I am a UK-based historical flautist and recorder player (in equal measure!). I enjoy working as a chamber music artist with my baroque ensemble Passacaglia, and as a regular freelance orchestral player with groups including the English Baroque Soloists, Armonico Consort, Musical and Amicable Society and Norwich Baroque. I am especially keen on French baroque repertoire - I released an album of music by Pierre and Anne Danican Philidor on the BCR label earlier this year. 
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Annabel's website

The first thing you do when you pick up your traverso to start the practice day, and why?

The first thing I tend to do is a few long notes in different octaves – figuring out the ‘feel’ of the day. Some days the sound is easy and free from the start, and other days are much harder work! 

Any recurring piece to play every day, and why?​

At the moment I am working on Bach’s Cantata 8 ‘Liebster Gott’ for a concert in a couple of weeks. This cantata dates from September 1724, during Bach’s time working in Leipzig – a time when scholars agree he must have had a particularly virtuosic flautist at his disposal. It is famously one of his most difficult flute parts and I am enjoying discovering why!

Do you have a daily routine?​

I wish I could say I have a regular daily regime for my practice - but I often have very limited time. I spend the first few minutes working out areas where the most work is needed and then take it from there. I call it ‘smart practice’ - it’s the exact opposite of playing the piece multiple times from start to finish!
Having said that - I do have daily areas for work on the (above-mentioned) Bach Cantata at the moment! The problems include general fluency in fingering, tonal stability and tuning in the keys of E major and A major; clarity in the third-octave note repetitions in the opening chorus (Bach’s musical representation of a ticking clock, or funeral bells); and, in the Bass aria, it is all about stamina, breath management, and virtuoso technique, especially in the execution of the multiple top As! My daily routine currently takes each of these hurdles as little ‘themes’ on which I elaborate, mostly away from the score.

What kind of goals do you set for your practice?​

I guess I have short, mid and long term goals. The short term goals are short ‘fixes’ – e.g. nailing a particular note sequence or bar; the mid-term goals are things like building up tempi, or on-going work on improving fragile notes/intervals and intonation. The long-term goal at the moment is to be able to play with complete freedom and ease from beginning to end of each movement!

Do you do any systematic warm-up?

For me, everything starts with basic sound and breath work. I like tonality-based interval exercises for lip flexibility, tuning and breath control. Slow repetition between tonic and dominant notes in selected keys (so fourths, fifths and octave jumps – currently I am focusing especially in keys with sharps!). I usually follow this with equally slow ‘enlarging’ intervals from the tonic (ie 1-2-1, 1-3-1, 1-4-1, etc). This helps to fine-tune the subtle physical relationships between notes and increases awareness of the underlying characteristics of each key. Of course, always listening carefully and noticing where things are unstable or clumsy! When I am happy my body and breath are well-synchronised, I will turn my attention to fingers and tongue. I do 5-note micro-scales and triads/sevenths across the entire cycle of fourths, using different speeds or articulations to test the boundaries!

Any distinctive characteristics of baroque flute daily practice vs. modern flute or other instruments?​

I think most baroque flautists would agree that the goal of appreciating and cultivating the idea of ‘un-evenness’ (in the baroque sense of light and shade, or dynamic character) is completely opposite to the modern instrumentalist’s desire for uniformity. This applies especially to sound, articulation and volume. Practising scales on my modern flute involves striving for an even sound and equality in articulation across the range. On baroque flute I am mostly thinking about the individual characteristics of the different keys, or working with paired and inégale tonguing!
I think it boils down to ‘Horses for Courses’ (i.e. different methods, are suited for different tasks) in that respect and we need to know what suits the repertoire the best!

What are the key elements and unmissable points of daily practice?​

If I only have 15-20 minutes, I would spend the first 5 - 10 minutes doing interval work across the registers to maintain optimum balance between breath support/resonance and embouchure. Like a singer, it’s no good if you have to change your basic set up dramatically as you move between registers; and if you have too much time away from playing, I find this is the first thing to go! Then I would just work on the trickiest patterns and passages in whatever pieces I have coming up.

Any  specific tip to address difficult technical passages during daily practice?

My favourite go-to exercises for solving complex finger patterns are: One – do a lot of work on the pattern without actually blowing! You can memorise the most difficult groups of notes and work silently, aiming for complete brain clarity. (You can also replicate them at any time of day on a pen, piece of cutlery….. or whatever comes to hand!).
​And Two – working on sets of 5 notes. Do at least 4 repetitions of the group before moving the pattern along by one note – so making a new group that starts and finishes one note later. And repeat until you reach the end of the passage in question!

Are there any tools that are particularly useful for practicing?

I have recently started to use a genius app called Tonal Energy… it’s a tuner, metronome and recording app in one and gives all sorts of fun post-practice analysis with statistics! It is especially useful for intonation work and comes with all the useful historical temperaments.
I find the tuner is most valuable for sitting on individual notes to find the place on the instrument where best sound quality and intonation intersect. This should tell you how the instrument wants you to play that note. But the statistical note analysis that Tonal Energy can offer up after playing a passage multiple times is useful too, as it gives information about ’tendencies’ for certain notes to sit high or low in a passage. Of course, one probably shouldn’t get too bogged down with faster notes and passing notes which are less obvious to the ear overall (much like using ‘out of tune’ fingerings for trills). But it’s definitely good to be aware! 

Any other general advice, suggestion, tip?

I am very much into Yoga, and have found this to be a massive influence on my playing. It helps develop an on-going awareness of the whole body and mind – keeping things balanced and grounded in all aspects. There are specific yoga breath techniques that mirror and complement woodwind technique very closely. Also doing Yoga has helped me to understand that my body is unique, leading to greater confidence in my own solutions to things – some of which are not necessarily other peoples’ ‘standard practice’! Another useful benefit is the habit of passive awareness – aiming to be kind and curious in one’s own practice, and accepting where you are right now.

How do you advise your students as far as structuring their daily practice?

I think the best thing is to start from ‘matters arising’ (from a lesson or previous practice session). Devise exercises away from the music that are directly relevant to the challenges in your pieces. For example, small, repeated scale cells/patterns (as opposed to ‘complete’ scales) will develop fingers and intonation; long notes with the metronome can be used to find colours and shapes or help with note starts and finishes; interval exercises develop flexibility and accuracy. Experimenting with singing and playing at the same time is a wonderful way to find deeper sonority. It’s all about combining relevance for the immediate demands of the music on the stand, with a ‘holistic’ approach that can be rolled out later across other keys/tempi/contexts and benefit you as a player overall.
I think when I teach, I am often perceived to be a bit ‘guilty’ of spending a lot of time on a certain passage or problem during the lesson - zooming in hard! For example, when being very fastidious about tongue and finger co-ordination, making beautifully consistent inégale, or the stability of a certain note or interval. Firstly, we will identify the key/scale or chord pattern, then try to work out the underlying problem, perhaps over just one or two notes. Then lots of repetition with close listening. Once the issue is understood I might get the student to transpose the tricky passage into other keys for comparison. Analysing the key and chord structure of the piece is a very valuable (and historically relevant) skill which helps all areas of understanding and interpretation. The idea being that the concepts can be rolled out over the piece or movement, once the student is in the practice room. They can then find their own journey of discovery with the whole piece. I think musicians need to be self-sufficient in the end!

Are there any specific pieces particularly beneficial to be played regularly in daily practice?​

I find myself coming back to all the Telemann Fantasias if I just want to ‘play’ as opposed to practice. I think they were conceived as a showcase of all the different styles known to him at the time. You meet French dances, Italian virtuosity, German counterpoint, all blended with his own playful ideas of how to make the instrument fulfil all three roles of melodist, harmonist and bass player in one. Genius.
But from a working perspective, I do enjoy the cycle of Bach choral pieces each year and always find something new to explore with every ‘Ich Folge’ (St John Passion), 'Aus Liebe’ (St Matthew) or ‘Benedictus’ (B Minor mass).…. These three spring to mind as they all explore such different things… Ich Folge tests the flat keys, fingering and stamina; Aus Liebe and the Benedictus both demand beauty of tone and expression, but in very different keys.

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