Hi Folks,
There are two commonly used triplets–F# G A and B Cnat d–that I have difficulty making sound as clean as I’d like; they always end up with a more slurred quality than I’m looking for. I assume that the answer is tonguing, but what I’m wondering is what pattern would work best? Tongue all three notes? The second one only to emphasize it as a dividing point? Or what?
Also, I have a lot of trouble with the t-k-t pattern of tonguing. My tongue gets stuck between the front and back motion; how do people do it without becoming tongue-tied?
Any help will be much appreciated.
Jon
At first I thought this was a post about a new food by Nabisco.
I cheated and started using a tu-tle-tu type of tongue thing years ago and that never sounded crisp enough. Then I decided to use the t-k-t and eventually got it pretty fast and clear.
Not to bring up the age old tongue vs tap thing again but would anyone here NOT use a triplet on a F# G B run? Could you run like that and use taps? OR would you substitute a roll or something?
Depends on the setting of the tune, the speed at which you are playing, and your own individualistic style. There is no right or wrong answer here. The triplet itself figures prominently in uilleann piping, where you can completely close off the chanter using just your fingers. The sound is different from what you’ll get on a whistle using your tounge, but with practice you should be able to find an ornement that suits you. The best thing to do is slow it all down a bit and experiemnt with different variations that work for you. The more you work out, the greater your ability will be to throw them in and around your playing as a whole. Hope this isn’t beating a dead horse too completely here. 
For the B-c-d triplet, try letting a little G gracing come between the B and the c. All you have to do is drop your second and third fingers slightly before you lift the first finger. It takes a bit of practice to really nail it, but it’s worth the effort.
I don’t think I ever play B-cnat-d triplets, but always, B-c#-d. Also, I tongue only the first note. For getting the fingers moving crisply and together the only way I know is to play in strict rhythm at very slow speeds.
Hope all’s well, Jon? Haven’t seen you in ages.
My version of Give Me Your Hand has a B-Cnat-D run that leads to the Fnat. It’s a tricky little devil and I finger it. If you listen to Mary Bergin’s triplets, which are blazing, she doesn’t tongue them.
I think O’Flynn played B-c#-d there. On a slow thing like that I don’t think it’s an issue, but what I generally hear on pipes, flutes, whistle are B-c#-d triplets.
Thanks for the responses. First of all, I miswrote my original message. I intended for it to be B c# d (although many play Sheehan’s Reel with a fast d Cnat B triplet and it ain’t easy–at least not for me). What got me thinking about this was Matt Molloy’s playing of the lovely jig Wallop the Spot. In the third section he consistently plays this triplet with a lovely and lyrical precision that I long–against all odds–to replicate.
I am very well M. Bloomfield, thank you very much. Actually, we saw each other at the Ashfield Fall Festival, but you seemed to be in a bit too much of a hurry to stop and chat. Anyway, I hope you are well too.
Those particular B-c#-d triplets are unarticulated…he’s not tonguing or glottal-stopping them. They’re simply fingered.
One way to practice this triplet is to first practice going directly from B to d, it’s sort of a toggle-switch effect: you start with only one finger down and all the others off (for the B), and then you lift that finger while placing all the others down. Try going directly from B to d for a while until you’ve got that down, and then just lift your B finger before you put the other fingers down, blowing steadily all the while through B, c#, and d. There you go, an automatic triplet.
As Bloomfield observed, many if not most whistle and flute players do the B-c#-d triplet everywhere, even in tunes in keys like G where the c-natural would be “correct.”
Well that would be a heck of a lot easier. I’ll see how it sounds.
For crisp triplets, I leave the roasting pan uncovered for about…oops. Wrong thread.
B-cnat-d is not so hard, I think. There’s a couple of approaches I’ve tried that seemed to be all right.
First you can finger the c-nat as oxo ooo. That’s noticeably sharp but not intolerably so on passing note like the middle triplet. It alows to just sorta roll the first and second finger onto the whistle:
xoo oox
oxo oox
oxx xxx
The finger on the sixth hole stabilizes the whistle.
The other approach is to minimize finger movement. Of course this sounds better on a decent whistle (a Generations, Oak, Feadog 
).
xoo xox (4th and 6th hole covered already to minimze movement)
oxx xox (accepted cheapo c-nat fingering)
oxx xxx
Yeah, I’ve ‘cheated’ and done just the one finger for Cnat and it’s passable much of the time. Thanks.
I use a T-K-T tonguing pattern to get crisp triplets …sounds like “tick-a-tee” if you do it without a whistle.
I also use the G grace (although I hadn’t thought of it like that) when doing B-C/C#-D triplets.
xoo ooo
xxx ooo (just for a split-second…gives it a bit of pop)
oxx ooo
oxx xxx
Bloomfield is consistent. The best advice I’ve gotten so far is his axiom: Start slow. I’ve taken it to heart and it’s helped.
Still haven’t gotten that wonderful twittering sound from my rolls yet though.
How about crisp chitterlings? Anything like a triplet?