Intonation (longish)


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Posted by C(G) on January 27, 2004 at 11:24:47:

The following appeared on the flute list this morning and I think it offers a valuable insight into the art of playing in tune. Since the post was made to a public list, I doubt that the author would object to its being posted here.

INTONATION,
and a few things pertaining to playing in tune.


I would like to say a few words about tuners. Let me tell you that I have one but never used it. It is incorporated in two very good metronomes I own but apart from just trying it to see if it was there I have never used it to tune a flute. I don’t think they really help in the end.

What I do think helps, and not only with the intonation is singing. Everyone who plays the flute should learn singing. Now I don’t mean you have to prepare for the Met, but just get the basic act of singing down, so you can truly relate the flute to singing. What I mean is that you should learn singing with a view to understanding intonation, and
ultimately interpretation. Just learn to sing a simple arpeggio in tune and when you have understood this you will naturally wish to play in tune to the new set of values established in your mind from your simple singing exercise.

Learn to sing melodies with a simple arpeggio in them. The slow movement of the Brahms violin concerto, for example. The “tune” from the Schubert variations is another good example. Can you imagine how many teachers teach in detail how to play this tune and they themselves have never tried to sing it or are incapable of singing it? My first
serious flute teacher in Belfast, Mrs. Muriel Dawn, was a very good singer. She had the honour to sing the songs of Ralph Vaughn Williams with the composer playing the piano for her. She also sang with the Queens Hall Orchestra conducted by Sir Henry Wood who started the BBC promenade concerts. You don’t have to try to sing these tunes in the original key. Sing them in a kew you find comfortable for your voice. If you are at a music school ask a singer friend to get you to sing.

What we are trying to do here through singing is to learn how to pitch a not in the mind a split second before playing it. By learning to do this you will be able to apply it to your flute playing. You will no longer accept the sort of intonation you have become used to.

When you become an experienced at singing you will be able to play any flute with better intonation. Take Julius Baker and Geoffrey Gilbert as an example. Both these players I knew very well.

They had perfect intonation despite the fact they did not play on “Cooper” influenced scales. Mr. Baker played on an old Powell flute and Mr. Gilbert played on a Louis Lot. I cannot say for sure what these flutes were pitched at but I do know that they shortened the head to get them up to pitch. This suggests to me that they were flat pitched instruments. I never heard Mr. Baker sing but Mr. Gilbert often sang in the lessons.

As a child we learned to sing in school. We were taught to sing scales and arpeggios. Before we would sing a song, Mrs. Mc Caughey would get out her tuning fork and give us a note. We would then sing the scale several times and also a few arpeggios. From there we went on to learn several songs, mostly Irish and Scottish folk songs. At the end of the
first year at school we could sing several folk songs. In our little school nobody had a musical instrument. In fact the first school did not even have a piano! Until I left school at the ripe old age of 14 nobody had an instrument of any kind provided by the chool. There might have been a few recorders around but I don’t recollect anyone playing
them. However, we could all sing many songs at the top of our lungs.

We used to walk over to the local park twice a week to play cricket and football and we would all sing on the way and sometimes I would play a march on the flute.

As a result of all this singing I could play any flute relatively in tune. My first concert flute was a Selemer Gold Seal. It fell to bits with alarming speed. My second flute was made by E. J. Albert in Belgium and on this flute I got into the Royal College of Music and used it for the first two years of study there. Then I bought a Haynes
closed hole model with a C foot. This flute was incredibly out of tune, as were the others compared with what we have on the market today. I did learn how to play it in tune with a few different fingerings for the high notes, F3 in particular. I then bought a flute from Albert Cooper. I was playing in the opera at the time and this was my first
open hole flute. I don’t remember having any difficulty with it. I certainly was easier to play in tune with this flute once I got used to it. Mr. Gilbert was very insistent on us playing with a good hand position and the fingers fell naturally into the middle of the holes.

James Galway.

Sir James Galway
Benzeholzstrasse 11,
Meggen CH-6045
Switzerland.

http://www.superflute.com


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