How to Do the Flutter Tonguing Technique for Saxophone

Flutter tonguing isn't really used to articulate notes the way that single- or double-tonguing does. Rather, it's an effect that breaks up and blurs the note being played and works well when the saxophonist is playing blues or rock music.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Saxophone
• Blues or rock music for saxophone

1. Begin by learning to flutter your tongue without your saxophone. Try to make the sound of a ringing telephone, a cat's purr or a motorboat. It may help to pretend that you're about to say "eee," then exhale, allowing your tongue to vibrate lightly against the roof of your mouth.

2. Disconnect the mouthpiece and neck from your saxophone and try flutter tonguing with just these two pieces. Practice until you can do it easily and reliably.

3. Connect your mouthpiece and neck to your saxophone and practice flutter tonguing while playing a note. Take care not to touch the reed with your tongue when flutter tonguing. Practice until you're satisfied with the sound of the note.

4. Choose a piece of music that seems appropriate to this technique. Experiment with the flutter tonguing technique during your performance of the music to find where it works best.

Tips & Warnings

• If after many attempts, you can't flutter tongue, try the alternate method. Pretend you are gargling water while you play. You may find that you like this sound better than the sound created by flutter tonguing.

Resources

• Learn the growl, another interesting effect, at Saxophone-US.