8. THE TONGUE

The use of the tongue in articulating notes is as much an integral part of bansuri playing as it is in the western concert flute. The frequency of its use does vary considerably from one musician to another, for some tonguing is scarcely noticeable, while for others such as HP Chaurasia, passages of rapid tonguing, and the very rapid repeated notes of Jhalla are one of the hallmarks of his style.
The use of the tongue is important for an instrument that has no other form of percussive approach to its notes. the use of tongue at regular intervals such as every four notes while playing tanas helps both the rhythmic consistency as well as a way of counting the number of beats, an essential ability for improvisation. Apart from playing in the basic fours of teental, practice should also include phrases of different length---, twos, threes. fours, fives , sixes.
For example:
It is important also not to break the tonguing pattern, especially in the higher
register in order to articulate notes more clearly, or facilitate the move from low to high register but to keep rigorously to the patterns so that practice of regular pattern-making becomes second nature, whatever notes or scales played. Once this discipline is established it will be possible to make spontaneous tanas and sequences using a great variety of note combinations.