This is the first in a series of articles on the piccolo and how to get started on the smaller relative of the flute.

The first thing to consider, before even selecting a piccolo, is to make sure you are ready to begin your piccolo adventure. Although there are a few teachers around the world who start young students on the piccolo directly, most flute teachers agree that it is useful to learn how to play the flute well before beginning the piccolo as a second instrument. I call the piccolo a second instrument, and not an auxiliary instrument like the alto flute, because the orchestral piccolo has different construction and acoustic properties to the modern flute - I will discuss these special properties in more detail in The Piccolo Part 2.

Step one is to check with your teacher and find out if you are at the right stage to learn the piccolo. Many teachers think it is best for flute students to begin the piccolo when they reach an intermediate playing level. This means different things to different teachers: some may require a certain level of repertoire or audition grade (like ABRSM), and others may want students to have a very well-developed tone, dynamic control, and technique.

Once you have permission from your flute teacher, band director or orchestra conductor, or all three, you will need to find a good instrument. One important question to ask is what material you want. There are many high-quality student piccolos on the market made from metal, resin and wood.

To decide between these options, you need to consider where you will be playing your piccolo. If you are playing in marching band, then a metal piccolo that is very loud and resistant to extremes of weather will be a good choice, since a wooden piccolo is very sensitive to changes in temperature. If you want to learn solo piccolo music or play in a concert band or orchestra, then a metal piccolo will create too piercing a sound and it will be better to select a wood or resin (imitation wood) instrument, which creates a more mellow sound. Many of my students in the U.S. have chosen resin student piccolos, as it produces a more pleasing tone like wood AND is able to endure the hot and cold temperatures of the American football season.

You might notice that some piccolos come with lip plates or indents like a silver flute, while wood and resin piccolos often have no lip plate. I have found that the lip plate makes little difference to most players and it only takes a few practice sessions to find where to place your lip on a head joint without a lip plate.

Once you have purchased your piccolo, you will need to take out your good friend, the tuner! Begin by playing long tones or your usual flute warm-up/tonalization on your piccolo in the first octave. You’ll notice that the piccolo is a transposing instrument, since the fingered note on the piccolo will sound an octave higher than the same fingered note on the flute.

As you play your warm-up, watch the tuner carefully – like the flute, the piccolo has some very squirrelly notes, but notes that need adjustment on the piccolo are not necessarily the same as the ones you are used to on your flute. Write down in a notebook what these notes are and their tendencies- are they too sharp or too flat? Avoid playing your warm-up into the third octave of the piccolo at first, just stop when you reach the B at the top of the treble staff.

Now you will want to get started with playing a piece on the piccolo. This is the season for holiday music, so most of my students are playing easy Christmas carols and Hanukkah songs to get acquainted with their new piccolos. Old flute tutors and audition pieces that you have played in the past are also good choices. Be sure to pick pieces that sit in the treble staff and don’t go past the top of the staff. I have students play their old audition book The Really Easy Flute Book, by Pearce and Gunning (Faber Music), as all of the selections are in the appropriate range. This book also has an easy piano part, so you can convince friends and family as well as your teacher to play along with you.

Playing with others is especially important, as the most crucial skill in learning the piccolo is to HEAR your pitch in relation to other instruments and ADJUST. Your piccolo will not just naturally play in tune, nor will it not necessarily be in tune if you play where the note has the best tone color. Instead, playing in tune takes hard work and careful listening. The first few weeks of playing the piccolo are like training a cat to walk on a leash - it takes a great deal of patience and the piccolo will want to go its own way.

Next issue: The piccolo as a second instrument - acoustics, construction and reasons for squirrelly notes!

Dr. Sasha Garver has just returned to the U.S. from two years as second flute/solo piccolo of the Macau Orchestra, SAR China. Dr. Garver holds her Doctorate in Flute Performance, has a degree in voice performance and is active as an opera and choral singer, and is on the music faculty at Northern New Mexico College and teaches Suzuki flute at Santa Fe Talent Education.