2008 Boot Camp: Before & After Photos (BF&CPBC X)

Hey Everyone,

Here are a couple of shots of the gang on the Sunday Ice Cream Cruise and after the class recital.

Ernie, Nell, and Laura enjoying the houseboats. Please note Rich's and Asuncion's feet.

Pauline and Ron enjoy the Seattle summer day.

The Survivors after the class recital.

2008 Boot Camp Epilogue: I feel like practicing

Thanks, everyone, for making this particular boot camp the most enjoyable in the 10 years I've been having it. It was quite an experience to have everyone dive in with such gusto, and work well while being out of your respective comfort zones.

As I was walking the dog after leaving Hale's Ales, I really felt like practicing. I suppose I could take the afternoon off, and perhaps Sunday as well, but I do have what is essentially a solo recital on September 2, here in Seattle. On the other hand, and I hope I am not alone, I am what one might call exhausted, mentally and physically.

During the coming week it will all sink in and all of the things I made mental notes of to address in my own practicing will make themselves evident. The workshop really does help me to become a better player. The nitpicking on individuals are almost always things that I see in my own playing. You all are, in a sense, teaching me.

There were some awards to be handed out today but, as usual, I ran short of time between Friday night and Saturday morning, so I will have to send them via the post.

I'll post photos as they come in to me. For now, watch this space for those few I (or Sam, Rich, and George) took with my camera.

Thank you all again!

kp

2007 Boot Camp Photos (BF&VdGBC IX)

Courtesy of Joan.

Click HERE.

Maintenance (or, things change from year to year)

OK, after hearing about a few inconsistencies on the boot camp website based on some comments from the members, I decided to take a look and I was HORRIFIED by what I saw.

So I fixed a few things, removed, I hope, the inconsistencies, updated things such as schedule and format, and now feel as if I'm quite ready . . . for boot camp 2009.

As for 2008, I hope everyone is ready, with workbooks printed, 3-hole punched, and placed in a notebook, ready for the handouts I'll give them during the week, including, but not limited to, a DAILY SCHEDULE of where to start the day, etc.

Still have two days to refine the masterclass matrix. Watch this space for details and see you all on Sunday night at 6:30 PM in Otto Miller Hall Rooms 118 and 119.

Gus Denhard on Baroque Continuo Performance

My vision for an excellent continuo accompaniment in baroque music consists of two ideas, one somewhat technical and the other based on instincts developed through experience:

1. The accompanist must complete the composition in a manner that the composer would have recognized as coherent and stylish.

This is the part that can be learned through study to a large extent. In the most blatant example, it means not playing a 1960s-style funk accompaniment to a 17th-century song, unless you are attempting parody! But of course we are looking for a much finer distinction here. Every period, nationality, and composer had a distinctive compositional style, with some elements the same and others differing. Here are ways to hone in on this information, such as:

A. Study the fully composed (non-continuo) repertory of the composer you want to play an accompaniment for. If you are accompanying Bach, study scores and listen to a range of his music, not just the genre you are accompanying.

B. Find a continuo method by the composer if there is one, and by his colleagues. Start with the composer's immediate circle and work out. For example, if you want to play Purcell, read his own ideas first, then those of his teacher, John Blow, then Matthew Locke, a colleague from the previous generation. If you have time, look at the French and Italian sources from his time, but don't start at that end.

C. Use the above information to put together your own approach to accompanying the specific repertory, idiomatic to your instrument. Of course use the harmonic language that the composer used, but also copy the figuration you see in the composed music as it seems to fit your instrument: broken chords, scales, implied counterpoint, etc.

All that for one composer! Most of us fall very short of this kind of preparation. It takes time, patience, and a desire to put the composer and his time ahead of our own musical personality. It means that there is no default continuo style, no whitewash that we can apply to all music and get away with it. It may mean we have a special instrument for Purcell that we do not use for Monteverdi. To the degree we can manage it, the above is the best approach. The limits that it imposes on what and how we play will put us in a better position for the next, and most challenging aspect of good continuo playing:

2. Giving yourself over to the soloist and the musical moment.

When the items noted above in part one are in order, this part comes naturally. Your goal here is simple - to arrive at the best possible performance in collaboration with the soloist. It requires a certain humanity and sympathy to do this well. Every soloist, every moment in rehearsal and performance requires your full attention and participation. In order to do this you need to:

A. Know the vocal text if there is one. Study the language, learn the grammar, so you can get the jokes, irony, pathos that is trying to be communicated. Sing the song yourself as you accompany in practice.

B. If there is no text, try to understand and connect to the instrumental language of the violinist, flutist, etc. Play their part on your instrument while you sing the bass, then sing their part while you play a full accompaniment. THEN add words to their untexted melody, sing and play.

C. Both A and B will connect you to the music, but nothing will substitute for lots of experience accompanying singers and instrumentalists. You'll learn to follow without looking, to lead and follow at the same time, and most importantly, to relish every musical moment for the soloist, composer, and audience.


Gus Denhard
July 16, 2008

just for fun

SHAKUHACHI*
(by Jim Mitsui**)

When his son-in law
asked for lessons,
he nodded.
Slipped the bamboo
out of its silk case.
Played one note.
Played it till it hung
clear as the moon.
Handed over the instrument.
Said, "Practice this note.
Come back in a year
for the second."

*as published in Bruchac, J. ed. Breaking Silence, an Anthology of Contemporary Asian American Poets. New York: Greenfield Review Press, 1983.

**scroll down this web page for the author's bio

Shared WITHOUT the author's permission, but..... adequately cited.

Les chants des oiseaux (or, more on the practice of practicing)

Originally posted here. Used, of course, with the author's permission.

The MCAT and I spent much of the recent holiday weekend doing something we had not done for a couple of years: birding. We were in extreme south central Oregon. Here, and here.

The entire experience was beautiful. The weather, the setting, the lack of other humans, and the birds (and the muskrat, the enormous frog, a couple of deer, and the pronghorn antelope). It was worth a few bug bites (we sprayed ourselves, our clothes, our hats, and one determined bug managed to bite me on the rear THROUGH my blue jeans, between the pocket with the handkerchief and the center seam). There were some rock star birds, two of which were new to us. The Long-billed Curlew and the White-faced Ibis. Others we had seen before but never so close were the American Avocet, the Black-necked Stilt, the Black-crowned Night Heron, the American White Pelican, and the Sandhill Crane. In all we saw about 30 different birds.

My experience as a birder tells me that there are three ways to do it. With binoculars, with a spotting scope, and by ear. The spotting scope is a great way to see things in great detail and without your bodily functions making you move (your heatbeat! What did you think I meant?). You can get some incredibly good looks at birds from much farther away than you can with even very powerful binoculars. The downside is that someone (usually the biggest person in the group, usually me) has to carry the scope. [Coyote Banjo is the only person I know who might occasionally relieve me on scope portage. But that's another story for another time. ]

Birding by ear is very challenging but also very rewarding. You either need to go out with someone who knows the bird calls in a specific area, or you buy recordings of them, listen at home, and then take your chances in the wild (or the city park; birds seem to be everywhere). I have put a few discs of bird songs on my MP3 player and used it for confirmation when on a group outing.

What most people do is use binoculars. But unless you live in a place where lots of different birds come into your backyard and are used to people, you won't see much up close.

That brings me to the style of birding that MCAT and I do. We like to stalk the birds in their environment. This takes as much, if not more, patience than learning the birds by ear. You can walk into the territory to a certain point and then the avian alarm system kicks in. At a certain point the sounds change from songs to alarms, and there is no mistaking the difference. How do you bypass this incredible alarm? Patience. We learned, through a field course at the North Cascades Institute, how to work around this warning system, and even use it to your advantage.

The key concept here is PROCESS (yes, we're getting to the process of practicing). First, don't look directly at the birds and smile, even if they are miles high in a tree in plain sight. The second you show teeth, you become a predator who wants to eat them. Smile at those little guys and they become invisible. No, experience shows that if you adapt a meditative style of walking and breathing, and have no sense of urgency about you, you can stand in the middle of a clearing in broad daylight, slow your breathing down, and just stand there for a couple of minutes, and the birds will pick up on your non-predator energy and go about their business, which is all about three things: mating, eating, and when the season is right, feeding their young. We learned the "fox walk," which, when done properly, makes tai chi seem to go at light speed. You can get pretty close to birds perched on a bush not more than 7 feet tall if you are prepared to go at a silent speed of about 10 steps in 3 minutes. The idea is to move so slowly and without making eye contact with the birds, you should be able to move continuously and almost imperceptibly towards the birds. No sudden movements. And when you get to where you want to be, you have to wait and not move for another minute or so before you can put up your field glasses.

MCAT and I love doing it this way. You get really close to the birds, you can really study them, imprint their images on your brain, and just enjoy the world.

The birds at the Summer Lake National Wildlife Refuge were wiley and skittish, especially the ducks. Nothing like getting shot at in the winter to make you wary of all humans who enter your turf. And I had lost my stalking chops. Those darn blackbird sentries! They make a ton of noise and you know they are there but their habitat is such that you have to really know where to look to see them. I had a good look at the aforementioned Ibis, and thought I could improve my view with just two long steps. But I moved too quickly after the first step and the sounds changed from nice blackbird songs to "CHIRP!" and the Ibis family took to the air, along with a few blackbirds. One upside to this was that it roused the Night Heron from its slumber (they typically are active at night, not in broad daylight), and its slow ascent gave us a good look. And, after I accidently vacated the premises, I just stayed in that spot and waited. Sure enough, the Long-billed Curlew couple came by after a short time and went about their business and I got a great look at them.

Patience, and a willingness to keep at something without creating any tension in your body is how to make this a successful venture.

Kind of sounds a lot like practicing a musical instrument. Except the practicing of an instrument does not come with a spotting scope option. You have to get out in the field and stalk those techniques.

[It was incredibly validating to see/hear Dirk Powell discuss the process of practicing in his "Learn to play the Cajun accordion" video that I have. He, too, says that no one wants to practice certain exercises but that you won't get anywhere if you don't. He even acknowledges that it is not fun, but, with less time than you think, you'll be on your way to mastering Jolie Blonde. And it turns out that the 10-button, single row accordion is by far the most difficult instrument I've ever tried to play. Quite humbling, actually.]

How are you going to be able to maintain your chops while playing, for example, BWV 1067? You have to play every note in every movement for 20 minutes. Yes, there are three bars of rest in the Ouverture, but at the proper tempo you may use those not as "rests" but as an opportunity to tank up on air to avoid flute player's hypoxia. Or the infamous BWV 1013, where in the first movement there are NO rests and only 5 notes over two pages that are not 16th-notes ? Or the unaccompanied sonata in a-minor by CPE Bach? You won't be able to execute those huge leaps in the first movement in what, for him, constitutes a melody, if you haven't put the time in (your meditative time) developing your breathing, blowing, and embouchure.

You have to go through the process of practicing, especially your long tones, then your body mechanics, and, as in the martial arts, once you have learned how to stand, breathe, etc., you'll be able to learn the really fun and interesting stuff.

This works for amateurs as well as professionals. The only difference is how much more time the professionals spend on the same few techniques.

I came up with the 20-minute workout for flute and recorder because I know that some of the required practice is less-than-exciting. But you don't need to devote hours out of your day to build your techniques. You just need to stalk them slowly, quietly, and with patience.

It is very relaxing and rewarding. And without any bugs.

The 15-Minute Workout (or, the practice regime for violists da gamba)

Posted by David Morris

15-Minute Practice Regime for Violists da Gamba

1) 3 minutes: Long tones (About 5-10 seconds per bow)
Start on a mid-range open strings, and concentrate on consistency of tone.Visit all the strings and notice how they respond differently to bow speedand pressure.

Hint: a slow bow, closer to (rather than farther from) thebridge is the key to a full, concentrated tone.

2) 3 minutes: The same, but with your eyes closed.

Ooh! Do you know when you're playing on which string? Can you take the bow off and put it back onthe string you intend to find?

3) 5 minutes: Scales
Start with C major; choose one flat key (F, Bb, Eb, or Ab) and one sharp key(G, D, A or E) and mix them up from session to session. Always play with slow, full bows, and connect one note to the next (i.e., don't stop between notes-- rather, think of how one note connects to the next).

4) 4 minutes: Patterned "vocal warmups"
Choose a simple pattern and make a sequence out of it which takes you upthrough the octave. Here's an example using "1-2-3-1", in C major:
C-D-E-C;D-E-F-D; E-F-G-E; F-G-A-F; etc.

Remember: Sequences can descend, as well as ascend. Try it going up anddown the scales. The goal is to get to know your way from the top to the bottom of the instrument, in all kinds of different keys. This kind of work really fills in the gaps and prepares you for better consort sight-reading.

The Flute Players Rx (or, a spoonful of long tones helps the medicine go down)

Inspiration may come from anywhere, anything, and can strike at anytime. In the Process vs. Goal posting, I vaguely mention some of the processes that one must go through to progress without developing too many bad habits. It also mentions that some (OK, most) of these processes are less than fun. So, after discussing these processes with a couple of students, they inspired me to try to put down a prescription for playing baroque flute. Or at least a loosely connected set of guidelines.

Start with The 20-minute Workout. One of the foundations, or fundamental truths, of playing a woodwind instrument, is the practicing of long tones. That's why it is part of the workout. Of all the things that my teachers asked me to do that I didn't, the long tone practice was the one thing I did do, on clarinet, recorder, and flute. Good tone should never be sacrificed for good technique. Choose substance over style, every time. Styles change. Substance is constant.

In addition to the 20-minute workout, another significant source of information for playing baroque flute is being aware of when you create tension in any part of your body while playing. Use "soft" fingers, "hard" wind, and take things one note at a time. For beginning flute students, you need an awareness for the difference between tonguing and spitting for articulation (former = good, latter = bad).

I now look at flute practice as a combination of martial arts training (which I studied for about 10 years), and basketball practice (3 years of high school, 1 year of college). In both activities, most of my workouts were spent practicing fundamentals: stances, kicking, punching, blocking, avoiding attacks, studying forms, doing them as a group; passing, dribbling, rebounding, defensive stances and postures, group precision drills, and, occasionally, shooting practice.
And just when you thought you would be doing drills forever, my teachers/coaches would introduce situational practice, that is, sparring or scrimmaging.

The purpose of that method, which was very successful, was to get us to stop thinking about the techniques/fundamentals and focus on the situations. But we reached that stage only from slogging it out on the kung fu and basketball equivalents of long tones, trill practice, and using the metronome.

That last clause leads me to . . .

The Metronome Will Set You Free (or, it is hard to get lost when you only have to count to one). Originally posted here. Used and adapted, of course, with the author's permission.

Several of my students record their lessons. They say it helps them immensely in their practice between lessons. I've adapted my teaching style to help them on the post-lesson tape listening. One of the tape recording students, Student XYZ, sat down not long ago and said that after listening to the previous lesson, s/he was reminded of something I said a few years earlier: "Practice with the metronome every time you practice. It will set you free."

This, apparently, was a baffling statement. How could something so rigid make your playing more free and expressive? But somewhere between a few years ago and the recent lesson XYZ had an epiphany and finally understood what it meant.

When I give students the task of using the metronome, it is with specific instructions.

For example, the first thing I ask is that students play everything very slowly. I mean REALLY slow. My metronome only goes as slow as 40. I'd like it to at least go down to 25, if not 20.

We do this because playing things slowly gives you the opportunity to really program your body to put every note in its proper place, and gives one the chance to play a piece without missing any notes. That is the cosmetic reason. There is an internal component. Having a slow beat in your ear will help you internalize a slow beat when we start counting things on the half and, ultimately, the whole note. One or two slow beats per bar.

Counting to one or two gives the player, and the listener, a completely different feel (vibe, aura, whatever you want to call it). It takes a lot of physical tension to consciously count the small notes.

Musical Math example: One half-note at 40 beats per minute (bpm) is two quarter notes at 80 bpm. One half-note at 80 bpm is two quarter notes at 160 bpm. Counting on the quarter-note can lead to some fast and frantic toe-tapping (not allowed in my studio except when playing traditional music). Counting larger values forces you to think of groups of notes, and, ultimately, groups of bars, and not get hung up, bogged down, distracted, and so on, by a bunch of small note values. They are just notes. The big beat helps you turn those small notes into music. [Remember: the notation is not the music.]

Playing on the big beat gives you more freedom and reduces your responsibility to the time keeping. First, it is much more difficult to get lost if you only have to count to one (OK, sometimes two). Second, your responsibility when counting the breve, or the whole note/whole bar, is limited to getting from beat one to beat one on time. What you do in between, even when playing with others, is your own business and responsibility.

[Side bar: My limited experience playing traditional music leads me to believe that while there may be toe tapping, foot stomping, other percussive effects with various body parts, they are not used to keep people in time or to keep from losing their place (I seriously doubt that people who have been playing a particular traditional repertoire for years need help keeping time to the music). To me it seems they are another instrumental part of the music. Toe tapping in classical music, however, is yet another insecure bad habit brought on by a neurotic perception of what passes for a good performance. It helps you set the bar pretty low. "If I just don't get lost, then it will be a good performance." Right. Of course. That's all you need to be a successful classical performer, the ability to not get lost in a concert. Were that the case, I'd have run back to my accounting studies decades ago.]

For me, the goal of counting large note values (big beats) and recalibrating your internal metronome, is to expand it to cover 4, 8, or 16 bars or one large phrase as one enormous beat. At any tempo. That is your freedom.

An excellent example of an 18th century piece where you can use this in both slow and fast tempos (WITH your metronome in practice) is the Sonata in D, Op. 1, by Johann-Joachim Quantz. The first movement, Grave e sostenuto, and the second movement, a Presto in 3/4, are the slowest and fastest tempos from the Baroque. Grave e sostenuto according to Quantz (my memory may be faulty here) comes out to around 38-40 for the eighth-note (that's pretty slow). The Presto comes in at 168 for the quarter-note (that's pretty fast). With both movements, it would be easy to get bogged down on the small note values (38 for the eighth-note? We'll be here for weeks! 168 for the quarter? How will be play those 16th-notes???) and forget about the phrases.

But, if you've practiced counting breves and whole-notes, you'll see the phrases more clearly in the ultra slow movement, and be able to look at a couple of lines of music in the fast movement as one enormous beat. If you think slow, you'll be able to play fast. Don't worry, panic, or fret about this. You won't get it immediately. It is, as are so many of the things I ask of people, another concept that needs to gestate before it may be realized.

To sum up Pineda's Prescribed Method for Learning Baroque Flute (PPMLBF):

• Use the 20-minute workout as your base.
• Use the metronome during your 20-minute workout on both the long tones and the music practice (or longer; longer is allowed and actively encouraged).
• Practice in front of a mirror. This will help, especially with the next item:
• Become aware of tension in your body and begin to try to play without creating any tension. Tension in parts of your body not actively touching the flute will create problems for those parts that are in contact.
• Keep your fingers relaxed, not squeezed or stiff, and make a conscious effort to keep them close to the tone holes.
• Use your tongue and not your lips to make articulations (don't spit into the flute).
• Remember: less sound equals more music (that means be sure to articulate very clearly), and while you are working up to tempo, play your pieces one note at a time.
  
  I hope this is helpful.

Our Mascot (Miss Paisley)

lesson comment & Quantz question

Almost ready? Why the reluctance if nobody follows your advice exactly anyway? Go for it! Money back guarantee--yes!

Does one have to take private lessons to get the prescriptions, or will you share them on-line to those of us who don't have the opportunity to take private lessons (yet!)?

I've got a question for the group. Does anyone have a recommendation for an edition of the Op. 2 trio sonatas by Quantz? Such as QV 2:7, 2:8, 2:17, 2:19, 2:36, 2:40, 2:41a, or 2:43.

Process vs. Goal: The Choice Is Clear

In my private studio I am almost ready to offer a money-back-guarantee to all baroque flute students over the course of ten (10) lessons.

If each student does EXACTLY what I prescribe in the lessons, they will make excellent progress and lay the foundation to advance to the level that they ultimately want or imagine for themselves.

Students make progress, most of them good progress, but to date, NO ONE has done exactly as I have prescribed. That means the technical exercises, time required for each task, and examining the body mechanics involved in each process or exercise.

Learning an instrument of any type is a process. Practicing is a process. But people usually look at it from a goal-oriented perspective. "I want to play Sonata XYZ by Composer 123, six months from now." This is not going to happen if you are just starting to play the baroque flute, or even if you have a little bit of experience. Well, I suppose it could happen, but with grisly results.

I have had a few students who just refused to do what I prescribed and, after a few years of not making much progress, were getting frustrated, mostly in the area of tone production. A couple of students switched to a different teacher, or took lessons from the two of us on alternate weeks, and my colleague told them the same things (hmm, does that tell anyone anything?), just phrased differently. Some of my recorder students have been equally reluctant to do what is prescribed, but so far all of them have come around to seeing the practice for what it is: a process. And guess what happens when they start treating it that way: improved playing, more fun, and being relaxed when playing, thus enhancing the whole musical experience.

Most of the frustration for baroque flute players comes from the embouchure and its development (but body mechanics and timing are also frequent visitors).

"Teacher X says I don't have an embouchure." [That's because you refuse to practice the embouchure development exercises.]

"I can't do these exercises because I don't have an embouchure!" [And you never will until you practice the prescribed exercises.]

"Teacher Y says I have a lot of tension in my arms." [So did I . . .]

Do the embouchure developing exercises I give you, and you'll develop an embouchure. It is that simple.

Why does this avoidance of the prescription happen? Because there are certain aspects of Pineda's Prescribed Method for Learning Baroque Flute (PPMLBF) that are less-than-fun.

Some of the work is similar to a physical workout at the gym, sort of like lifting weights.

For me, embouchure development is 5% lips, 90% breathing and blowing, and 5% attitude.

Student A went to one my colleagues and asked for a lesson on embouchure development only. It made no difference in Student A's progress, because my colleague told Student A essentially the same thing that I have [I'm beginning to see a pattern here . . .].

Student B went to another colleague and asked for the same thing. The answer and the results were the same [Yep, sure looks like a pattern . . .].

If you go through the prescribed process, then you will acquire the skills necessary to play the baroque flute.

To state this in the vernacular: don't do the crime if you can't do the time.

2001 Boot Camp Photos (#3)

Third Annual Boot Camp: Day One, waiting their turn in the Individual Time Trials.
Ingrid, Joyce, Blaise




Joyce and Ingrid take notes on the first day.




The Team Time Trial (last one left playing wins . . . )



The Flute Oiling Colloquium (ok, the Oiling Party)


After the oiling party: Blaise, Joyce, Ingrid, Ernie, and Shelley (Boot Camp #1 Survivor)


"Now what is he trying to do?"




Kim helps Trice with hand relaxation




"Relax your fingers . . . "




I said RELAX! (Kim works with Ernie's hand position)


Kim demonstrates for Joyce




Photo caption contest: Enter your caption below




Photo caption contest: Enter your text below




"Use the Dick Cheney embouchure"



"How can he play with that Dick Cheney embouchure?"
(Kim demonstrates for Ingrid)




The Flauto Bandito



The Class Recital:
Blaise and Joyce


Trice (accompanied by Dr. Lewis)


Ingrid and Ernie



The Class Photos


The Survivors
Bill, Ingrid, Trice, Blaise, kp, George, Joyce, Ernie


Boot Camp After Hours jam session . . .

2002 Boot Camp Photos (BFBC #4)

Overly confident on the first day . . .
Ingrid, Ernie, Ramon, Katherine



Ernie, Ramon (with finger relaxation help), Blaise, kp

The Team Time Trials: Last one left playing wins.
Liam, Ernie, kp, David, Ingrid


Ingrid helps David with some preventative maintenance.



Coop and Liam in the class recital.



Ramon and Katherine in the class recital.



Ingrid and kp in the faculty recital at the Home for Wayward Muses.

2000 Boot Camp Photos (BFBC #2)

Happy Campers: Ernie, George, Molly, Bill, Kim



Ernie and Molly


Annalisa and Bill


Annalisa and George
Annalisa and Ernie


Faculty: Annalisa and Kim after the class recital.
The Survivors . . .

2006 Boot Camp Photos (so I'm a little slow with some things)

Class Photo












Front row: Carl, Ann, Kathleen, Ingrid, Peggy, Steve, Ascuncion, Janet.
Middle row: Marie Anne, Ramon, Ron, Rebecca, John (kneeling).
Back row: Pauline, kp, Blaise, Mary Alice.



Rehearsal: David, Bill, Ingrid







Ensemble rehearsal







David, Ron, Janet







Ingrid, kp, Ronnee

Singing helps your flute playing. Really.

More photos from earlier boot camps may be viewed here.

In memoriam: Alan E. Heller

Dear Baroque Boot Camp Participants,

I am very sorry tell you that Alan Heller passed away last month. His wife sent me an e-mail shortly after it happened, saying that they were both looking forward to coming back to Seattle this summer. Flute players will remember Alan as the very enthusiastic player who was equally at ease discussing baroque music and recordings, flutes, woodworking, keyboard instruments, and ballroom dancing. He was one of the few people who didn't cringe at the prospect of learning the tango at last year's workshop. And he always tried to do whatever any of the teachers asked of him, and was eager to learn as much as possible during the week. He will be missed.

Below is the obituary from the local New Jersey newspaper (they unfortunately spelled his name wrong in the heading).


Allen E. Heller
EGG HARBOR TWP., NJ Alan E. Heller, 56, formerly of Gettysburg, passed away on Sunday, April 13, 2008, at Shore Memorial Hospital in Somers Point, N.J. Born in Gettysburg, he was formerly of Somers Point, N.J., and a resident of Egg Harbor Township, N.J., for three years. Mr. Heller worked as a self employed Cabinet Maker. He was a member of St. Peter's United Methodist Church in Ocean City, N.J., where he was in the Adult Choir and Handbell Choir and was a member of the Organ Historical Society. Mr. Heller enjoyed ballroom dancing and was a talented pipe organ builder and refurbisher. He had built a harpsichord and played the Baroque Flute. Mr. Heller was an accomplished gardener and arborist. Surviving are his parents, Clark and Eleanor Heller; his wife, Kathy Heller of Egg Harbor Township, N.J.; a son, Paul Heller of Marietta; two brothers, Mark Heller and his wife, Dixie of York, and Jesse Heller and his wife, Carol of Landisville; many cousins, nieces, nephews; and his dogs, Sun and Star. A Service of Memory and Love will be offered Saturday at 2 p.m. from St. Peter's United Methodist Church, Eighth St. at Central Ave., Ocean City, N.J., where friends may call from 1:30 p.m. until the time of service. Burial will be private. The family suggests those who desire send memorial contributions to either The American Cancer Society, 626 North Shore Road, Absecon, NJ 08201; or St. Peter's United Methodist Church Organ Fund, 501 E. Eighth St., Ocean City, NJ 08226. To email condolences, visit ww.godfreyfuneralhome.com

What not to do (names changed to protect the guilty)

Three baroque flute players walk into a bar . . .

OK, it wasn't a bar, per se, it was a seafood bar in Seattle's Pike Place Public Market. And I suppose the only beginning more lame, in terms of gripping the reader with a sense that adventure is imminent, would be something like, "we were sitting in a bar drinking chardonnay," unless that is the beginning of people getting the stuffing beaten out of them ["We were sitting in a bar drinking chardonnay. It was a hot summer day and the wine was chilled. We didn't realize it was a biker bar whose local patrons thought classical music dorks would be fun to torment . . . "]. But I digress. There actually is something relevant to performing music and baroque flutes here.

Three baroque flute players step up to a seafood bar. A place well-known and well-loved and the food is well-enjoyed, and well, not often enough. Two of the players order the freshly made clam chowder. It looked and smelled delicious. The third player orders, in retrospect wisely, the grilled salmon sandwich.

The meal was enjoyed by all, and the gang was ready to continue the sightseeing before heading back to watch the finals of a tennis match, and then get ready for the concert. Priorities, you know.

On the way back home to watch said tennis match, player 1 notices that the inside of his upper lip is in distress. It actually hurts. As they get closer to home (and the TV) player 1 begins to panic. "My lip is cut on the inside!!! What will that do to my playing? Am I ruined for life? Will I need plastic surgery to correct this? What am I going to do??? I've got to get in the house and, tennis be darned, play a few notes to see if it has messed up my playing!!!" So the driving gets a little more reckless. Players 2 and 3 exchange glances ("what is he doing? Why is he driving like this??"). They get to their destination, player 1 dashes madly into the house, runs to the bathroom, turns on the light, washes his hands, grabs his upper lip violently, turns it inside out, and leans towards the mirror. *GASP*! He can SEE the cut. A hideous gash (about 2mm long). He runs out of the bathroom grabs a flute, and starts playing . . .

Everything is fine. The cut has absolutely no effect.

Player 1 says to the others: "I cut my lip with the plastic spoon at the seafood bar. I was completely panicked, especially after I saw the huge, enormous gash in the mirror. But once I played a few notes, I realized that everything was fine. Sorry to disrupt the tennis match."

Player 2 says, "I cut my lip too. But I just figured that if it was damaged, there was nothing I could do about it, so I stopped worrying."

Player 3 said, "the sandwich was excellent."

The moral of the story: watch what you put in your mouth. Protect your investment, especially on the day of a concert.

Smoke & Mirrors

Practice tip of the day: using a mirror.

1. Practicing in front of a full-length mirror will give you a good idea of what you look like when performing. It will also help you identify any "parasitic motion," that is, motions that you make while playing that hinder your performance. You may or may not be aware of these parasitic motions, and you may or may not realize that these motions hinder or disrupt your playing. But once you identify and address them, you'll discover that, for example, the little head bob or shoulder twitch you've been doing for years actually disrupts your flow of air, and you can stop blaming your lung capacity for not making it to the end of phrases.

2. Practicing in front of a wall-mounted mirror (bathroom, hallway, anywhere you find one) will enable you to examine what your embouchure is doing while you are playing. You may not realize that you are making more tension than you need, or that you are doing exactly the opposite of what you thought you were doing.

For both of these mirror experiences it will be helpful for you to memorize a short passage, or some exercises that take you through all the registers (slow or fast; doesn't matter), or a passage or exercise in which you have to articulate quickly, as in a Presto in 3/4 or something. You'll also notice just how efficient your finger technique is (if your fingers are moving too high above the instrument, you'll have to have a chat with them and convince them to move less, thereby making you more efficient, and therefore more relaxed, and thus able to play faster with less effort).

Practicing in front of a mirror gives you the added benefit of playing music with someone standing right in front of you. And that person in front of you just cannot stand still. This will help your concentration. And when you step in front of an audience, you'll be relieved that everyone in front of you is both sitting down and not right in your face.

Long Tone Exercises

From Janet See

Moderate(ly slow), steady 4/4 tempo

4/4 d’-a’-d’’--- d’-d’’----- d#’-a#’-d#’--- d#’-d#’’----- …etc…

Each measure is slurred. Inhale through nose before each two-measure group. At the double bar, wait before proceeding. Continue the exercise up to the G’s above the staff.

From Janet See

Slow tempo

4/4 d’’-d#’’-d’’--- d’’-e’’-d’’--- d’’-f’’-d’’--- d’’-f#’’-d’’--- d’’-g’’-d’’--- …etc…

(continue to high A), then…

4/4 d’’-c#’’-d’’--- d’’-c’’-d’’--- d’’-b’-d’’--- d’’-bb’-d’’--- d’’-a’-d’’--- …etc…

(continue to low D)

Each measure is slurred. Hold the last tone of each 3-note group. Slowly take in a nose breath after each measure.

From Janet Beazley

d’ – a’ – d’’ – a’’ – d’’’ – a’’ – d’’ – a’ – d’

d’ – g’ – d’’ – g’’ – d’’’ – g’’ – d’’ – g’ – d’

d’ – f#’ – d’’ – f#’’ – d’’’ – f#’’ – d’’ – f#’ – d’

d’ – b’ – d’’ – b’’ – d’’’ – b’’ – d’’ – b’ – d’

d’ – e’ – d’’ – e’’ – d’’’ – e’’ – d’’ – e’ – d’

d’ – c#’ – d’’ – c#’’ – d’’’ – c#’’ – d’’ – c#’ – d’

Each line is slurred; pick a tempo that would enable you to play each line in one full breath. This doesn’t take up that much time, so perhaps add a transposed version of this exercise—in the key of the piece you are currently practicing, or any other key that is more challenging. If you have a tuner, have it sound a drone on the tonic.

Variations on Kim’s ten-second long tones (See “Twenty-Minute Workout”)

1) diminuendo towards the end of each tone

2) crescendo towards the end of each tone

3) start soft, crescendo to halfway point, then diminuendo to end

4) paired instead of single notes, slurring to the second note; hold the second note of each pair (d’’-eb’’; eb’’-e’’; e’’-f’’; f’’’-f#’’…..etc…. to highest playable note; then…d’’-c#’’; c#’’-c’’; c’’-b’ ….. etc…. to low d’) (This is from Marcel Moyse’s de la Sonorité, and it is forever imprinted in the brains of modern flutists all over the world.)

5) (from Ingrid Crozman) – with each tone that is held, experiment with the shape of the mouth (e.g., “ooh” vowel sound vs. “aah”) and how that affects the sound, tone color, resonance

Sons filés – from some French flutist whose name I can’t recall

d’-d’’-d’’’-d’’-a’’ (each note lasts 2 seconds; hold the last tone of each set)

a’’-a’-a’’-a’’’-e’’’

e’’’-e’’-e’-e’’-b’’

b’’-b’-b’’-b’-f#’’

f#’’-f#’’’-f#’’-f#’-c#’’

continue through the circle of fifths

Twenty Minute Workout Testimonial

Kim’s Twenty-Minute Workout

I love this!! This is a great prescription for many of us who couldn’t seem to find practice time. One might think he/she needs at least an hour, but then if that magical hour fails to present itself in the course of the day, the flute ends up sitting in the closet!

Long Tones

This has long been a staple of my modern flute practicing, and I’ve had to make it part of my baroque flute practicing since that instrument is a completely different beast (an elaboration on my struggles with this will be the subject of a future blog entry). I’ve picked up several ways of practicing long tones over the years; I play a different exercise at each practice session. Each day at Boot Camp starts out with a “note of the day” session---there’s one long-tone exercise right there! Kim has us play/sustain/tune/focus/beautify the note du jour in all the playable registers of the instrument, then we go on to build triads over that note. It wakes up one’s “abs” and really gets the support going. Who needs Pilates core training when one can get it at BFVdGBC?!? We’ve also gotten other long tone exercises from all three of our instructors (Kim, Janet and Ingrid), and I can post those upon readers’ requests.

Technique

Every teacher I've studied with insists on including the following in every practice session: scales, arpeggios, articulation. Aaaarrrrggghhhh!! It sounds like a lot of work, but there must be a way to include all this in that twenty-minute workout. If time won’t allow us to practice every scale and arpeggio every day, then how about if we just focus on the scale(s) and arpeggio(s) that are in the piece we’re working on at the moment? There’s the main key and one or two others that it might modulate to; not too bad. The articulation practice is built in to the scale/arpeggio/technical passage work. This topic alone could take up many MB’s of space. (Kim----please consider this a request for you to post your words of wisdom on this.) It is something I’m working on a lot this year, and I am open to anything anyone has to offer on the subject. Here’s a cool exercise I recently got from early winds player Adam Gilbert. Its objective is to keep the air stream constant and not let it be too obstructed by the motions of the tongue. Turn your head joint so that the finger holes are not lined up with the embouchure hole. Hold up the instrument with the hands in playing position (not on the finger holes since they are now facing the wrong way), and practice your technical passage with the articulation AND the fingering motions. The articulation is being practiced on that single tone, but at the same time, you’re still working on coordinating that with the fingers. After practicing this a few times, turn the instrument back to its normal setting and play the same passage. Did it make a difference?

Happy practicing!! --Asuncion

The 20-Minute Workout

20 Minute Practice Regime for Recorder and Transverse Flute Players

1) 5 minutes: Long tones (About 10 seconds per note)
Start on a mid-range note, go up an octave, then return to the beginning note and go down to your lowest note, chromatically.

2) 3 minutes: Trills for each finger
RH little finger
LH thumb (recorders only)
LH ring finger
RH ring finger
LH middle finger
RH middle finger
LH index finger
RH index finger

3) 2 minutes: Specific trills
Flutes
bb'-c''
bb'-a'
a-g# in both octaves

Recorders:
C recorders
e''-d''
bb'-ab'
c'-bb'

F recorders
a''-g''
f''-eb''
eb''-db''

4) 5 minutes
Play through your piece(s)/movement at tempo a couple of times, identify technical (fingering) issues.

5) 5 minutes
From the technical issues identified above, adress one (1) of them. If you do one per session, they will soon disappear. Practice relevant passages with metronome, SLOWLY, forwards and backwards. When you can play the passage in a relaxed manner and correct notes 3 times in succession, then move to playing it at tempo. When the current relevant passage is played at tempo and without any body tension in the process, and each note is correct 90% of the time, the issue may be considered resolved. You may now move to the next technical issue. If one issue doesn't disappear in one day, go on to the next one and come back to the first one when you've addressed all of the other issues. This will keep your practice from becoming stale and also give you something to which you may look forward.

ADDENDUM (posted 14 July 2008)
This now becomes the 25-Minute Workout.
6) 5 Minutes
Chromatic scales. Slurred. Flutes and f-recorders, begin on the note a' or d", go up and back one (1) octave chromatically. Move up 1/2 tone and do the same thing until your starting note is a perfect fourth above your first note (e.g., flutes, start on a', start last scale up on d"). Do this entire exercise SLOWLY, until you can play the whole scale evenly. Then you may increase your speed. This exercise, believe it or not, actually has a goal: to be able to play the chromatic scale both very slow and very fast.

Then, begin on the note 1/2 tone below your first note (e.g., flutes, start on g#'), go up and back chromatically as above, then continue in a sequence down until you reach your bottom note.

Recorders: you are now done with the chromatic scale practice. Take a big breath.

Flutes, grab one ear plug. Put it in your RIGHT ear. You'll see why in a moment.
Start on d''', and go up and back chromatically to your a''' (if your flute plays Bb''', then go there). Do this SLOWLY for the first few times you practice this exercise, then in ADDITION to playing it slowly, begin to increase your speed.