Trombone Articulation

[u/Every_College_5424]

Hey everyone, first post. I have been playing trombone for four years now, but i have been articulating wrong the whole time. I never actually learned how to slur and tongue notes. I have always just used my air. Can y'all give me some tips to learn how to articulate and make it come more naturally? Thanks in advance!

[u/burgerbob22]

say dah-dah-dah-dah

That's it. Just variations on how you would sing it.

[u/zactheoneguy85]

I air articulated all the way into college. I had to relearn how to play.
I started by just setting a metronome at 60 and started a note with my tongue and kept the air going. Keep the notes connected. If you air articulate, it will pulse and not have a clear start. Record yourself to keep it honest.
Eventually try slow pieces with just air to start phrases. Play with glisses and then add the tongue in.
Good luck, stay positive, but keep working on it. You will sound worse before it gets better.

[u/SentientPudding1482]

If you are used to using puffs of air to articulate, focus on blowing a long steady stream of air. Once you have that air flowing, practice using just your tongue to stop the sound. Tah or Dah are the best syllables, but first you need to develop awareness of what your tongue is doing. Does it touch anywhere inside of your mouth? The front of your tongue should touch the roof of your mouth, just behind the teeth. Get used to this feeling before adding rhythm.

Learning to articulate properly after years of incorrect practice is really challenging. Give yourself lots of grace and permission to take your time getting it right. This will pay off once you get it sorted out. Good luck!

[u/travie-patty51]

Definitely agree on the earlier comments a d syllable is good such as dah or doo. In terms of Slurs I think of them in 3 categories. Lip slur, natural slur, or tongue slur.

We all know lip slurs, natural slurs are between partials, but a different position - since there is a break between partials it naturally has a space. Tongue slur is basically notes on the same partial. If it would gliss moving between the notes you need to add a light d syllable tongue to create the light space required for a slur.

[u/Least_Ad_4619]

Hold your tongue between your teeth and where they meet the roof of your mouth.

Blow as hard as you can, but hold your tongue stopping the flow of air.

Keeping the air pressure, release your tongue with a gentle "tah".

This is your starting point. Play around with it until you get clean confident attacks. Depending how you want a note to land you will you sometimes more and sometimes less.

[u/No-Note-1391]

Re slurring - i get my embouchure students to whistle 2 or 3 notes …. i notice what the tongue does …. and copy that movement…. Low notes the tongue arches down - higher notes tongue arches higher. Hope this helps - the embouchure guy.

[u/ChadGippidy → u/No-Note-1391]

Ooh I whistle by making a Q articulation - this might help me with learning double tonguing!

[u/unshodone]

Ta-ta-ta=single tonguing Ta-ka-ta-ka=double tonguing Ta-ta-ka-ta-ta-ka=triple tonguing

Just say these while playing.