Luke had the following question:
Hello! Just how important is the tongue in terms of pitch, tone, and overall flexibility?
Developing good pitch, tone, and flexibility with your tongue is just like developing pitch, tone, and flexibility in your horn playing: you just gotta practice. And this means put that horn away, and just practice with your tongue. It is true that some people a born with more flexible tongues than others, but this can be developed too.
Beginning tonguists have difficulties producing any kind of tone with the tongue. When I studied with the great Tepido Linguini, he emphasized tone production through bilabial fricatives. He also emphasized the importance of minimizing pressure. (Linguini's THE ART OF TONGUE PLAYING has an fascinating picture of him with his tongue on a shelf, showing his pressure reduction technique.) It is also important to use the proper right hand position. (If your right hand is too close to your tongue, then your tongue may not vibrate freely.)
You can develop good pitch with your tongue by practicing with an electronic tuner. (I prefer a Korg YHR 667, whose oversized buttons are easily turned on using your tongue.)
As for tone, this is a matter of taste. And taste depends on the number and quality of your taste buds. My students stimulate and strengthen their taste buds with a steady diet of Oreos.
As for flexibility, I acquired my legendary lingual dexterity amd range by studying with Dennis Brain's amphibious brother, Kermit.
Goodbye!
Cabbage