Tonguing on a trombone?

Question

I play trombone and I can double tongue to a certain extent. Sometimes I can do it really fast but my tongue occasionally "sticks" to my teeth and I stop. For some reason I can play really fast while single tonguing some times. I always find it really hard to tongue (single) the very first note of a song or new entry but I can do the rest. Usually I just blow air into the horn for those notes. What am I doing wrong? Does the fact that I have a slight lisp make a difference?

Answer 1

I used to have that problem too! The first note doesn't come out because you're trying to start it with your tongue. It should feel the same as when you start with the air, the tongue is just something you use for definition. Make sure it isn't resting on your teeth or the roof of your mouth before you start playing.

As for the double tonguing, practice it slowly with a metronome (at around 80 bpm). Once you train your tongue muscles how to do it well, you can forget about doing so much when you put it into practice.