausführlicher und Gründlicher Unterricht die Flöte zu spielen by Johann George Tromlitz , how to apply different ‘articulation syllables’ in such a way, that the notes would sound as if they had text, and how to play a musical instrument in such a fashion, that it would sound as possible to the human voice: music as speech.

Fig.4 Sylvestro Ganassi. Title page La Fontegara (1535)

From the point of departure of this article, namely the beginning of the sixteenth century until approximately the second half of the eighteenth century, the use of different tongue-strokes and slurs on the various wind instruments, is generally approached in the same manner.^[1]

In diatonically moving passages the majority of the treatises advize us to attack the notes in an alternating way: strong-weak, strong-weak. Since we do not have any treatises for bassoon before 1787 discussing articulation as mentioned above, we should use the sources written for other wind instruments, when we interpret music for dulcian or bassoon.

In the following chapters we will take a closer look at the different musical objectives of articulation. What exactly do we want to achieve by using a variety of articulations in different musical style periods?

***

Before we speak about more complicated multiple tongue-strokes, let us now have a closer look at the basic single ones:

 Tu is the strongest tongue-stroke since the tongue is placed in font of the mouth, right behind the teeth as in pronouncing the word ‘ten’.

The du, lu and ru are the softer syllables. Hereby, the tongue is placed against the palete in different places, increasingly farther back in the back of the mouth towards the uvula. The difference between the placement of the tongue between a t and a d becomes obvious we say the word ‘tender’. The tongue starts in front of the mouth for the t and moves back when pronouncing the d.

A sequens of the same syllables such as tu,tu,tu,tu or du,du,du,du can be used for longer note values, or on  shorter note values in slower tempi, as can be seen in fig. 5. This articulation we call single-tonguing, or single tongue-stroke.

Fig. 5 Excerpt from Ancor che col Partire by Cipriano de Rore

Combining the stronger and the weaker syllables, we create a so called ‘paired tongue-stroke’. When we articulate in this manner, we always start with the stronger articulation in the front of the mouth behind the teeth, followed by a weaker one farther back in the mouth.

 This alteration of strong and weak syllables ( also called good and bad) is in sounding effect comparable to the up and down stroke on the violin, or good and bad fingers on a keyboard instrument; phenomena described in treatises by numerous contemporary authors.

Fig.6  Excerpt from Anchor che col Partire by Cipriano de Rore with an uncomplicated diminution by the author.

 Fig.7 Dalla Casa, Il vero modo di diminuir (1584), pg 1

By applying this paired articulation, we find that it creates a slight rhythmical inequality as in reciting a text.^[2]

When playing a reed instrument, because of the fact that we have to touch the reed with the tip of the tongue when we make a tongue-stroke (we will discuss the double tongue-stroke later), we cannot place the tongue on different places on the palete, as is advocated in treatises dealing with articulation and tonguing on non-reed instruments.

If we cannot make the distinction between strong and weak notes by using different positions of the tongue on the palete, how can we then achieve this alternation of good and bad notes, and  the rhythmical irregularity that comes with it? The answer can be found in the angle in which the tongue touches the reed.

On a double-reed instrument, the difference between a harsh tonguing and a weaker one, is made by the extent of how much we block the airstream through the reed by the tongue.

A harsh tongue-stroke ( E.g. tu, ta or ti) is executed by completely blocking the reed with the tip of the tongue, not allowing any air passing through the reed. As an analogy, we could think of opening and closing a faucet. The water either runs or stops.

The weaker articulations (E.g. du, ru or lu)  are performed by touching the reed more from below without actually closing the tip, and by doing so, allowing air to pass through the reed when touching it with the tongue. In this manner one does not block the tip of the reed completely. As an image we could think of pulling your finger quickly through a flowing stream of water from the faucet. The water is minimally interrupted by the finger just like the airstream is minimally interrupted by the tongue.

The alternation of good and bad notes, as described in treatises for non-reed instruments

(de re, te re, te re,  etc.), is therefore not done by moving the tongue to different positions on the palete, but by varying the extent of closing the tip of the reed and thus the amount of air that passes through the reed. The tu equals ‘closing the tip completely’ and the du equals ‘letting air pass through the reed while attacking’.