Lesson 67: Triple Tonguing
- Triple-tongue evenly: t-k-t t-k-t or t-t-k t-t-k.
- Apply triple tonguing to a passage of triplets in a complete Baroque movement.
- Lesson 41 — double tonguing.
- Triple tonguing (t-k-t t-k-t / t-t-k t-t-k).
- Rapid triplet articulation.
Triple tonguing is what you reach for when sixteenth-triplets are written in.
Triple tonguing handles groups of three: triplet eighths, triplet sixteenths, the rapid figuration of late-Baroque virtuoso writing. There are two standard patterns. T-k-t / k-t-k alternates the strong syllable on each successive triplet; t-t-k / t-t-k keeps the strong syllable on the downbeat of every triplet. The first is more even; the second easier to learn. Build on the t / k family from Lesson 41 (double tonguing); the syllable progression is tu → te-ke → te-ke-te.
Without the recorder — speak the syllables
Spend ten minutes saying the patterns aloud before picking up the recorder. T-k-t / k-t-k alternation is harder than it sounds; do it slowly until even.
Drill — triplet eighths in C major
Three eighths per beat. Mark the first of each group with t; the second is k or t depending on the pattern; the third returns.
Drill — mixed triplets and duplets
The challenge in real music is not pure triplets but switching between two- and three-note groups. Practise the switch explicitly.
Now play these
- Telemann: Sonata TWV 40:103 (complete)
- Triplet-rich fast movements. Test the triple tonguing at tempo.
- Handel: Sonata in D minor, HWV 367a (Vivace)
- Mixed grouping at speed.
- Telemann: Sonata in C minor (complete)
- The most virtuosic of the Telemann sonatas.
When triple tonguing is reliable at performance tempo, move on to Lesson 68, the first of two lessons on Vivaldi's recorder concerti.