Trombone Lesson: Flutter Tonguing & Growling on the Trombone

Flutter tonguing and growling can be tricky techniques to explain on the trombone. In this video, I share a few tips that I’ve acquired from spending many years working with groups like the Duke Ellington Orchestra. I will demonstrate the difference in the sound and execution of flutter tonguing vs. growling. This video can be very helpful to the many young trumpet and trombone players that participate in the Essentially Ellington Competition or anyone looking to master this technique. If you know someone who needs help learning how to flutter tongue or growl, definitely share this video with them. As always, happy practicing and I’ll see you soon at The Chops Shop!
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#Trombone #FlutterTongue #JazzTrombone

[@wddgaming2576]

I can finally fluttertoungue after weeks of practice and video searching. I just need to master it, it still sounds a little uncontrolled

[@TheChopsShop]

That’s awesome, I hope this video was helpful for you!

[@leoslayz6743]

How did you figure it out if you don’t mind me asking

[@wddgaming2576]

@@leoslayz6743 I just kept practicing it but I had to manipulate my toungue a little bit but I just relax my toungue and then blow air through the horn. But I practice just vibrating my toungue for like a 2 weeks and eventually got it

[@chelseyolson6460]

It’s weird how even before I started playing trombone, I was still flutter tonguing without even realizing it. Thanks for the reassurance!

[@TheChopsShop]

Flutter tonguing is so hard to teach. I’m glad you figured it out.

[@laithnukho8342]

Woah I just saw you at temple university speaking about flutter touching, searched up a tutorial and you were the first to show up

[@TheChopsShop]

Awesome, I hope you had a great experience at the festival!

[@realnursedave]

THANK. YOU! After looking for a long time and thinking I had things figured out, your video really helped fill in the gaps. This is the single best growl/flutter tongue tutorial I’ve ever found! Thanks so much for taking the time and explaining it thoroughly. Definitely just increased my confidence in this skill!

[@TheChopsShop]

I’m glad you found this video useful. Confidence in what you’re doing to create the sound is key. Who doesn’t want to hear a trombone sound with some flutter tongue grease added to the fire!😁

[@rileyblount364]

Thx for the great tip on flutter tonguing it was amazing to learn that especially when I want to get ahead of the rest of my class in band

[@TheChopsShop]

Congratulations for even exploring the topic! I’m glad you found this video useful.

[@frankrehak]

Exactly what I needed. Thank You so much!!! Great videos

[@TheChopsShop]

My pleasure , thanks for checking out the video!

[@bmessermusic]

Exactly what I was looking for. Thank you so so much!!!

[@TheChopsShop]

Awesome, I’m glad you found the information useful!

[@rolfgustavsonmusic]

Really helpful and insightful video, with intriguing historic points of view! Thanks!

[@TheChopsShop]

Thanks, I appreciate you checking out the content!

[@thetonycooper]

Hey man. A great way to explain and explore. And now I want to keep both in the bag o tricks!!!!

[@TheChopsShop]

You own the idea now so use it, don’t leave it sitting in the bag!

[@innerloop86]

Hey Dion, I just recently found your channel and totally appreciate your teaching style! I always try to improve myself and also try to motivate my fellows from trombone section to do so. That's why I came across your video on growling and I liked it a lot. Now, I was wondering if you could do a similar video on how to properly do shakes on the trombone and on how to approach getting there? Keep on doing what you're doing!

[@TheChopsShop]

Shakes/lip trilling all fall under the lip slur category for me. I do have a video on that topic. In the future I'd like to make a video with lip trilling in the context of playing a piece of music. kzbin.info/www/bejne/bZ6zmJtpgJylbck

[@arnoutsmit8951]

I always thought growling would be saying "Grrrrrrr..." as the name suggests, but it turns out I have been flutter tonguing all along. Now I need to give this humming thing a shot. I remember I did something similar when I just started to learn the trombone (on accident), now I'll have to relearn it! Anyway thanks for the simple explanation and examples, it was very helpful.

[@TheChopsShop]

I’m glad the video was helpful. To growl using your voice, think about the word hummmm! Start to dirty up the “m” in hummmm. You should start to hear the quality of the note change.

[@marron1x]

Thank you so much! This helped a ton.

[@TheChopsShop]

Awesome, I'm glad the video was helpful!

[@gmh8547]

Another great video! I’d be interested in your thoughts on the shake and the lip trill-especially whether how you approach the shake differs depending on the range of the note or the style of the music. Thanks for putting these out. They are superlative.

[@TheChopsShop]

That’s a good topic. I definitely have different ways I’ll approach a shake or trill depending on the music. Generally if the note is long, I’ll hold it for a second then start the trill. The style and tempo makes a huge difference as well. Let me work on that topic, thanks for the suggestion.

[@AwesomeDadTrip]

Awesome! My daughter plays in the marching band and we’re watching your videos! You sound awesome! I love jazz with brass instruments! I honestly like the way it sounds more than jazz/blues guitar. I love both though. Keep up the awesome work!!

[@TheChopsShop]

Thanks for checking out the videos. That's awesome you are watching them with your daughter!

[@lucasgreatin6206]

This helped so much thanks

[@TheChopsShop]

My pleasure, thanks for checking out the video!

[@pavelmiksovsky5776]

Good job. THANKS

[@TheChopsShop]

Your welcome, I’m glad you enjoyed the content!

[@EdwardYemilRosario]

Thanks for the tips. Also, my brother! You have to let us know where you get the t-shirts from! LOL

[@TheChopsShop]

Thanks for checking out the video. I do nothing more then goggle trombone T-shirts and go to town. At some point I’d love to get a sponsor or something!😆

[@billeisele5325]

Hi Dion! First time I’ve heard flutter tonguing explained correctly!! It’s a great tool. Thank you!! I subscribed to your channel. Your videos are fantastic!! Can you tell me what brand of horn you’re using?

[@TheChopsShop]

Thanks for checking out the video and subscribing to the channel! I play a Shires trombone. My specs are custom to my setup so it’s a little different then a standard model.

[@Crazyclay78YT]

Yeah I've been flutter tonguing, I figured I'd watch this to make sure

[@TheChopsShop]

It’s really a tough technique to explain so I’m glad the video was helpful.

[@wezajamison-neto1905]

First step to flutter tongueing: be able to roll your tongue. Something, I can not do because of my mouth structure lol. I also can't pronunce hard R's because of this

[@TheChopsShop]

Some people have expressed the same thought as you. Linguistics definitely play a part in this technique.

[@eucaiopontoart]

Hey, thanks very much for the video! I started to think about the growl + air sound + plunger... Does it add some kind of the growl grain to the air sounds?

[@TheChopsShop]

What do you mean by “air sounds”?

[@eucaiopontoart]

@@TheChopsShop hey! Thanks for the answer! Sorry, im not a trombonist, so i might sound kinda confusing. By Air sounds im talking about the eolian sounds, that i think are achieved when you let ur embochure loose enough that ur lips kinda dont vibrate, getting the sound of Air blown in some way.

[@TheChopsShop]

I understand now, the plunger would have some effect on that but not a tremendous amount would be audible to the listener. That could work perhaps in a studio setting but again, the effect would be subtle.

[@FanTrombone]

I never knew about the hum....interesting

[@TheChopsShop]

That’s a key technique to getting the horn to “talk”. If you listen closely to Joe “Tricky Sam” Nanton, you can hear him humming as he plays!

[@ronaldlewis8452]

Great video! Is it possible to make a bugle growl?

[@TheChopsShop]

Yes, you can make a bugle growl. The technique is the same to make any brass instrument growl.

[@stepankrikava5449]

4:07 that sounds like Louis Armstrong signing what a beautiful world

[@TheChopsShop]

These sounds are definitely in Louis Armstrongs music!

[@pineboxboysgravesidequarte4963]

Love the hat.

[@TheChopsShop]

Thanks, I had to change it up!

[@andrewbianchi1294]

4:44

[@nicolelane3545]

Is your mouth open or closed for flutter tongue? Not sure how to do them both at the same time. Like play trombone as you usually would whilst rolling your tongue inside your mouth?

[@TheChopsShop]

Your lips have to stay apart otherwise no air would get through. The process is the same as your last sentence. Play the trombone as normal while rolling your tongue inside your mouth.

[@nicolelane3545]

@@TheChopsShop thank you. I meant (basically you blow raspberries to play the trombone essentially, so keep 'blowing raspelberries whilst rolling your tongue inside your mouth. I wondered if your lips had to be wider apart as if you were singing rather than playing type of a thing.

[@stevenadvensky1761]

Is that the new plunger you were developing?

[@TheChopsShop]

Yes but I didn’t develop it, I’m just one of the lucky people that gets to try it out before it hits the market. It will be out soon, it’s pretty ridiculous!

[@cookietote]

Just saw trummy on a Armstrong skit and came directly here 😁

[@TheChopsShop]

Trummy was the master of the flutter tongue. What an amazing sound he had.

[@jaketanner109]

How long can a flutter tongue go on for in a bass trombone? Low C? Thanks..

[@TheChopsShop]

I’ve never flutter tongued in that register but I would imagine it may be difficult to hold the note for a long time. The mechanics of the airflow and how the tongue moves for the flutter tongue, don’t really work together.

[@jaketanner109]

@@TheChopsShop say two bars at 125 BPM...then 1 bar break and again. Is that asking a lot? repeats about 4 times.

[@TheChopsShop]

When you say “low C” do you mean the 2nd space on the staff?

[@jaketanner109]

@@TheChopsShop I mean the last playable C

[@TheChopsShop]

The last playable C? I’m not sure I understand that term. That really depends on the player. For some players, the lowest C they can play is the one I described. Other players have an octave below that. Be specific in which octave you are asking about. Either way, flutter tonguing in the low register can be difficult. If you are concerned with the players ability to execute it I would say write it, have the person try to play it and then be open to taking out the flutter tongue if it’s too difficult to play.

[@kevinhornbuckle]

Let the flutter tongue go to work, lover man.

[@TheChopsShop]

It’s amazing what will happen if we let it happen!

[@kevinhornbuckle]

@@TheChopsShop BOOM!

[@KyleGancayco504]

“Yes, I have a different hat.” 🤣

[@TheChopsShop]

I knew someone would appreciate that!😂

[@archie8337]

so is a growl just a rough multiphonic

[@TheChopsShop]

Not exactly, with mulitphonics the pitch you sing matters. When you growl, it’s not so much dependent on you growling an exact pitch. It’s much more about the effect. The execution is similar, the end result will be slightly different.

[@aidenvu8621]

It seems that I'm tongue-tied, is it still possible to flutter tongue?

[@TheChopsShop]

I’m not sure how being tongue-tied translates on the instrument. Could you elaborate more please.

[@aidenvu8621]

@@TheChopsShop I've heard from other trombonist to roll rs but someone said I can't roll rs since I'm tongue tied.

[@TheChopsShop]

Ah I understand. I would say, think of the tongue being very light. Trying to roll an “R” can make the tongue heavy. Start off the horn, explore getting the tongue moving with just the airstream. We are embellishing the airstream, not creating a totally separate action with the tongue.

[@74836]

I came here to learn flutter tounging so I can sound like a nascar.

[@TheChopsShop]

A very common use of flutter tonguing these days.

[@Kazinga123]

I gotta try this