Here's another upload for the Solo of the Month group, this time the Presto from Tromlitz's Partita in G major - this was a great exercise for a couple of different reasons, from using the different F# fingerings to avoiding cracking on delicate notes on the keyed flute. And yes, I got water under the key on that G#😅

It's a bit tricky rhythmically to get the right swing, the piece definitely has an attitude! I'm not happy with everything yet, and I think partly is because I'm influenced by the word "presto" unnecessarily. Like I told my workshop participants lately, speed contributes to an affect, but speed itself doesn't express much. Although presto does mean "quickly", the piece sounds really fun (and above all, really fun to play!) when there's that rustic, burlesque character to it. To do so, you'll need just a bit of time to express those subtle rhythmic nuances, and rushing past them would simply be less than half the fun.

The T R' T' tonguing creates rhythmic stability and interest, and also makes phrases sound much more effortless. Try this with equal tonguing (all t t t) and you'll immediately notice the difference! The application of diverse articulation certainly goes beyond baroque music.🎶

Here's an example of how I use ornamentation as a way to expand and increase intensity in expression.

This is from Johann Tromlitz's Partita II in G major, first movement. The clip shows the sequence going up towards the end. I added a "slide" (0:08) going up to the high C instead of approaching it directly(as written), since it gives us a chance to let our flute sound bloom, making the suspense afterwards even more effective. Then at 0:15, I added a turn going into the final trill (and always good to do trill with termination here), which gives us again a chance to spread our sound and do an effective crescendo through the notes. This creates a flourish effect and is a great way to end the movement, plus it adds style, elegance, and liveliness to the music.

So I encourage you to find these kinds of passages and experiment to enhance expression through ornamentation. It makes music so much more fun and you won't want to go back!

Playing the baroque flute requires an incredible amount of nuanced technique in handling the breath. We have to create our own resonance on an instrument which can't take much air and air pressure. I always tell my learners to use a slow, “warm” air that simply activates the instrument just enough to sound and not more than necessary. This is, of course, such a challenge when we're under high pressure – the nerves kick in and maintaining a slow, steady airstream may feel next to impossible. It would be so much easier to just blow! But the baroque flute is about resonance, not loudness. And even if you're thinking about loudness, you'd still have to start with resonance first. 

Also, we don't typically use vibrato and taking care of notes like F natural or G# demand a very particular kind of airstream. Any unevenness in sound (in the negative sense) is quite noticeable. Again when our nerves get the better of us, when we're unable to maintain that slow air to create a “glow” in the sound, everything sounds a little dull and fuzzy and it's very hard to be expressive with this type of tone quality. Articulation, dynamics, intonation, phrasing (everything?!) – they all depend on a specifically centered, supple sound that gives us the technique and flexibility to play expressively. 

Another common challenge is playing in a space with dry acoustics. One problem is that everything can easily sound kind of the same in such conditions. Also, any unevenness or impurity in the sound will be immediately reflected back to us. We then get a little uneasy with that feedback. We stress and it becomes harder to maintain the proper airstream. There can be a variety of issues that robs our resonance, but we keep feeling like we need to do more to be expressive. Ultimately, the whole thing becomes a vicious circle, as the baroque flute cannot take much pressure before the sound cracks, gets disrupted, or intonation goes awry. I've been there so many times so I'd like to suggest something which may seem counter intuitive at first – create expressive contrasts in the soft dynamic range. People will listen differently and a concentrated, attentive piano is more advantageous and effective in such a space.

Keeping these sound issues in mind will ultimately make you a better flutist, competition or not. Really listen and observe your airstream in practice, see if you can use an even slower air to achieve the same result, perhaps also less air. In all aspects of your technique, can you play USING THE MINIMUM TO ACHIEVE THE MAXIMUM? Are you aware of the super fine muscles of your embouchure to bring more center and brilliance to your sound? (again, work with resonance, not loudness). 

We only need a SLIGHTLY faster airstream to play the higher register, so be careful to not overshoot. Again, this happens super easily when we're under stress. And for me, I get stressed even more when I hear my own sharp and scratchy high notes while performing!!😅 To combat that, I like to “think low as I go high”. Lower your lower jaw, open your nostrils, use the slowest air possible....again, use the minimum to achieve the maximum.

Another tip I'd like to offer is something regarding tempo. It's natural to play a little faster when we get nervous. Or maybe a lot faster, to the point that we lose control. All perfectly human. When studying a piece, how about finding ways to bring spirit and liveliness through other means first, and consider tempo as the very last element? Remember that tempo in itself doesn't express much, and what we learned in our young modern years as “tempo indications” were originally indications of affect. Can you show joy with your articulation? How can you let the audience hear and understand that peculiar phrase? And even in fast passages - can you find deepness in them and produce a SINGING VIRTUOSITY? (a concept I learned from Wilbert Hazelzet) Remember also baroque music is about changing affects - are you giving yourself (and the listener) enough space for showing those wonderful changes, or does it feel like the notes are just flying by? 

Speaking of which, not only does the technique of stopping the sound between notes work wonders by making your articulation lively and expressive, it'll also help you slow down and gain security in fast passages. For me, that's a must-have multivitamin.

​It's impossible to cover all grounds, but I'd like to get this out to people while the experience is still fresh. I hope by thinking and working through these concepts, you'll acquire some helpful tools. See if you can get to that place of being where you're able to observe yourself while performing. Direct yourself gently to slow down that air. Go for resonance. Slow down your fingers (and slow down more than you think!), use articulation to help you stay grounded. Keep your air going and going “long” to resist it from getting "shorter" (again due to nerves). And besides all this playing technique - stay in the music! No matter what happens (and often it isn't as bad as you may perceive it), keep telling the story and immerse yourself in your interpretation. That'll help keep you away from distractive thoughts which can make you fall. 

Feel free to ask questions, start a conversation thread here, or write to me directly. Others may just be thinking what you're thinking!

We all keep trying, keep refining, keep PLAYING.

So I thought to continue on my last post about French baroque music. After what I mentioned last, it might seem to you that French music is fussy, superficial, and just not approachable. So why would we want to play this music and why does it attract me?

Well, I can’t speak for everyone, but here are my thoughts: I think it IS because French baroque music lies in this gray zone of expressions. To use articulation to create a fine lace of sounds, the sensation of using the breath sparingly and in subtle ways puts me at a place where I feel like I’m floating while playing. The intricate ornamentation isn't just about playing the right notes, but it contributes to an affect and expression. And for me all this is actually something incredibly deep and meaningful, and is one of the main drives for me to play the baroque traverso. It puts me in another dimension, to sing through my flute and taste every phrase, every note. 

Technically speaking, this means being able to work your air in a very flexible way. Here’s a fun thought: see if you can visualize your breath like a jellyfish moving underwater in slooow motion. Be able to direct the breath, make it undulate according to the phrasing, up to the final wisps of air between notes and at phrase endings. (imagine those like the fine and long tentacles of the jellyfish!)  There is a lot of nuanced tapering of sound needed in this music to reflect the commonly open, ambiguous ends of words in the French language. In connection, achieving this effect will also involve the very fine, micro muscles of the embouchure.

These techniques need to be learned, of course, and may not come so naturally. Many talk about learning French to understand this, which would indeed be helpful, but perhaps these visualizations can also help people figure out how to translate the language into flute-playing. The above passage from Blavet's Recueil de pièces is an attempt to show how to work the breath in this case. It's impossible to notate exactly what happens, but hopefully this gives an idea. Note also Blavet's indication: tender with a sustained, well-spun sound.

I hope you can find the same joy as I experience from French baroque music. 🌬️ Keep playing, keep floating, keep spinning.

Here are some extra-musical concepts for French baroque music, which perhaps some players may find useful.  One of my favorite ideas from Wilbert Hazelzet is that he said playing French music is like “walking on eggshells”. Take a moment to imagine if you had to do that....you'll think about how to shift your center and weight so that you'd avoid breaking the eggshells. (or as few as possible!) You couldn't just put your weight all on one foot. That's the same kind of feeling in French baroque music – we're always playing with a bit of reservation, but there are still ways to bring movement and liveliness to the music. Finding that balance is what challenges people of course, it's so much easier to just kind of “pour your heart out” (that's like putting all weight on one foot), but a NUANCED APPROACH to articulation and sound production will help tremendously. It's walking on a fine line and that's what makes this music so exciting.

Another way to think of this is look at French cuisine. In the end, the highest bar to achieve is that the food just tastes simply amazing without necessarily being able to attribute to just one source. Everything works together to make the food (your interpretation) delightful. Your listeners are then just left with pure enjoyment and that's a great sign of artistry!

Two pieces that immediately come to mind (although there are countless ones besides these!) are these two movements from Couperin's 2nd Concert Royaux. Graceful, a bit playful, with depth but not too serious, never sounding "rude", charming with occasionally just slightly hinting an edge....all this expressed through the delicate handling of articulation and breath work. A lot of tapering in the sound, listening to what's happening BETWEEN the notes.