Posted by Doug Whitten on May 16, 2003 at 11:04:45:
In Reply to: Is it true ? posted by Bill on May 16, 2003 at 10:41:10:
Bill, I will not say you teacher is wrong, especially since I do not know him. However, what you describe sounds weird. Perhaps it is a translation issue.
In short, your tongue should not be extended in front of your teeth and it should not obstrust your air from flowing freely. I teach my tuba students to use the "Toe" syllable as a default 90% of the time. Other syllables (Tee, Tah, Doe, Doo, Dah, etc)are used dpending on the musical style. A good way to practice this is to whistle and tongue (By the way, this is great for practicing double and triple tonguing).
Perhaps what your teach meant was in reference to rapid articulations. As a visualization, I have my students concentrate on the motion of bringing the tongue from the back of the teeth to its neutral position. Physically, the actual articulation is made when the "T" sound is made (tongue at back of teeth), but by concentrating on the bringing back of the tongue, students seem to be able to move their tongue faster and with more control. I suspect this is what your teacher is referring to and you may be "over-thinking" the issue.