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double tonguing

My oboe teacher told me that double-tonguing on oboe is an advanced technique, one not taught to her until she was studying for her PhD.

But....I play brasses, and double-tonguing was something I taught myself along the way, along with triple tonguing.

So, I found I haven't had any trouble double tonguing on oboe either; it does require perhaps more air speed than regular playing, but isn't that far off the mark for me.

Why is double tonguing considered an advanced technique on oboe, while it is one of the basics on brass?

MT
 
I've heard that the French horn is the hardest of brasswinds to play.

Can you do chords, Steve? I've heard that before and it's very, very interesting.
 
I don't know why the french horn is the hardest, other than the fact you have two instruments an F and Bb horn selected by a thumb lever and a smallish mouthpiece. Learning on a F or Bb can be hard because of their tonal range. I learned on an F horn.

i think a tuba is harder to play .. or a trombone since my short arms can't get to the 7th position. Plus other brass such as a bass trombone can have multiple thumb levers (rotors).

playing chords is actually simple. I think you hum or sing a 5th away and the inner ear actually creates some strange accoustical thing in your ear. I haven't tried it in eons though as my FH playing has suffered enough from not playing at all for ages.

There's actually some french horn repertoire that has chords. Though my french horn playing has never been too wide spread and my current double french horn is a holton intermediate POS in need of spring work ..
 
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If you know how to "growl" in a sax, then you can probably replicate FH chord playing. Growling is hum/singing the same or slightly out of tune note. Just hum/sing up a 5th instead and see what happens.

I was trying to do this again a couple months ago but can't hum/sing into the sax anymore .. need practice. I haven't tried it on FH lately either.

I used to be able to play a steady note and hum a scale up and down or hum a 5th above while playing a scale. pretty neat sounding.

I actually learned all this from a trumpet player
 
If you know how to "growl" in a sax, then you can probably replicate FH chord playing. Growling is hum/singing the same or slightly out of tune note. Just hum/sing up a 5th instead and see what happens.

I was trying to do this again a couple months ago but can't hum/sing into the sax anymore .. need practice. I haven't tried it on FH lately either.

I used to be able to play a steady note and hum a scale up and down or hum a 5th above while playing a scale. pretty neat sounding.

I actually learned all this from a trumpet player


I've got a friend who can sing a bass line while playing a melody line on recorder. It's a good party trick.
 
And then there are those of us so incapable of 'multi' anything that we fall over when trying to chew gum...

at least you can chew gum. If i try to chew gum it gets stuck on my caps, then i run into something while not watching and fall over .... LOL
 
double tonguing on oboe

Double tonguing on oboe can be learned as a youth. My 14 year old daughter can double tongue on both oboe and sax. Youth today are expected I think to learn more sooner; there are plenty of high school age oboists around where we live who can double tongue.
 
We are in the Washington DC metropolitan area, which includes northern Virginia and part of Maryland. It is very competitive. At some youth orchestra auditions, there are 2-3 dozen young oboists auditioning. The Mozart concerto is the standard audition piece for at least one youth orchestra.

I wouldn't say that all these youth have mastered double tonguing, but they certainly are working on it.
 
Hmm, I'm originally from that area Gandolfe. Maybe I know you. I don't play professionally, but at one time I was principal flute in the Bellevue Philharmonic.

Compared to where I grew up, it is amazing what the kids get out here. Kids get Loree oboes before they even start middle school. At one camp this summer, my daughter was the only oboe player without a Loree.
 
...dozens of oboists...

The mind boggles...

I had a lot of trouble dealing with a seven hour day as a vendor at the International Clarinet Society's annual conference, what with dozens of clarinet players all screaming around in the altissimo register the whole while. I cannot contemplate the same thing with oboes...
 
Back when I was An Active Musician, I remember hearing that if you're at least a halfway decent oboist, you'll never want for work. Hey, most bands tune to the oboe, after all.
 
Back when I was An Active Musician, I remember hearing that if you're at least a halfway decent oboist, you'll never want for work. Hey, most bands tune to the oboe, after all.

And I still tell people that if you actually want to be a musician it is best to know Viola, oboe, bassoon or french horn. I guess i might have to reevaluate that statement now.
 
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