Articulations
Here you will find a series of films explaining and demonstrating the major aspects of flute and bass flute articulation, how they are performed and when best to use them as a composer or musician.
Introduction
As with all wind instruments, flute articulation is controlled by the tongue and the breath. A continuous flow of air will produce a legato effect. The tongue is used to interrupt the flow of air to create shorter notes. There are many subtle differences between the types of articulation that players use.
Legato
Notes played without tonguing. Legato means 'smoothly'. A curved line above or below the notes. The line is called a 'slur' and indicates that the notes should be played legato, which is often called slurred. The first note in a legato group is always tongued.
Staccato
Short and separated notes (all tongued). Dots above or below the notes. Staccato notes can be created by returning the tip of the tongue to its position just behind the front teeth very soon after the note has begun, so cutting off the flow of air. In playing the example shown the movement of the tongue would be similar to saying, 'tut, tut, tut' whilst blowing.
Tonguing
Compound tonguing in groups of two or three. The notation example shown is often used to indicate double and triple tonguing, but players will often use the technique to play passages of notes that may be written as ordinary tongued or staccato notes. Double tonguing requires the player to form syllables with their toungue whilst blowing such as 'ta-ka, ta-ka, ta-ka' (or possibly 'da-ka') in order to create very rapid articulation. Triple tonguing would involve repeating a pattern such as 'ta-ka-ta' to group notes in threes.
Flutter Tonguing
A rolled 'r' tonguing. Not all players can do flutter tonguing. Those that cannot have to 'fake' with a throat flutter that sounds less effective, more of a rumbling sound than a crisp 'rrrrrrrrrrrr'.
Bass Scherzo
Ken Smith plays an extract by Mendelssohn, demonstrating a quick and difficult playing technique.
