The Best Way to Tongue Faster - “Insider Sax Stuff”
Summary
TLDRIn this 'Insider Sacks' episode, Derek shares his effective method for increasing tonguing speed on wind instruments. He emphasizes the importance of training the tongue like a muscle, using a metronome for gradual and restful practice. Derek suggests starting with fewer tongues and increasing the count with ample rest, comparing it to weight lifting for endurance. He demonstrates two approaches to practice, one with incremental speed increases and the other with a fixed speed and increasing tongue repetitions. He assures that with consistent practice, anyone can significantly improve their tonguing speed.
Takeaways
- 🎷 Derek shares his journey from struggling with tonguing in high school to mastering advanced techniques like triple tonguing.
- 🚀 The key to increasing tonguing speed is training the tongue like a muscle, focusing on endurance and gradual improvement.
- 🎶 Using a metronome is beneficial, but it should be used in a way that doesn't exhaust the tongue, allowing for proper rest and recovery.
- 🏋️♂️ The analogy of weight lifting is used to illustrate the importance of reps and rest in building muscle strength, which applies to tongue training as well.
- 🔢 Derek suggests starting with a manageable tempo and gradually increasing the number of tonguing repetitions with ample rest in between.
- 🎵 Emphasizes the importance of precision in rhythm and subdivision, especially when practicing at a slow pace.
- 📈 Advocates for a slow and steady approach to increasing speed, similar to how one would increase weight in a gym workout.
- 🔄 Describes a method of practicing tonguing by starting at a fast tempo, then gradually increasing the number of tonguing repetitions and rest periods.
- 📉 Derek explains an alternative practice method where you start at a slower tempo and increase the speed while maintaining a manageable number of tonguing repetitions.
- 💪 Encourages patience and consistency in practice, highlighting that improvement in tonguing speed is a gradual process that takes time and dedication.
- 🌟 Ends with a teaser for future episodes where Derek will discuss more advanced techniques like double and triple tonguing.
Q & A
What is the main topic of the video script?
-The main topic of the video script is how to effectively increase the speed of your tonguing, which is applicable to any instrument that requires faster articulation.
What was the speaker's initial struggle with tonguing in high school?
-The speaker initially struggled with tonguing an etude at 100 beats per minute in sixteenth notes on the saxophone, which led to tears and thoughts of quitting.
Why does the speaker believe most people are training their tongues inefficiently?
-The speaker believes most people are training their tongues inefficiently because they use a metronome at a fast tempo and try to do a long string of notes until their tongue wears out, rather than training it like a muscle with rest and gradual increase in intensity.
What is the analogy the speaker uses to describe the proper way to train the tongue?
-The speaker uses the analogy of weight training or sprint training to describe the proper way to train the tongue, emphasizing the importance of rest and gradual increase in intensity.
How does the speaker suggest training the tongue for endurance?
-The speaker suggests training the tongue for endurance by starting with very few tongues and gradually increasing the amount with lots of rest in between, similar to how one would train for endurance in physical activities.
What is the speaker's approach to practicing tonguing with a metronome?
-The speaker's approach involves starting at a manageable speed with a metronome, doing a few repetitions of tonguing, and then gradually increasing the speed and the number of repetitions as the tongue gets stronger.
Why is it important to rest between tonguing repetitions according to the speaker?
-It is important to rest between tonguing repetitions to prevent the tongue from getting tired, which would slow down the tonguing speed and hinder progress.
What is the speaker's advice on how to increase the speed of tonguing over time?
-The speaker advises to increase the speed of tonguing gradually, in small increments, and to practice consistently over weeks, months, and years to become a master at it.
What are the two approaches the speaker discusses for practicing tonguing?
-The two approaches discussed are: 1) Gradually increasing the number of tonguing repetitions and the speed over time, and 2) Practicing at a constant speed and increasing the number of repetitions until the maximum is reached, then starting over at a higher speed.
What is the speaker's perspective on the potential limit of tonguing speed?
-The speaker believes that with the right training and practice, there is no limit to how fast one can tongue, suggesting that the sky's the limit.
Outlines
🎷 Improving Tonguing Speed with Endurance Training
In this video script, Derek discusses his most effective method for increasing tonguing speed, applicable to any instrument requiring faster articulation. He shares his personal journey from struggling with a saxophone etude to mastering triple tonguing. Derek emphasizes that tonguing should be trained like a muscle, using the analogy of weight training or sprint training. He advises against the common mistake of trying to play too fast too soon, which can lead to exhaustion and ineffective practice. Instead, he recommends starting with fewer tonguing repetitions and gradually increasing the number with ample rest in between, similar to weight lifting sets. This method allows the tongue to build endurance and eventually achieve faster tonguing speeds.
📈 Incremental Tonguing Speed Improvements
Continuing from the previous paragraph, Derek outlines a detailed practice routine for increasing tonguing speed. He suggests starting with a manageable tempo and practicing with minimal tonguing repetitions, gradually increasing the number of repetitions and rest periods. This approach is likened to weight lifting, where one increases the weight gradually after completing a set number of repetitions. Derek demonstrates two methods: one involves increasing the number of tonguing repetitions at a constant tempo, and the other involves increasing the tempo while maintaining the number of tonguing repetitions. He encourages patience and consistency in practice, emphasizing that progress should be measured in small increments over time. Derek concludes by reminding viewers that with dedication, even the fastest tonguers can improve their speed, and he hints at future episodes covering advanced techniques like double and triple tonguing.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Tonguing
💡Metronome
💡Efficiency
💡Articulation
💡Muscle Training
💡Endurance
💡Rest
💡Incremental Progress
💡Practice Intensity
💡Double Tonguing
💡True Triple Tonguing
Highlights
Introduction to the episode focusing on effective ways to increase tonguing speed for musicians.
Personal story of struggling with tonguing in high school and the journey to mastering it.
The common mistake of using a metronome at a fast tempo without proper rest for the tongue.
Tongue as a muscle that needs to be trained like one, with emphasis on rest and gradual improvement.
The concept of starting with few tongues and gradually increasing the number with ample rest.
Comparison of tongue training to weight lifting, emphasizing the importance of sets and rests.
The method of starting with a manageable speed and increasing the number of tonguing reps over time.
The importance of precision in subdivision and the mental practice of tonguing.
Incremental increase in speed and tonguing reps as the musician progresses up and down the range of the instrument.
The strategy of slowing down the process for long-term benefits and mastery.
The excitement of small wins and the gradual increase in speed as the musician gets comfortable.
The alternative practice method of maintaining a constant speed and increasing the number of reps.
The process of going back down the range after reaching the top and increasing the reps.
The gradual increase in speed and the importance of not rushing the process.
The guarantee that with consistent practice, any musician can increase their tonguing speed.
A teaser for future episodes on advanced tonguing techniques like double and triple tonguing.
Encouragement to keep up the good work and a sign-off with a promise of more episodes.
Transcripts
hey everybody Derek round here with
another insider sacks episode today's
episode I'm going to be talking about my
most effective way to increase the speed
of your tonguing which is what a lot of
us wish we could do we wish would get
tongue faster and I believe most of us
are going about this in the wrong way
we're doing it very inefficiently also
this episode could apply to any
instrument that wants to be able to kind
of articulate faster so check this out
now before I before I begin a little
story to tell you how far I've come
because I remember in high school coming
out of a private lesson in tears telling
my parents I was gonna quit playing the
saxophone because I couldn't tongue this
etude at 100 beats per minute sixteenth
notes which isn't that fast and yes we
all start from you know a place of no
skills and we all have places to grow
but I thought that was like the end of
my career and now I'm doing things like
you know true triple time which I'll
talk about in another future episode
which is pretty cool so stay tuned for
that but it is possible to speak any
buddy can speed up their dying and
anybody can do even single tonguing just
very quickly we just got to think about
it in the right way and train for it in
the right way so what are most people
doing wrong most people yes okay so
they're using a metronome which is great
but most people set it at some fast
tempo and they try to just you know do
it really fast and they just do a long
string of eighth notes until their
tongue wears out and then they try to go
a little faster and their tongues are
already tired and here's the deal our
tongue is a muscle and it needs to be
trained like a muscle so think of weight
training or sprint training or endurance
training and the good news here is I bet
you you can tongue faster than you think
however you just can't do it very long
just like a lot of us can oh we can
sprint fast for a few seconds and then
most of us we just we just get so tired
that we slow down it's the same thing
with the tongue I bet most of you can
tongue individual like three tongues in
a row pretty fast it's just we can't do
they can take that that that that slows
down
so what we're mostly trying to train
here is it's kind of like endurance
training with our tongue we're gonna
start instead of just going a string of
eight thoughts we're gonna start with
very few tongues and do that for a while
and just gradually increase the amount
of tongues we're doing with lots of rest
in between and that's key and that's
like this analogy for weight lifting you
don't go to a gym and if you want to get
stronger you don't just okay let's see
I'm gonna do the bench press put a lot
of weight on and then you just bench
press it until you just can't do it
anymore
and then you put more weight on until
you can't and then more what no that
doesn't that's not effective it's not
safe it's just not gonna work in the
right way what we do is we do a mixture
of reps you know we do like eight
presses and then we rest and then we do
a second set of eight and then we rest
and then we do a third set of eight and
then we rest and then maybe the next day
we put a little bit more weight on and
we do eight and we rest and we do eight
who arrest or the next day we do ten
reps and then we rest and then we do ten
reps and we rest so a key key thing is
resting in between even if it's just
four seconds then that is way better
than just going right into it and slowly
increasing the amount that we start with
so there are kind of two ways that you
do this there's kind of this slightly
quicker way and both of these ways are
slow but anything worthwhile doing takes
a lot of time and as you guys know it's
about doing this every day even if it's
a little bit and over the weeks months
and years you will become a master at
this it's not about cramming this in so
it is a slow technique but it's gonna
work so what I do is you know I'll take
a metronome and you know I'll start at a
you know a relatively fast speed
something that's manageable for me so
I'll put it at 120 and after you have to
decide am I gonna do eighth notes or
sixteenth notes for this I'm gonna do
sixteenth notes just make sure you're
very precise with that with your
subdivision in your head and instead of
just doing a bunch of sixteenth notes at
one twenty I'm just gonna do two
fanon I'm thinking one-e-and-a
two-e-and-a G Panna
and notice I'm resting in between maybe
two measures and now I'm going up by
half-step
turnin and so forth now I could also
just stay on each note for a few you got
to figure out what works best for you
and yes the slower you can do this
process the more beneficial long-term
now here's the thing I'm gonna do that
and go up you know a good deal of the
range of the horn and I'll have to go
all the way up to my altissimo but a
good deal a range of the horn then when
I'm done with that I'm gonna come back
down and do my starting note again but
now I'm gonna do three reps I'm gonna do
three tongues of it mmm one two three
lots of time for my tongue to get a
little rest in between tournament and
I'm gonna go up and once again you could
do this a lot slower multiple times on
each note get to the top come back down
now I'm gonna do four notes a minute
and so forth you get you a you're on
going by the end you know maybe I get up
to eighth notes maybe that's kind of a
good point to reach over a nine so you
can under the downbeat you could do more
now here's where something exciting
happens and it's the small wins of
course I've gone up the range of the
horn now I've gotten all the way through
eight now I'm gonna come back and now I
increase the speed this is like I've
been lifting doing my reps every day you
know with breaks and whatnot now it's
finally time to put more weight on so
here now this is you got to go at the
right tempo right speed for you of
increase you don't want to go too fast
but you also don't want to go too slow
necessarily if it's gonna bore you so
maybe I'm gonna go up two beats per
minute or if I started slower I could go
up three beats per minute
or four so now I have it at 122 and I'm
gonna start back at the beginning two
reps just two tongues back MICU
maybe I want to do multiple and so forth
when I go up to the top of the range I
come back down now I'm doing three again
thank you guys see what how I'm doing
this you can't wait too long in between
it be patient with these don't go mmm
mmm mmm
eventually your tongue is gonna get
tired and it needs that and needs that
separation of time okay so then I get to
the top and I get all off to where I'm
doing four reps five rest five with
breaks in between I get up to nine I go
back down now I move up to 124 this is a
slow slow process but once again you
don't have to do you don't have to go up
by 50 beats per minute in one practice
session this can be throughout weeks you
might want to write down where you work
now the alternative to this the other
way of practicing this is just a
slightly different let's say I stay at
120 I do - hey Hannah I get all the way
to the top I come back down now I speed
it up to 120 - but still doing to panic
and I do that all the way you know up to
120 for you all the way up all the horn
and I do 126 let's say I get to about
where as fast as I can go on two beats
per minute
what's our doing - tongued notes maybe
up to 180 then I start all the way back
down I go back to 120 again and now I do
three three reps and go all the way up
finally come back down I can increase it
and whatnot so hopefully that makes
sense those two approaches pick
whichever one works best with your
practice mentality and if you stay with
this I guarantee however fast you're
tonguing right now even if you're a
pretty fast tongue you can increase that
speed kind of the sky's the limit as
fast as you want to go that being said
there are other ways like doing things
like double tonguing or this true triple
tonguing that I talked
about that you'll see in a few weeks but
best of luck with you keep up the good
work and stay tuned for more episodes
coming soon take care
[Music]
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