Just following up on my last blog regarding basic articulation. I talked about beginning each note with the syllable ‘too’ or ‘tee’. I think it’s very important to remember that once you have articulated a note, the tongue remains relaxed and down in the mouth until the very moment you are going to re-articulate.

‘too’ rather than ‘toot’

• When you pronounce ‘too’ notice that you tongue remains down in the mouth once you have finished the syllable.
• When you say ‘toot’ notice that your tongue finishes back up on the alveolar ridge.

It is preferable to use ‘too’ rather than ‘toot’ as leaving the tongue down in the mouth between notes promotes a more continuous airflow which in turn produces more legato playing. The same goes for ‘tee‘ as opposed to ‘teet‘

Apart from chopping up the air unattractively, the ‘toot’ syllable also produces that audible ‘back flapping’ sound of the tongue at the end of notes which for me is not an appealing part of the flute sound.