As music is a language, the pronunciation of sounds gives all its meaning to musical discourse. Just as actors pay attention to the clarity of their diction, flute-players will deal with every aspect of articulation as they progress through this book and play much more expressively.

Included are scale routines, suitable for flutists at every level, that are designed to develop the quality of different types of articulation and to improve the speed of all types of tonguing (a piano accompaniment audio file is provided to make scale practice a true musical moment). Flutists will also find exercises, often based on essential repertoire to improve French “détaché” or the start of notes, a compilation of orchestral excerpts, and several articles on fundamental issues such as the connection between tonguing and breathing, articulation regarding musical styles and its importance on the history of music, or the art of phrasing and tonguing in early music.

Philippe Bernold’s newest addition to his successful series of pedagogical works (Embouchure Technique & The Wind, the Sound) deals with one of the central subjects of the French flute school, which he propagates in his class at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris.