Dear Wendy:

        The best double-tonguers are those whose double tonguing sounds like very fast, very clean single tonguing....

        Really the only way to develop that type of tonguing is to work on your *k* syllable...

        Dan Patrylak, founder of the Eastman Brass Quintet, and formerly a Solo Cornetist with the USMC President's Own Band, recommends using a *Q* consonant, rather than the *k* or *g* that many people recommend....

        His reasoning is this: the *q* sound happens much farther forward in your mouth than either the *ga*(very gutteral, and almost into your throat) or the *ka*(almost as far back as the *ga*)...

        Try this: Say *queue*(*cue), but aspirate out as you say it--rather like a little kid playing cops and robbers, pretending to shoot a gun with his finger: *Cue-Cue-Cue-Cue*....

        It's almost as though you're saying; *Q-hew-Q-hew-Q-hew-Q-hew*, isn't it?  The beauty of this is that it can be practiced both on and off the horn, so that your tongue can be worked on all day long<!>

        Now, go to the beginning of the multiple tonguing section in the Arban's, start on an f(first space) and practice tonguing with ONLY *Q*'s at first....You want them to be very crisp--keep the length of the notes rather short, for now, so that you can concentrate on the clarity of the attack....

        Once you have the entire exercise down on *q's*, add the *t* in, but not as *TQTQ*--First you should practice the pattern as *QTQT*, and  remember to keep the *q's* aspirant, okay?

        Finally, once you've conquered the *q-t-q-t* to the point where IT is clear, you can move on to the *T-Q-T-Q* traditional pattern....

        Another thing that may help you is to remember that Arban's *u* was the French *u*, which was pronounced as *ee* with the lips pursed as if saying *oo*(gives you a better idea of the shape of the tongue)...

        Finally, if you'd like to try *anchor-tonguing* which is another, even faster way to double tongue, drop me an email, off-list and I'll forward the information to you(I've posted it before and will forward you a copy on request)....

        Best of luck on the Anderson--the next stage is to start working on some Jimmy Burke or Ernest Williams pieces!  (Btw the same technique works for triple tonguing development as well)
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Take Care!
Jeannie