Can I have a piccolo lesson please? Yes, of course, but why? I suppose a ‘one-off’ piccolo lesson can be useful when preparing for an orchestral audition to boost confidence, but I often find that flute players who aspire to play the piccolo could simply apply their expert flute knowledge to their piccolo playing and save the money to buy CDs of the repertoire they are preparing!

I can supply ‘alternate’ fingerings gained from my own experience but nearly all of those can be figured out oneself – they are nearly all based a combination of harmonics and common sense. Most ‘piccolo issues’ are the same ones the students has on the flute, so it can be a conflict to go to a different teacher to solve those problems that the flute teacher is handling.

If you really want to spend some time studying piccolo, perhaps make an medium term arrangement of say 5 to 10 lessons to cover all the main orchestral excerpts and some solo repertoire, including Vivaldi. That way, all the best fingerings will come up, as will all the main technical challenges – articulation, tuning, tone, breathing. This would be of more use than one lesson, or a year of lessons I think.

Which kind of piccolo should I buy?

The easy answer is the most expensive one! Obviously this is not always the case, because the issues of second-hand versus new and the standard and aspirations of the player have to come into the equation, not to mention the unreliable exchange rate!

Decide how much you can afford, and then research which brands are available where. Most shops (if you are fortunate to have more than one to visit) only stock a small number of makes of piccolo. Find out from others what they have and whether they would recommend their make of instrument to you. Unfortunately, in New Zealand and Australia the choice is limited, but this, in a way, simplifies the whole matter of choosing an instrument.

If you are not an accomplished piccolo player or have never played, then try to ask someone along who can test a few for you. Make sure it is in good working order as sometimes they sit on a shelf for a long time or are not tested by someone reliable when they arrive from overseas in a box. If your piccolo-playing career gets off to a bad start because of the quality of the instrument you will never recover! Also, depending on the make of piccolo, you may be offered a selection of head-joints from which to choose. A head-joint can make a huge difference to an instrument in terms of tone, tuning and even as to whether all the notes actually work. Take some time over this, but don’t overdo it or you can get very confused.

What’s a good age for the young flute player to start on the piccolo?

As old as possible! Well into the teens I would suggest. A small child does not play the small flute well! Let them develop as much as a flute player, solve as many of the basic issues as possible and then, put it off for another year. When the child has the time, the discipline, the best instrument and the opportunity (a good school band or orchestra with supportive conductor) then by all means give it a go. I was the only one who owned a piccolo when I was at school…or admitted to owning one. It worked out very well for me, but there are no short cuts. Become a reasonable flute player first. It’s a very similar situation that exists with the violin and viola.

What are some good piccolo pieces?

Concerto by Lowell Liebermann, one by Australian composer Barry McKimm and quite a few American pieces, but they are mostly for the very advanced student to professional standard player. I suggest to everyone, including myself, that much goodness can be extracted form playing flute repertoire. Baroque music works well, because the baroque flute only goes to low D and the upper range is also limited. Much of the less difficult French repertoire sounds lovely on the piccolo and is very good for tone control and intonation. And studies…lots of them – Kohler, Andersen, Furstenau, Altes – anything that doesn’t go so high that you become over-tired and deafened!

How do I get a piccolo job in an orchestra?

Get a flute job first. Or at least be good enough to get a flute job.

You can’t hope to succeed on the piccolo if you haven’t dealt with your flute playing first. Any weakness will be magnified and then everyone will know about it…there is nowhere to hide! That’s not to say that there isn’t a certain ‘type’ that does well on the piccolo and will never be a first flute. If you think you are that type, don’t think it will advantage you in any way other than giving you motivation. Often students tell me how much they love the piccolo and that they want to be a piccolo player in an orchestra. I find this to be a distraction, and thoughts of ‘specialization’ earlier than at post- graduate level is pointless. There are always exceptions of course.

When it comes time for the audition, the specialist piccolo player will find out the hard way that it’s mostly about the flute. There will be first, second and third flute excerpts and I don’t know of an orchestra that will choose a player who’s not good on both. I notice that non-piccolo playing colleagues are often accepting of faults on the piccolo (because they don’t expect perfection for some reason) and much tougher on the flute. Learn all the excerpts as soon you can – there are not that many – and all 3 Vivaldi Concerti. If you are still having lessons, get them from a teacher with an orchestral background as it really makes a difference. There is not much call for a ‘soloistic’ style on the piccolo as it is largely an orchestral instrument where one must conform to a certain way of playing.

My piccolo plays out of tune…what do I do about it?

Obviously a piccolo is as in tune or out of tune as the person playing it – that goes for the flute, violin or just about anything that’s not tuned by a technician. If you get the best instrument you can, train and trust your ear then you are at the beginning of the difficult journey of learning to play the piccolo in tune. Try playing your flute as you did when you were a beginner, i.e. no adjusting allowed, struggling with an unfamiliar embouchure, overblowing just to get the top notes to come out. You see where I’m heading. It’s experience, intelligence and hard work that gets results.

Can we try this chord?

My most dreaded question! But I have to say yes or I’ll be labelled as grumpy and unco-operative!

Seriously though, trying chords in an ensemble situation can sometimes be useful but when done out of context is pretty pointless. If the chord is preceded by the same tonality in another section, then you must bear that in mind. If there are others involved in the chord from another section, for example strings or brass, then there’s not much point in doing it without them, or all your hard work will be wasted when you get to the performance. Don’t use the tuning machine to help you – if you don’t trust your collective ears, is there any hope? Be confident and flexible, ready at a moment’s notice to change to suit the situation, which I guarantee will change every time!

What do you think about in the rests?

As a piccolo player, I am often counting a lot of rests, or sitting out for 2 or 3 movements at a time. The most useful thing I do is to get to know the piece as well as I can. I tell myself how lucky I am that I can focus on a different line every performance, try to work out the harmonies, and the form. It’s better than getting nervous about an up-coming solo or simply being bored!

How did you choose the piccolo? Or… Why would you choose the piccolo?

Just lucky I guess. I got a piccolo for Christmas and started playing it, well before I was able to, in my school orchestra because nobody else had one. If I had filled in a questionnaire to see which instrument I was suited to, I would have turned out a viola player – I love inner parts!

During rehearsal once, I caught myself looking down the line to my contra-bassoon colleague wondering how anyone could choose such a limited instrument. What a cheek I have! Plenty of colleagues must wonder the same of me, but then I think – any instrument is really just a ticket to playing music and we are all lucky to play anything just so long as we love it.

How’s your hearing?

I had my hearing tested for the first time in my life this year and I came out with perfect results. This either means that I don’t practise enough or that the piccolo doesn’t damage one’s hearing. The perception is that high notes do more damage and this is not true, though it seems pretty piercing sometimes, I agree. I have never used earplugs for my own playing because I can’t hear myself in the way I need to. Everyone’s different and we all need to take care of our hearing.

Rosamund Plummer has extensive performing experience in Australia, UK and USA, and is currently Principal Piccolo with the Sydney Symphony, and combines a busy family life with her work as a part time lecturer in Flute at the Conservatorium of Music.