Technique
    The piccolo is perhaps most like the flute in technique, except for a few crucial fingerings. Most young flutists do not realize that the optional top octave G# fingering on the flute (No thumb, 0234/0234) is standard for the top octave G# on the piccolo. The long Bb fingering (T100/1004) should be avoided on the piccolo except in extremely fast technical passages where using the lever or thumb is too cumbersome. Because of slight design modifications on the piccolo’s right-hand key work, these fingerings are preferred to correct the intonation.
    Depending on whether the piccolo has a split E mechanism or not, there are several flute trill fingerings that may not work as well on the piccolo. While there are a variety of alternate fingerings for both flute and piccolo, the use of alternate fingerings to assist with intonation and tone color is more prevalent when playing the piccolo.
    Including the standard fingering, I regularly use one of four fingerings for playing the second octave B pianissimo on the piccolo. Another piccolo player might choose another set of fingerings depending on the intonation tendencies of the particular instrument. (A web search will provide a list of various fingerings. Then choose the ones that work best on your instrument.)

Construction
    Depending on the type, design, and materials used to make the piccolo, an instrument may be very similar to or very different from a particular flute. Most professional piccolos are made of wood, with a conical bore and no lip plate on the headjoint. These design modifications make the sound and scale more flute-like and blendable. A metal piccolo produces a sound that is often too strident to blend well with the other winds, and loses the woody warmth that is found on a flute. However, metal instruments are often easier for beginners, and are ideal for use in marching band.
    Due to its tiny size, piccolos are constructed in two pieces, and the elimination of the footjoint means that the lowest note is D, although some makers are exploring the design possibilities of a piccolo with a low C#, C, and B. Generally speaking, the key design is mostly the same, except that there are a few keys which can be manually operated independently on a flute that cannot be separated on a piccolo, particularly in the right hand and the G key. This has an effect on trill options and alternate fingerings, but it is rarely an issue in my experience. Many options that have become standard on the flute, like split-E and C# trill, are being included or explored for the piccolo as well.

Scale
    The primary intonation difference between flute and piccolo is degree. Since piccolos play at the top of the orchestral range, pitch problems that occur in the lowest notes of the orchestra are amplified in the piccolo register; a piccolo player must be able to resolve seemingly gruesome intonation issues with very small, carefully controlled adjustments.
    By and large, flute intonation tendencies apply to piccolo as well, but every piccolo player should examine the full range of the instrument noticing discrepancies. For example, in my flute studies, my teachers emphasized the need to darken the color and lower the pitch on C5 and C#5. However, on piccolo these notes (C6 and C#6) are so flexible that a similar adjustment will make these notes too low. While the high register of a flute is often sharp, I sometimes have to bring the top octave G up slightly on the piccolo. As you explore piccolo playing, use a tuner to make a pitch tendency chart for both your flute and piccolo and compare the similarities and the differences.

Tone Production
    Sometimes flutists assume tone production on piccolo is vastly different from flute. It is not different at all. It simply comes down to a concept of sound, and listening for that sound. Problems arise when flutists assume tone production is different, so they produce a different tone. The same methods you apply to get a full, resonant, pure, polished, lush, warm, dark, sparkling (insert your favorite adjective) tone on flute can and should be applied to piccolo, albeit with an ear for the appropriate size.
    It is like painting with a thick paintbrush versus a narrow one, and the paint is the air. Strive for the same quality of a free, supported airstream and utilize the complete physical resonance of the body so that the tone is produced before it comes out of the piccolo. When the tone exits through the opening in the lips, it is adapted to fit the instrument – that is, channeled efficiently through the smaller aperture, and shaped to create that concept of sound in a way that suits the musical situation.

Vibrato
    As the piccolo sounds an octave higher than written, when playing piccolo, use vibrato appropriate to the note that is sounding, not the note you see. This means you should think of the vibrato as being faster and narrower than the vibrato would be if you were reading the same note on the flute. As you ascend through the range of the piccolo, vibrato will get narrower yet. Even in very soloistic passages, the high register on piccolo should never have a wide, throbbing vibrato. At that frequency, such pulsations will sound like wild variations in pitch rather than a beautiful expressive tool. Like the flute, vibrato should always exist within the sound. Do not use a vibrato that overwhelms the tonal resonance of a given pitch.
 
Endurance
    In order to play piccolo well, you should become comfortable playing at the top of its range. For hearing safety, wear an earplug or two when practicing. You will get used to the sound of the register, but it is essential to be mindful of long-term hearing, and the highest decibel ranges of the piccolo can be damaging. Play with confidence and do not shy away from high notes. Any issues of lip fatigue, buzzing, or breath control can probably be solved by taking a break, or playing the same passage on flute and trying to learn from your familiarity with the other instrument. Do not expect to master the differences in a matter of days or even weeks. Sporadic marathon piccolo practice sessions are ill-advised if you have not trained appropriately. Instead, play the piccolo a little bit every day. It is the top register of the flute, and there is truly wonderful music written for it. You cannot reach those musical highs without it.

The post Piccolo and Flute: Similarities and Differences appeared first on The Instrumentalist.

   
For the 5-step process, you will need the following equipment:
Step 1:    recordings of a violinist
Step 2:    tuner and metronome
Step 3:    pennies
Step 4:    grand piano
Step 5:    recording device

Step 1: Practicing Pitch Navigation
    This step does not involve the flute. Choose a professional recording of a solo violinist playing with keyboard or orchestra. Listen intently to the solo line and follow the melodic contour. Sing along inwardly; do not sing aloud. If your mind wanders, trace the contour of the melody in the air with your hand. Notice any pitch nuances or adjustments.
    Anticipate the next note and its pitch placement. If you notice a discrepancy between your imagined voice and the recorded one, consider it a good thing. The point of this exercise is to strengthen your instincts and opinion, and at the same time to develop a quick comparison of what you hear in your head in relationship to the performer’s playing. It is an activity of measuring and steering.
    It is important not to fall into a critique of either the performance or of your own ear. Stay playful and engaged with the music. After several practice sessions you should be able to turn on this listening skill easily, and may find yourself doing it even when passively listening to music. If, on the other hand, you feel at a loss, you may have more success with this after completing step 3.

Step 2: Pitch Bending
    To play in tune you must be able to play out of tune. With a metronome set at quarter note = 60, play C5 for two counts, mf, in tune with the tuner. After the pitch has stabilized, raise the pitch one cent for two counts, and then return to the in-tune note. Next, lower the pitch one cent for two counts and then return to the in-tune note. Repeat on each note ascending chromatically to C6. Listen carefully to learn how much one cent really is.
    Begin again with the metronome set at quarter note = 60. Play C5 for two counts in tune. Then begin making an upward pitch glissando over the next four counts raising the pitch as high as you can. Then hold this final pitch for several counts. Repeat the process, but this time make a downward pitch glissando over the next four counts, once again holding the final flat note for several counts. The goal is to glissando for one half step, using techniques such as blowing louder or softer to help raise or lower the pitch, and rolling the embouchure hole in or out. 

Step 3: Whole and Half Steps
    This step is a fast track toward ear training prowess by examining the smallest intervals, the whole-steps and half-steps that are the building blocks of scales.
    Arrange nine pennies in the general contour of a five-note ascending and descending minor scale. Adjust the placement of the pennies to illustrate where the whole-step and half-steps are. A G minor five-note scale is G, A, Bb, C, D, C, Bb, A, G. The intervals of these notes are whole-step, half step, whole step, whole step, whole step, whole step, half step, whole step.

 
    Play the G minor five-note scale very slowly and legato while looking at the pennies. Notice the distance between the whole steps and the closeness of the half steps. Exaggerate the placement of the pitch to make the half steps close together and the whole  steps large. Transpose the passage to begin on other notes, and also experiment with other scale patterns.

Step 4: Harmonic Series, Finding Overtones
    At a grand piano play a C2 with the damper pedal down. Let the note sustain until it decays and listen intently to the overtones which emerge. These notes will be C2, C3, G3, C4, E4, G4, Bb4. Listen especially for the fifth partial E4 and the sixth partial G4. Then play these two notes on your flute while the C2 is still sounding. Repeat this exercise at the octave and on other pitches. Mimic the rich, overtone-laden sound of the piano as one of the goals of this practice. Try to imitate the piano’s long natural decrescendo, that is so stable in pitch. This exercise also lays the ground work for familiarity with tuning to the natural overtone series.

Step 5: Recording Yourself
    For the final step, work on playing in tune with yourself. Use a small recording device, smart phone or tablet – a video recording is preferable. Sound quality is not important, but ease of playback is. Record some of the same five-note scale patterns from step 3, or melodies with stepwise motion from your repertoire. Play it back and listen, making observations about the intonation. Next, play along with the recording, matching pitch and timing. Try to place the half and whole steps the same way twice in a row. Notice whether you can lock your ear onto the recorded pitch and match it exactly. Experiment with the blending quality of the sound when you play along. Often blend fixes intonation.

    Practice one exercise per week for five minutes each day. After five weeks, these skills of navigating, measuring, pitch bending, interval awareness, hearing overtones, and tracking and blending sound should be becoming second nature. This will allow you to think about intonation all the time but still have attention left over for other details of playing music. As you become more aware of the nuances of pitch and timbre, you will find that there are more options for expressing yourself musically. These five steps will also lay a foundation for finding a successful approach to the many challenges that arise when playing and performing in different situations, including taking an A, playing in tune with piano, or playing chord tones with other winds in orchestra. In five weeks you will be ready.

The post Five Weeks to Better Intonation appeared first on The Instrumentalist.

How did you get started on the flute?
    Like many flutists, I started in the public school music system. When I was a freshman in high school, I began private lessons in the Preparatory Department at Eastman. During my second year, I began lessons with Patricia George. At the time I was not really sure that playing the flute was for me and had even asked my father if I could quit. Many years later, I found out that my father and Patricia had an agreement to give my lessons six months and see if we could turn things around. This was a definite turning point for me. After two years of intense work on fundamentals, etudes, and solo repertoire, it was arranged for me to do an early audition for entrance into Eastman to study with Joseph Mariano (below), and I was accepted. I spent five fantastic and challenging years at Eastman where Joseph Mariano encouraged me to develop more sensitivity and individuality in my playing. I also found inspiration from the other flute students there during this time, including Leone Buyse, Paul Britten, Bonita Boyd, Fenwick Smith, Robert Goodberg, Damian Bursill-Hall, Linda Christen-sen Wetherill, Diane Smith, Jan Harbaugh Angus, Janet Ferguson, Randy Hester and Glennda Dove to name just a few. 

    My college teaching career started with a one-year sabbatical replacement at SUNY: Fredonia which gave me experience teaching flute at the college level and a reality check into the inner workings of a music school. Next I taught at Roger Williams College in Bristol, Rhode Island. After the first semester, I was appointed flute professor at Ohio State where I stayed for four years. I realized that I needed a doctorate, so I applied and received a doctoral fellowship to Ball State University where I studied with one of the unsung heroes of the flute world, Paul Boyer. Two years spent with him expanded and solidified pedagogical ideas for teaching much of the standard flute repertoire. His style of coaching was exactly what I needed at the time.

What did you learn from your doctoral studies? 
    Having been in the professional world for a few years before pursuing my doctorate gave me a clearer idea of what I wanted out of an advanced degree. I knew that a college teaching career was perfect for me. I wanted an approach that would not only help to perfect my skills, but would also allow for discussion of teaching ideas for practicing, approaching etudes in a methodical but musical way, and for plugging some of the holes in my knowledge of standard repertoire that I would teach in the future. Mr. Boyer gave me creative and clever ideas to take a piece apart, find ways to extract concepts to focus on outside of the piece, and to bring life to some of the intermediate and moderately advanced repertoire. One task I remember in particular was going through the entire Flute Music by French Composers book performing each solo and then discussing what typical problems might occur and some ideas on how to solve them.

What led you to Texas State?
    While I was working on my doctorate, I watched for college flute job openings. In my second year the position at Texas State was advertised. I was hesitant at first about applying because I still had my dissertation to write and I was not sure about moving to Texas, having grown up in Rochester and with my family still there. Paul Boyer encouraged me to apply. Knowing how few and far between college teaching jobs are, I decided to throw my hat in the ring. Thirty-two years later, I am very glad I did.
    For the job interview I performed a half-hour recital, taught three students of varying proficiency levels, had interviews with the search committee and upper administration, and had a question and answer session with students. After a grueling two days, I was offered the job. As I recall, they gave me a week to make the decision. After completing my coursework that summer, I packed and headed to Texas.

What was your dissertation topic and how did you complete it while teaching full-time?
    My topic was The University Flute Choir: A Study of its Viability as a Performing Ensemble and Instructional Medium with a Compendium of Recommendations and Warm-up Exercises. Fortunately, I had already chosen the topic and written some of it before I left Ball State. For the first few years at Texas State, my top priority was building a studio and getting settled into my college position. I spent summers researching and writing the dissertation. It was a difficult task to complete and took seven years plus a little pressure and motivation from my department chairman. I now can definitely see the advantages of finishing the dissertation before getting a job. 
    However, this research led to the eventual publication of The Flute Choir Method Book (published under the name Adah Toland Mosello by ALRY Publications), which explores, through warming up activities, the technical and musical aspects of performing in a flute choir.

What has led you to stay at Texas State for 32 years? 
    I really enjoy working with the students at Texas State. They are wonderfully receptive, and we establish close relationships. The location of the school provides many performing opportunities for me. I have been principal flute of the Austin Lyric Opera Company since its inception in 1987, and the school’s location between Austin and San Antonio allows me to be a substitute and extra flutist with both the Austin and San Antonio Symphonies. In the summer, I am principal flute with the Victoria (Texas) Bach Festival Orchestra. This week-long festival features performances of chamber music, orchestra music, and usually one large-scale work with Conspirare, an Austin-based professional vocal ensemble.

Do you have a weekly group flute class?
    My flute seminar meets once a week for 90 minutes which gives students the opportunity to work on various technical and musical aspects in a group setting and to perform for each other. Each semester they focus on one playing technique. For instance, last semester they concentrated on dynamics. In the flute seminars, students each performed a melody from Trevor Wye’s Practice Book for Flute, Volume 4: Intonation and Vibrato or Marcel Moyse’s Twenty-Four Little Melodic Studies with Variations adding their own dynamics. Then the class identified and discussed the dynamic choices.
    This semester the focus is on intonation. I divided students into pairs in order to make a pitch tendency chart. While one student played from B4 to D7, the other filled in the chart, and then they switched jobs. They have found the biggest trouble spots and are honing in on correcting them with warm ups based on harmonics, slow melodies, triads and scales. I plan to repeat the process two more times this semester.
    Since performance anxiety seems to be a universal issue, each student performs for one minute in the seminar each week. They dress in recital attire and practice proper stage etiquette. This frequent exposure to a performance situation is reaping benefits already as students have commented that they feel more relaxed and in control. They also make written comments for each person who plays an extended performance in class in addition to the usual verbal ones. I feel both ways of commenting help students articulate their ideas and formulate their own teaching style. 
    Each term students concentrate on one style period, rotating through the music of the Baroque, Classic, Romantic, examination pieces from the Paris Conservatory, and music of the 20th and 21st centuries. One seminar class is devoted to an overview of the time period and basic performance practices. Each student chooses a specific composition, researches it, and then performs on a studio recital. In addition, they also explore technical and tone exercises, etudes, and a variety of solo works. 
    Based on a student’s suggestion a few years ago, upper level and graduate students have the opportunity to do an individual project each semester. This has turned out to be enjoyable and informative for the student, the studio, and me. Some of the innovative projects completed by students include: 
•    Developing a CD set of two to three recordings of most of the standard pieces of repertoire accompanied by an Excel chart listing the piece, composer, performer, and style period. This has become a handy resource for the studio.
•    Learning Celtic flute and performing for the flute seminar, giving a brief description of some of the playing challenges and performance practices.
•    Arranging Christmas carols in duet or trio form for beginning flute players.
•    Developing a PowerPoint presentation discussing the differences between music education in South Korea and the U.S. by one of my Korean students. (This project also involved some culinary delicacies.)
•    Presenting a detailed outline of the process of applying to graduate schools, including details about auditions, preparing the various required pieces and excerpts, arranging audition dates, etc.
•    Making original compositions and arrangements, including short flute choir pieces, solo pieces, and interesting chamber pieces.
•    Keeping a journal about teaching experiences for a semester. Many of my students teach several students of their own, so one tracked assignments and progress and presented this with a video of her teaching for the studio to observe and critique.
•    Interviewing and writing synopses of several women conductors, including their training and aspects of their current positions.
 
    The projects vary incredibly each semester, and I am always curious to see what my students choose to explore. This adds another dimension to their development and gives them the freedom to spend time researching topics of their own choosing.
 
How did you come to study with Jean-Pierre Rampal and Marcel Moyse? 
    I had the opportunity to spend two summers studying with Rampal, one in Nice, France and the other in Stratford, Ontario. These two masterclasses profoundly influenced my development as a flutist and as a teacher. I returned to Nice a few years later with two of my flute students from Ohio State. Hearing Rampal play on a daily basis for weeks at a time was an incredible and life-changing experience; his exuberance and zest for life was infectious.
    Rampal taught each day for six to seven hours with a break for lunch. The level of playing was astoundingly good, and I heard pieces in the repertoire that I did not know. Joseph Mariano had a rather quiet, dignified demeanor. His teaching style was quite thoughtful and rather serious in approach and always conveyed a sense of purpose, concentrating on sound, style, and nuance. The atmosphere in Rampal’s class was very different. He was bigger than life, incredibly energetic and very demonstrative. My playing was quite timid at times, and his sparkle was just what I needed to bring me out of my shell. I can remember several occasions when he stood right in front of my music stand and shouted, “Joue!” (Play!) “Joue la Flûte!” with the most amazing twinkle in his eyes. Both in my lessons and with the other flutists, he concentrated mostly on projecting musical ideas, exaggerating nuances, finding the character of the piece, and using all of the senses to explore the possibilities. This was not a place to work on fundamentals; this was an opportunity to really grow and move to the next level of independent musicianship.
    I also attended a week-long masterclass with Marcel Moyse in Vermont. The experience of just being in the same room with such a great master cannot be duplicated. The flute masterclass was  half of the day, and a woodwind chamber music class was the other half. Again I was exposed to such chamber pieces as the Mozart Gran Partita, the great Beethoven Octet, and Chansons et Danses by d’Indy. Watching Moyse come alive in these classes (he was in his 80s at the time) was magical. I remember a couple of specifics that have stuck with me. One young lady played Syrinx and was a bit too free with the rhythm, so Moyse walked up next to her as she was playing and tapped eighth-note subdivisions throughout the entire piece. The place where the class was held was quite chilly in the mornings, and I remember him taking my flute out of my hands as I was blowing warm air into the embouchure hole. He turned my flute upside down and blew in the footjoint explaining that the low register would still be flat if the end of the flute was cold. There were so many phrasing ideas that he explained with the most beautiful metaphors.

What do you look for in a prospective student?
    I search for potential. First and foremost, I look for a good sense of rhythm and pulse. Additional qualities include a well-developed, centered sound with a natural-sounding vibrato, a reasonably comfortable playing position, good posture, and a basic control of technical and articulation aspects of flute playing. When possible, I encourage students to contact me to have a mini-lesson before their audition. This gives me an opportunity to see if they have a willingness to try new ideas, and seem self-motivated. I also look for students I think will fit into the program and will get along with other students in my studio as I try to foster an atmosphere of support and mutual encouragement. This is as important to me as their playing, and it makes the day-to-day environment more comfortable, non-competitive, and healthy. 

What do you focus on in the first lesson with new students?
    At the first meeting, I take a flute history, like a physical with a new medical doctor. I find out their knowledge of scales and warm-ups and then have them play while I watch for posture, hand position, embouchure, breathing, use of vibrato, sense of phrasing, ability to double tongue and of course their sense of rhythm. I jot down my findings and then usually start with breathing and support.
     I have several good analogies that work well for support, but the best one is to think of a bicycle pump. After securing your feet on the base, lift the handle. As air is drawn into the tube, there is no resistance. As you press down on the handle, there is resistance because the air is being compressed into a smaller space as it is pushed into the bottom of the tube, into the small hose and then into the tiny opening in the tire. Our body works like this only upside down. We let the air in with no resistance, then a firm pressure moves the air from the lungs into the smaller space of the windpipe and then through the tiny hole in the lips. The resistance needed to let the air out slowly but with energy is created by the air moving from one space into a smaller and smaller place.
    Posture comes next. I tell students to get a slight turn in the head with the flute slightly forward and the right arm lifted directly up from the side. Since most of my students come from a marching band background, this change of position needs to happen right away to assist in tone production and better support.
    Embouchure would be next on the agenda. I work with students to develop a natural, relaxed position with slightly firm corners and flexible lips. The most important thing is to find the groove in the chin where the curve of the embouchure plate can rest. I liken it to two spoons being cradled together. This seems to place the embouchure plate in a good spot so that the right amount of the hole is covered and there is room for slight changes between registers.

What types of pieces do you begin with when students first come to you?
    Most students have gaps in their knowledge of the intermediate repertoire. I think many times they have been encouraged to jump into difficult repertoire too soon, without establishing good tone and phrasing concepts by playing less complex pieces such as Handel Sonatas or pieces from Cavally’s collection Twenty-four Short Concert Pieces. Working on Baroque repertoire gives them the opportunity to explore the effects that modulation, sequence, use of non-chord tones, and phrase structure have on breathing, tone colors, and articulation. The solos in the Twenty-four Short Concert Pieces move into Romantic repertoire to develop more overt expression, control of extended range, and advanced technical skills. I especially like the Molique Andante to expose students to more complex rhythms. Patience is required to understand that stepping back to analyze and perfect good playing concepts will pay off in the long run. My younger students hear the more advanced students performing repertoire such as Prokofiev, Taktakishvili, Liebermann, or Reinecke and know that they started with the same pieces and that the process pays off over time.

* * *

Double Tonguing Exercises –

Flute Notebooks

Each semester, my students are required to keep a notebook with the following:

1.    Goals: short and long term
2.    Weekly lesson assignment sheets
3.    Practice routine outline(s)
4.    Weekly Practice Chart: a brief daily log of practice sessions.
5.    Notes from lessons, including written reviews of weekly lesson recordings
6.    Handouts: schedules, syllabus updates, pertinent articles, exercises, etc.
7.    Historical overview forms for solo repertoire: students are required to complete a brief historical overview form for each solo studied in the semester. These are due at the completion of each solo work and then added to the notebook.
8.    Evaluation Forms: After each studio recital, students listen to the recording and fill out an evaluation form with about fifteen questions, ranking them from 1-10, including intonation, control of technique, vibrato, rhythmic stability, etc.

     After students have completed the Upper Level Competency Exam after four semesters of study, practice logs are no longer required. Upperclassmen choose a topic for an individual project.
Former students often contact me to tell me how much the notebooks helped them and how many times they refer to them in their own teaching.

The post Teaching at Texas State University: A Conversation with Adah Toland Jones. appeared first on The Instrumentalist.

Go to the Source
    Find the manuscript or earliest edition of the music. Decipher as much as possible of the composer’s original intent. Unfortunately, many modern editions are heavily edited in a well-meaning attempt to give students information about Baroque performance traditions that was not included the original printed edition. For example many Baroque composers notated recommendations for articulations, dynamics, and sometimes ornamentation only in the first bars of a composition, and Baroque performers may or may not have followed these ideas. A comparison of a manuscript to an edited version will show what is original and what was added later. For students to make informed choices, they should know what indications are suggestions by editors.
    If students are not playing from an urtext edition, they should photocopy the music and white-out the editor’s markings. Below are examples which illustrate some of the differences between part of the Grave movement of the original Rogers Edition of the Handel Sonata in E Minor HWV 359b, a modern urtext edition, and a final version after editorial choices were added to the urtext edition.

Original Edition

Modern Urtext Edition

Editorial Changes to Urtext Edition

Practice Baroque Rhythm
   Because Baroque music was based on the idea of dancing, the strength of the beat rule was used. Beats were considered to be strong (good) and weak (bad). In 2/4 meter, the first beat was strong and the second was weak. In 3/4 meter, the first beat was strong, the second weaker, and the third weakest. In 4/4 meter, the first beat was strong, the second weak, the third less strong, and the fourth weaker.
    In performance musicians counted the music in their head the way we would today; but tapped their feet according to a different set of principles. Today in a 4/4 meter composition that is played alla breve, players tap a downward motion on beats one and three, but in the Baroque, musicians made a downward foot tap on one and an upward motion on beat three. In 3/4 meter, players tapped a downward motion on beat one and an upward motion on beat three.
    Interestingly, this rhythmic tradition of tapping irregularly persisted into the early 19th century, as can be seen from part of a page of the celebrated 19th century British Flutist Charles Nicholson’s 1836 Flute Tutor, where he indicated this method for beating time with a D for tapping the foot down and a U for raising the foot up.

    Students who adopt this rhythmic tradition often find that they have to learn to feel the music in their bodies. This recreates the dance-like style that was the origin of much of Baroque music. When students do this, they find that physically beating time as opposed to simply counting beats dramatically alters their performances. Modern performers may want to follow Nicholson’s system of marking the strong and weak beats with a D or U in relationship to tapping one’s foot, or simply use down and up arrows to simplify the process. Additionally, students can mark down and up practice arrows in their music as a performance aid.
    Below are some examples of practice arrows which illustrate the authentic 18th century concept of beating beats in part of the duple meter Allegro and the triple meter Adagio movements of the of the Handel Sonata in E Minor HWV 359b.

Isolate and Practice the Simple Melody
     Baroque era composers conceived their music in a very sparse format. The musical custom of the day was for performers to add any elaboration or ornamentation of the melody spontaneously as the work was being performed. This is similar to the process in which jazz players perform with only the outlines of chord progressions as their guide.
     When performing from a modern edition that includes written out ornamentation, make a skeleton of the melody by removing all non-chordal material. Practice this skeleton and shape the phrase by playing the contour of the melody. As the notes ascend, they will gradually become louder, and as they descend softer. During subsequent repetitions, consider the dynamic design and articulation choices. Little by little add in the non-chordal tones recalling the basic skeleton of the melody. If musical issues arise, return to practicing the skeleton.
     Circled notes below illustrate an example of a possible skeleton for the Grave movement of the Handel Sonata in E Minor.

Combine the Correct Rhythm and Melody
     After practicing these two elements separately, combine the two activities. It may be helpful if the teacher plays the melody while the student taps a foot and then for the student to play the melody while the teacher taps a foot. If difficulties arise, return to practicing the two activities separately.
     Some students find success by tapping both feet simultaneously, then tapping with alternating feet, before tapping with one foot only. Use a video camera to chart problems and progress.

Articulation and Ornamentation
     A good source to consult in making articulation and ornamentation choices is the J.J. Quantz On Playing the Flute. Quantz recommended ornamenting lightly rather than over doing it. For ideas consult contemporary various Performer’s Editions to see what options modern day Baroque players suggest. Generally Baroque flutists employed the following articulation patterns:

Conjunct notes were often slurred and notes with wide intervallic skips were articulated. If in doubt, articulate the notes. Baroque composers often indicated articulations and ornamentation suggestions at the beginning of a composition and expected the performer to follow suit. Additional hints can often be found in the urtext score. The following are articulation suggestions (slurring in pairs or tongue 1, slur 3) given by Handel or his editor in the Allegro from the Sonata in E Minor HWV 359b. 

     Practice of the skeleton and Baroque rhythm will show students the important melodic and rhythmic elements of the music. Using this knowledge they can apply Handel’s suggested two articulation patterns to the rest of the movement. For example, Handel indicates that flutists should articulate the disjunct melodic patterns of chordal intervals in slurred pairs while the conjunct melodic patterns should be articulated as slur 1 tongue 3. Because skips were often articulated and not slurred, Handel may have deliberately indicated that these intervals should be slurred in pairs. Students can use this information to make articulation choices for the rest of the movement as indicated below.

     Ornamentation ideas can also often be found in the urtext score. Students learning to ornament a Baroque sonata should consult other sonatas by the same composer. Many times Baroque composers wrote out ornamentation suggestions of a melodic idea in one sonata which could also be applied to another one. For example, a simple concept to use when learning to ornament is filling in the thirds. Looking at the Largo from the B Minor Sonata HWV 367b, Handel used the concept of filling in the third on the fourth beat of measure 8.

     Students learning the C Major Sonata HWV 365 can see by consulting the B Minor Sonata that they could apply this concept to the C Major arpeggio in the third measure of the C Major Larghetto. 

    Creating a historically appropriate performance on a modern flute is a rewarding experience because you are respecting the composer’s work and the traditions of the period.        

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    A Google search of the word audience renders up numerous pages of sites admonishing readers to Know Your Audience for successful public speaking, play writing, and just about anything else one could think of, yet very little is ever presented to music students during their college years on the subject of the audience. As my mother would have said, “It takes two to Tango,” and musicians do not perform in a vacuum – at least they shouldn’t have to. They play for the Audience.
    The standard academic scenario portrays students laboring alone in a small cubicle for hours every day, honing their skills, learning the repertoire, and hoping that, when the time comes, they will be a smidgen better than everyone else and able to land the dream job that has been at the end of the rainbow since they were twelve. All of that preparation is done in a vacuum, with the exception of a weekly hour-long lesson with a teacher. Four years of undergraduate school and two to three years of graduate school equals approximately seven years of practicing in a tiny room for at least four hours a day – alone. This does not include those pre-college years, which are equally important. The rest of college time is spent in the rehearsals and classes the school requires (you could call this hoop jumping if you wish), but the major priority for music students is practice time – finding enough of it and still getting the class work done well enough to pass. Thousands of hours are spent alone. The audience is seldom mentioned and rarely encountered.
    In an academic setting, audiences are made up of fellow students and teachers, perhaps a few locals from the community, but basically a pretty rarified bunch of listeners. They are in the know, which multiplies the pressure that performers feel, but they are also an audience unlike those that will be encountered post academia.
    Does this mean that general non-academic audiences are less educated? Not necessarily, but their expectations are less stringent. They come to hear you play because they like music, know you, or just generally want to be entertained. I have always been mystified after attending concerts with my husband. Other than a failed attempt at piano lessons when he was ten, he is musically uneducated. He grew up in a family that played classical recordings at home (the 1812 Overture was a favorite), attended Ravinia concerts in the summer (more for the picnic on the lawn than for the music), and sang in the local church choir. However, they were not what musicians would call musically trained.
    Yet when my husband and I leave a concert we have just heard, he offers his review of the musical offering, and he is always right on the money. He will comment that the second piece seemed boring or took too long, the soloist wasn’t at her best, and so forth. I have always said he has a great set of ears. Interestingly, my reaction is usually the same, but I have the training to know why. 
    This might suggest several things to musicians about their audiences and how they perceive performances:
    1. Program music that an audience will enjoy.
    2. Prepare to the best of your ability because if you do not, they will know it. They may not know why you seemed unfit for the job, but that is the impression they will get if you do not nail it, both emotionally and technically.
    3. See audiences as part of the event. This is a big one; musicians often are not used to considering them as participatory, but they are, or at least they should be. After all, music must be heard to be appreciated.
    You see, without the audience, we could all just go home. There would be no need for a concert or recital in the first place. We need the audience as much as they need us.

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