Tonguing
Tonguing is a little-used technique in Irish tin whistle playing, and for good reason. For music that requires quite a lot of "joined notes", tonguing, being a technique taught in classical music, can make a lot of the music sound quite un-natural and disjointed. It's probably the main reason why a lot of classically-trained flautists cannot play Irish music naturally, or make themselves play it how it is supposed to be played.
However, it is very useful at bringing over-emphasis, much more than glottal stopping (see the "Throating" section) - which is best thought of as the lighter version of tonguing. That said, tonguing has to be used judiciously, and is very much for advanced players.
The best way of teaching yourself it is to think of defined scenarios within tunes that could use tonguing and apply them there. For example, I try my best to use tonguing only really in triplets in fast tunes, when glottal stopping is not quick enough to catch up. For example, see my upload "Cousin Sally Brown", where in the first few lines, I mix glottal stopping with a couple of tongued triplets for emphasis
However, it is very useful at bringing over-emphasis, much more than glottal stopping (see the "Throating" section) - which is best thought of as the lighter version of tonguing. That said, tonguing has to be used judiciously, and is very much for advanced players.
The best way of teaching yourself it is to think of defined scenarios within tunes that could use tonguing and apply them there. For example, I try my best to use tonguing only really in triplets in fast tunes, when glottal stopping is not quick enough to catch up. For example, see my upload "Cousin Sally Brown", where in the first few lines, I mix glottal stopping with a couple of tongued triplets for emphasis
As you can hear, tonguing is a tough technique.
For triplets, the best strategy is to first practice without a tin whistle. Try a very easy quick phrase such as "dah-gah-dah" or "dah-gah-rah". You'll notice all of these three syllables involve pushing your tongue against the roof of your mouth, and because they're slightly different areas of the mouth, it runs more easily to go back and forth. So, if you need a four-note phrase, it's probably easiest to do something like "dah-gah-rah-gah" or "dah-rah-gah-rah" or even "dah-rah-gah-gah". For "Sandstorm", I had long sequences, and stuck to "dah-gah" repeats, which worked OK, even if it took a heck of a lot of work to get right.
You'll then need to get used to doing this tongue movement when actually producing notes. Try with the same note first, then move gradually to switching fingering while playing and making the above phrases with the tongue. A few hours of practice will likely be required, but you should notice something coherent after a few sessions.
After that, the challenge will be to incorporate it into a tune!
I suggest trying my version of Darude's "Sandstorm" for tonguing practice. The notes are very simple, and it really does require extensive tonguing to master.
For triplets, the best strategy is to first practice without a tin whistle. Try a very easy quick phrase such as "dah-gah-dah" or "dah-gah-rah". You'll notice all of these three syllables involve pushing your tongue against the roof of your mouth, and because they're slightly different areas of the mouth, it runs more easily to go back and forth. So, if you need a four-note phrase, it's probably easiest to do something like "dah-gah-rah-gah" or "dah-rah-gah-rah" or even "dah-rah-gah-gah". For "Sandstorm", I had long sequences, and stuck to "dah-gah" repeats, which worked OK, even if it took a heck of a lot of work to get right.
You'll then need to get used to doing this tongue movement when actually producing notes. Try with the same note first, then move gradually to switching fingering while playing and making the above phrases with the tongue. A few hours of practice will likely be required, but you should notice something coherent after a few sessions.
After that, the challenge will be to incorporate it into a tune!
I suggest trying my version of Darude's "Sandstorm" for tonguing practice. The notes are very simple, and it really does require extensive tonguing to master.