A heartfelt THANK YOU to everyone who came to my Corrente workshop on Sunday! I'll admit it was ambitious planning to talk about the Bach Corrente in 30 minutes😅, but I'm really grateful for the interest from around the world, including participants from Asia tuning in at their wee hours. The Traverso Practice Net and I will be gathering people's feedback and we hope to see you again at a future event. Here's one of my messages from the workshop: ​​

Apparently, the slur between the A and G is not in the original, but the editor put it in as there are many inconsistencies regarding this articulation grouping in this movement. It IS a good suggestion, or one could also tongue lightly and play the G in diminuendo from the A. The "in diminuendo" concept is more important than whether it should be slurred or tongued. This will then set off the B nicely, let it "pop" a little, like just a touch of light on the edges of some sunset clouds. ​In fact, the entire movement is doing just that - the motifs are like wispy layers which keep rising, descending, floating.

With just 3 notes, we can already create an acoustical layering or texture, making our sound 3-dimensional.

We might think of this kind of phrasing as having more priority in lyrical movements, but this is just as important in fast movements! By doing so, the fast will sound even livelier, without us actually playing faster. Our sound will come across as beautifully flexible and nuanced, in any tempo.

✨Flute playing is constantly lifting, shaping our air, our sound. The artistry is the paradox that we have to "work hard" to sound NOT over-worked.

🎶What other paradoxes do you find in flute playing?

"No less must good execution be varied. Light and shadow must be constantly maintained."
- J.J. Quantz "On Playing the Flute" 1752

This is one of the featured images in my film of the "Corrente" from J.S. Bach's Partita in A minor. Premiering on Nov. 13th 2022 at my lecture "Music and Imagery" for HIPSTER Ireland.