Tongue contact point

[GabrielRice]

Specifically, is your contact point the same for legato tongue and marcato tongue?

[Kdanielsen]

Yes, but the legato tongue only barely touches, if at all.

[Burgerbob]

On bass, feels the same to me.

[LeTromboniste]

For me, I'm not sure if it was, with modern technique. I always thought it wasn't, but in hindsight I think it probably was, just with a lighter stroke. But after learning the historical double tongue tere tere, and now using that re also for a legato single tongue, definitely not. My te has the tip of the tongue striking the base of my upper teeth, and the re has my tongue (slightly back from its actual tip) hitting the alveolar ridge (between the upper teeth and palate) in a backwards stroke.

[Kbiggs]

No. Marcato has a broader and firmer tip of the tongue that hits lower on the alveolar ridge. Legato has a narrower tip that is not as firm, and it hits the alveolar slightly higher.

The point of contact gradually shifts lower in the low range, esp. pedals and valved notes, and gradually shifts upwards along the alveolar ridge in the upper register.

[Crazy4Tbone86]

Interesting question! My marcato and legato articulations have the same contact point. However, my “tah” articulation has a wide amount of contact with the gum line. My “lah”articulation is more narrow. My “dah” articulation is even more narrow than my “dah.”

For me “wideness” of the contact point for my “lah” and “dah” articulations was something I never needed to focus on because my legato playing was pretty good from a young age. In my undergraduate days with Thomas Cramer, he helped me widen my tongue contact area for my marcato articulations as a way to reduce stress in my playing. Thomas Cramer believed that a narrow contact point in marcato articulations was a sign that the player was tensing up the tongue. Thus, that is something that I am very aware of to this day.

[tbdana]

Yeah, I'm with Brian. Wider and lighter tongue contact for legato, narrower and harder for marcato.

[Crazy4Tbone86]

Actually Dana…..the contact area of my tongue is wider (feels like eye tooth to eye tooth) on my marcato tonguing.

Then again, this was something that I remember working on in my undergrad years because I was bunching up my tongue to make firm articulations. Making the contact area wider relaxed my tongue and the result was that cracked fewer notes.

I never thought about the width of the contact area of my legato articulations. That’s why I am surprised that the “dah” and “lah” had less contact area for me.

[JTeagarden]

Definitely more "pointed" with marcato, at very soft dynamics, I will sometimes marcato tongue between my teeth.