Question about separating notes on a instrument.?

Well the question and the topic is a little difficult to describe so i'll do my best.





Ok, I play the trombone, I have for about 10 years. I never really payed attention to how I separate my notes, everyone always told my ';tongue'; do this do that. Recently I was wondering about it, because I found that I don't really ';tongue'; .... I started to pay a lot more attention to it, and i realized I never use my tongue.





No one has ever said anything about my sound, or anything, people have told me I have a really good sound, and that I play fairly well. By no means am I really good or anything, but i've made jazz all state etc.





I tried looking it up but i can not find anything. The only good way i've found for describing what I do is this:


If anyone whistles; when you whistle how do you separate your notes? ... Yeah thats how I do it on the trombone, or any instrument i play.


It is kind of like I separate the note with my diaphragm or throat? basically by just stopping my air flow and restarting it.


This doesn't cause me any trouble, I am just merely curious as to what I am doing.





Now mind you, I can separate the notes just as fast if not faster then someone double tonguing, I can play staccato legato etc.








My main question here is, does anyone know exactly what I am doing? Is it a really bad habit? And do you know anyone else who does this?Question about separating notes on a instrument.?
I think your analysis is sound, I am of the mind that if it ain't broke, don't fix it, and am willing to back this up with any number of pictures of Dizzy Gillespie playing the trumpet with his cheeks puffed out. But I would experiment with orthodox tonguing techniques if I were you, just to see what the differences in effect and articulation are.


Oh, and I would repost this question in the human physiology section.Question about separating notes on a instrument.?
Your question has been put in science and mathmatics%26gt;engineering which it obviously is not about. If you are looking for an answer I would repost in Music