Piccolo Studies Robin ChapmanWith over 20 years experience in one of the great orchestras of the world, The London Philharmonic, Robin Chapman has produced an excellent sequence of exercises and studies of interest to all good flute players. This very fine book will, I know, be of invaluable assistance to those aspiring professional musicians who inevitably find themselves in the most vulnerable, vital and exposed position at the top of the score. Bernard Haitink K.B.E. INTRODUCTION These exercises are to assist the already able flute-player to develop an embouchure of strength and flexibility for the piccolo in the shortest time. As it is possible for a piccolo-player, like a brass- player, to ‘blow his lip out’, the exercises have purposely been kept short, but it is important that the pieces be played in order. Great care must be taken in the first exercise over the intonation in the preliminary bars. Play them listening carefully at the relationships between each interval, like a piano tuner. If B, Cor Cf are at all sharp pull the head joint out until the instrument is in tune with itself; this is the basis from which to start. From then concentrate on producing a full warm sound, practically the whole exercise must be played sostenuto; especially the triplet section, each note having the same power. Experiment playing the staccato section. Try first tonguing behind the teeth on the roof of the mouth. Second, attack with the tongue between the lips, and finally try just touching the lips together, as in the French word ‘Pew’. There is no wrong way to tongue. The right way is the one which gets the result. Do not play these exercises fast. Start slowly and work up to the tempi marked. These pieces are not designed to further finger dexterity but purely to help flute-players acquire a Piccolo embouchure.EXERCISE 1