TIP OF THE WEEK: Top alternate fingering!

We are once again slowly approaching the Easter season! I thought it would be useful to share one alternate fingering which I feel is an absolute must-know for baroque flutists. Namely, the second octave B-natural fingered as such: xoo xxx x

X means the hole is closed, which means for the key, you must not press on it.

When fingering this B with the standard fingering xoo ooo o, this note can be a little flat. The alternate fingering gives a higher pitch, and also allows us to play it with very little air, which makes blending with other instruments a lot easier. Make sure to bring down the pitch somewhat (using slow air) and since it speaks very easily, it's a great fingering to enable playing pianissimo AND not worry about being flat. The B can sit relaxed on top in delicate situations.

​One such delicate situation is the opening chorus of J.S. Bach's St Matthew Passion, where the first flute part of both orchestras are in unison with the first oboe. We'll look at the bracketed passage specifically. Because of the quite exotic harmony and the presence of notes like A# and G#, this passage deserves special care in terms of intonation and sound color. It works best if you can imagine you're wrapping around the oboe sound or dissolving into it. I've found myself using the alternate fingering for all of the B's here, and sometimes also in m. 6. Practice this passage with a drone on B. If you can play it soft, well in focus, and in tune, you'll be on the good way to playing well with your oboe colleague. Your lips should feel overall soft, relaxed, and no need to squeeze or pinch. I imagine it might be similar to walking on a tight rope with much confidence. If your lips end up trembling (or also your airstream for that matter), it means that you haven't developed the necessary fine muscles yet. Be patient with yourself and just keep practicing to build up this inner strength, your body will need time to trust and internalize all this coordination between embouchure and air moderation.

I would also suggesting using Gb instead of F# when in combination with G#. (xxx oxx o, another great fingering to discuss another time!). This gives you the chance to use similar techniques for groups of notes so that you can play efficiently and not needing to adjust much. We can thus define this passage as generally needing very little air, slow air, drawing the lips forward for focus and bringing the pitch down. You may have to watch that the A# is not too low, it should suffice if you'd aim a little higher with your lips. Due to the nature of this note, keep it soft and diffused so that you're not competing with the oboe on it. It works best to just stay in the background. 

If you substitute the B natural with the regular fingering or use the regular F# along with G#, you'll have to make huge adjustments to compensate along the way, making this passage a clumsy act. We'd lose pureness, homogeneity, and flexibility in sound, which then causes difficulty to blend well with others. We always want to achieve the maximum with the minimum.