The Virtuosic Flutist

“The Virtuosic Flutist”, by Nina Assimakopoulos, is a book that covers some of

the most important aspects of being a flute player. Nina covers the many intricacies and
technicalities of: breathing, intonation, vibrato, tone color, grounding (stance and body
awareness) and select repertoire excerpts. These categories are all concepts that I am familiar
with, but I still enjoyed reading how Nina organizes her perception of these categories, in order
to create the best music she can.
She explains the concept of the triangle note. She uses a system of adding triangles to
specific notes in her repertoire studies, to direct the performers attention to specific musical
ideas. These musical ideas can be one of the ideas she recommends, but they can also be
something the performers chooses to focus on. For example, the triangle notes are on the first
low f and low c in “Cantabile et Presto”, by Georges Enesco. I often pause on these notes when I
practice that piece, but I didn’t account for every aspect (or focal point, as she calls it) that Nina
accounts for. While I tend to focus on the projection and intonation of each of those notes, Nina
highlights the need to also focus on the tone color, vibrato and how the notes fit musically in the
entire phrase. These pointers are quite helpful, because sometimes I will get stuck in my practice
and I will only focus on improving 1 or 2 focal points.
Another concept she explains in her book is how to master the use of vibrato. She makes
a clear distinction between using laryngeal vibrato, the narrow and fast vibrato (what I believe
William Bennett refers to as “American vibrato”) and thoraco-abdominal vibrato, the slower and
wider vibrato. She also notes that these vibratos can be used in combination, by accentuating the
beginning of a group of vibrato oscillations with a thoraco-abdominal vibrato. For example,
someone could have a laryngeal vibrato in oscillations of triplets with a metronome at 108 bpm,
but also combine it with thoraco-abdominal vibrato, by accenting the first note of each triplet.
She also lists a few helpful breathing exercises that can be done without the flute. She has
one exercise where the person is instructed sit, stand or even lie down. Then, the person is
supposed to pay attention to how they naturally breath, take note of their breathing tempo and
identify whether they are unconsciously forcing their exhalation. I found it interesting that she
broke the act of breathing into four phases: inhalation, suspension, exhalation and recovery.
Many music teachers I have had will speak about the importance of controlling inhalation and
exhalation, but few have mentioned the importance of suspension and recovery. I know Michel
Debost mentioned inhalation, suspension and exhalation in his book “The Simple Flute”, but the
first time I heard the use recovery was when I read this book.
One of the most important things I learned about in the William Bennett Summer School
was the importance body awareness and posture (what Nina calls grounding). She mentions the
importance of playing stance which is something many flutists are aware of, but she also delves
into the idea of find the “huh” point. This is something I have been unknowingly doing in
Symphonic band. Before playing a piece or while I wait in a long rest, I will let out a quick
“hoo”, “foo” or “hfoo”. This helps me stay connected with how I exhale and it especially helps
me with my initial entrance for a musical phrase.
 She also speaks about the many ways a flutist can change their intonation. A flutist can
shift their head position, they can change their embouchure position, change how much they
press the flute against their lips, change their air speed and intensity, using alternate fingerings
and also using two concepts I had not considered until now: using finger shading (partially
covering tone holes to flatten the sound) and finger venting (partially opening tone holes to
sharpen the sound).
She also gets very in depth with the idea of using tone colors with playing. Just like the
way artists have hue, value and saturation to work with, she explains how musicians can utilize
those same concepts. She say that these colors can be produced by the vowels one creates inside
their mouth. This is a common concept taught by instrumentalists and vocalists globally, but she
had an interesting take on the matter. She explains how someone can use the word like hood and
head to become familiar with these vowel positions.