So after my last post talking about Wilbert Hazelzet's idea of "don't play", I thought to follow up with this list of common issues we encounter when playing the baroque flute. Just off the top of my head, these are movements or tendencies that are unnecessary and prevent us from playing in an efficient way. The more we can reduce, the easier and more enjoyable playing becomes. Go through this checklist as you play - maybe you'll discover more and I'd love to hear from you! 
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✅ 1. The baroque flute takes less air and slower air compared to the modern flute.
 
✅ 2. When moving upwards to the mid and higher register, keep using the slowest air possible and avoid overshooting.
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✅ 3. You can influence intonation by adjusting angle of air and/or the airspeed. Sometimes you'll need to do both, but sometimes adjusting air speed is enough and also a better choice than adjusting angle. Adjusting air speed is the more subtle way and there are times when that's all you'd need. 

✅ 4. Lips should remain stable when doing staccato or accents. Refrain from air kissing! 

✅ ​5. In an ensemble (starting with a duo), you'll often have plenty of time to prepare yourself for an upcoming passage. Take advantage of that. You have to check your air, lips, tongue, and also maybe cueing in your fellow musician(s) - that's A LOT that needs to happen! Is it a high note that needs to be soft? Is it a note like F natural or Gb that requires attention in terms of intonation and/or focus? Start taking in air way in advance and don't wait until right before you play to breathe. You can still take a kind of small, "symbolic" inhale to help you be in the movement of your cue (or even none at all but just cue with your flute), but keep your movement simple and precise. 

✅ 6. Avoid breathing right before your entry with your mouth open. Breathe through your nose so that your embouchure is ready for the coming passage. 

✅ 7. Watch out if you're approaching a rather high note, say like F#3 or G3  (or any note that feels unfamiliar to you) to not tense up in the body and literally "shrink" with your flute. Instead stand steady and tall, imagine to release the sound from your hands rather than clamping down on the flute.

✅ ​8. Watch out to not squeeze with your lips to produce high notes. If you're feeling tension in the lips for high notes (signs include when you feel the outer edge of your lips, or when they tremble or produce buzzing), that means they're not quite strong enough yet to handle the slightly faster airstream needed. 

✅ 9. We achieve brilliance and strength with forked fingering notes like F natural, G#, Bb etc. by being able to play them with a focused tone and in tune. They don't gain strength by us blowing more (too much too fast air), although it's very easy to do so, especially due to stress.

✅ 10. Tonguing is more about precision than tonguing hard. Use less tongue surface but back the note with air to create accentuations when needed. 

✅ 11. Explore more the softer dynamics, creating more diminuendo/lightening effects to create contrast. The baroque flute is not known as a loud instrument, but you'll have much more success in creating a rich dynamic range by widening your middle to soft dynamics. And in this way, a beautiful resonance is achieved which shows off the instrument at its best.

Less is more, achieve the maximum with the minimum.

We had a great session with Eve Friedman talking to people about tone development on the baroque flute! It's always refreshing to hear how somebody else explains or approaches an aspect, in addition to feeling a sense of confirmation which reminds me that I'm not just alone and weird in my thoughts and experiences😅....I certainly picked up a number of new ideas and am looking forward to trying them out, whether in teaching or in playing.

In the beginning of the talk, I summarized Eve's first section of the book, which is a summary of various treatises in terms of tone. With the slide shown above, I mentioned that early authors often weren't clear about addressing the difference between the volume of air versus the speed of air used for playing (see first three quotes). The quote from Lewis Granom though struck a bell, as it's very interesting that he uses the expression "retention" [of air]. Neither a lot of air nor fast air contribute to a beautiful, well-controlled tone. 

I'm often telling my learners to slow down with their airstream, the difference is quite significant especially if you're coming from modern flute playing. One imagery that's often helpful is also to think about using "warm air". Compare blowing warm versus cold air, and you'll find that not only the air speed slows down, you'll also naturally lower your jaw and deepen your mouth cavity, which is great for sound. The baroque flute responds so much better when using this approach, whether it's about resonance, purity, improving and stabilizing intonation...the list goes on! If this concept is new to you, do be patient with yourself and don't be surprised that you'll have to keep reminding yourself of this. This is very delicate work that only you can help yourself by constantly feeling and experiencing internally. 

Thus, I would relate to Granom's idea of "retention" as using warm air, not simply blowing, but a kind of a conscious release which uses the minimum to achieve the maximum. This inner resistance against "fast air" is often difficult when you're feeling nervous, and is also something that needs time to develop. (read my blog here about performing in high-pressure situations)
This also happens to correspond to Wilbert Hazelzet's concept of "don't play", which I know can sound so elusive at first! Part of what he means is, again, to discover a way of playing that's efficient and precise at the same time. That we avoid any unnecessary action or movement or energy. I would say though, this idea of "don't play" can also actually cause tension at first, so just keep this at the back of your mind if you're just starting out on the baroque flute. 

The following CPE Bach demonstration video wasn't made to directly address this point, but you can hear the difference between "great deal of wind" versus "retention of wind". Turn up the volume or consider using headphones. You'll hear a loud, rough sound and a softer but more resonant sound. The "retention of wind" in the second version is the type of airstream that will provide a solid foundation for a sound that's consistently pure, flexible, and in-tune. Try it out and let me know how it goes! 

Below is also the video replay of our session with Eve. 

I've included here an earlier post plus an expanded section talking about the opening of Telemann's D major Fantasy: 

Wilbert Hazelzet often said, "Don't play." We train ourselves so that we "don't play" in the end.

​This sounds so cryptic at first! But in the context of music-making, he's referring to how we should internalize everything so that we no longer feel like we have to "do something". The sound, the music just flows, emanates out of us. It becomes a part of us and is not something external. In passages that are challenging technically, I have often found it's much better to have the intention of "backing off" as opposed to "I have to get this". It's about working with paradoxes. We train to do something only to let go again.

In this way, playing becomes more and more effortless and you expand your realm of expression. Also, you realize the difference between the notes you see on the page compared how they actually should sound. As an educator, I can't stress this enough, and I love seeing those "ah ha" moments with my learners when the light bulb goes on.
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For example, these dotted notes in the opening of Telemann's D major Fantasy all LOOK the same, but they certainly aren't. On a very basic level, we can say the notes on the main beats need more presence compared to the 16ths, but those main beats also have their nuances and not all beats are equal. We'll also have to temper our air on the low G#, for example, to accommodate the natural tendency of that note on the baroque flute, but at the same time still make it sound as a main beat. (this is a more complicated subject but to be continued!)
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In essence, try to get away from the notion that all notes need a full sound. Use historical articulation "türü" or "tüdü" which will bring out the gesture of that dotted rhythm much more musically. Not all notes will sound equally "clear", and that's just so beautiful.🩷🎶

I reposted in Facebook an an earlier post which I've done here regarding Wilbert Hazelzet's phrase of "singing virtuosity", and I'm glad to know that people have enjoyed it! Some have asked whether I can elaborate further on that. I thought to continue to use this Blavet variation as an example. 

The theme is a very elegant, melancholy minuetto, with well-written melody and bass lines. They compliment each other perfectly in terms of counterpoint and create really quite a mesmerizing song. Jumping to this last variation, we'll want to preserve that similar affect we have in the theme, but with a slight virtuosic take. Blavet didn't indicate any slurs here, but I do feel in this case slurs would help me achieve that balance of having a sense of lyricism but still with some "action". In measure 2 and similar places, these speak for a 1+3 type of grouping, and in others it's just important that one hears the original melody coming through. A 2+2 type of grouping is also effective when you want to bring a bit of texture to the passage but still maintain a lyrical flow.

Notice the crescendo and decrescendo signs above - these help us maintain the overall line, and we need to make sure our airstream is absolutely constant, and that we're able to manage and release our sound flexibly. Again taking m. 2 as an example, we'll want to keep those static notes light (F# E F#) and have the main beat notes be slightly in the foreground. However, here's a thing that's easy to miss - make sure that these main beat notes don't sound all equal. It's easy to just do the 1+3 articulation and think we're done, but in fact, it's far more exciting to differentiate and bring out the hierarchy between these very notes.

We can practice this by first playing these notes and omitting the static ones. Can you create a beautiful line with them? Some notes will receive more emphasis while others should fall back (such as on a 3rd beat). Sing with these notes. Then insert the static notes back in and try to preserve that same singing quality in the passage, which means it should have a feeling of direction, flexibility, and balance between different elements in the melodic structure. The static notes on a weak beat should be played even lighter - as Wilbert would say, "Don't play!"

Looking back, that's a funny thing with my "don't squeeze" comment in the music. We need to prepare our air properly ahead as the line goes up. A high note that's short lends itself easily to constriction of the lips and throat (perhaps the whole body!). Open downwards when going up, raise the soft palate, open nostrils, yawn. 

For me, this movement has the elegance of flying. So, fly and SING.