Creating Shape and Style: Baroque Flute Articulation Techniques in a Handel Sonata

Articulation is more than just about getting a note to sound! Here you see excerpts of Handel's Sonata in E minor, second movement Allegro. Use varied tongue strokes and the "articulation silence"(stopping sound with the tongue) to create groupings of notes. This way, the fine details of the music become transparent and we won't have just a random mass of notes flying by. Be sure to stop the sound consistently where you need to (apostrophes), your tongue should feel the slight pressure before it releases the air flow again for the next note. PRACTICE SAYING these without the flute will help a lot.  This is also a great way to gain technical and rhythmic stability. The stopping of the sound gives us a fraction of a second to prepare for the next leap and starting accurately. It'll also prevent us from rushing, making fast passages sound solid and absolutely in control in an exciting way. 

In this next passage, the groupings then change to 4 notes (instead of the 3 notes previously). So we shift the articulation silence to one note later. Notice how the varied tongue strokes of T,D, and create an acoustical connection of those stepwise notes. Remember that "R" is a light flick of the tongue on the hard palate, not the English "R" where the tongue is in the air. 

Measures 16-18 are tricky as it gets a little complicated! But the idea is still the same, "untangle" the notes and find the structure. The groupings of notes are often delineated by leaps (not always, but that's for another time). When practicing, take a moment and mark those groups in the music so that you have a visual orientation. Sometimes there are even subgroups - for example in m. 16 between beats 3 and 4, where two little units make up a bigger 4-note unit.

Depending on the tempo, the acoustical result in a concert performance might be subtle but absolutely crucial. (and definitely audible!) It's a small difference with a big impact, making the passage sound much more organic and lively. Also, we get to have fun with them as a player instead of simply just "getting through" a bunch of notes! Once you grasp this concept, I guarantee you'll never want to go back!