rykirk wrote: ↑Tue Sep 21, 2021 7:45 am
Regarding the left hand thumb my copy says "since there are no thumb keys ... one may choose to hold the flute" with the thumb. So true, she doesn't recommend not gripping the flute with the left hand...but her advice on the right hand pinky is definitive and I don't see how one could hold the flute with all holes open without the pinky and without using the kind of lever hold Rockstro describes. If I try to hold all holes open, no pinky, and my thumb on the bottom of the flute and just gripping with the left hand the flute is going to roll and dip unless I really deathgrip with my left hand, which seems wrong. So I guess it's implied for me by process of elimination rather than outright stated.
I'm sure in reality there was no standard hold in the 18th Century. Very few things were standardized country to country or even city to city at that time. But it certainly seems like a Rockstro-like grip was used by at least some and it seems the most ergonomic choice.
rykirk, is it possible that you are placing your left thumb under the flute
rather than on its side? When you find the right position you should be able to
hold the flute with the left hand alone (with your right hand off the flute)
in a very stable and comfortable manner without any tension anywhere, and play
the notes from G to C# (all holes open) and the trills freely. This way, the flute
rather rests in your left hand firmly without any need to grip it. The base of the
first finger and the thumb form a V form (if looking parallel to the flute)
where the flute "lies", the two are however offset in the longitudinal direction
of the flute (the thumb is close to the second hole). Pay attention not
to let the flute "sink" into this "V", the "V" should be "closed" enough so that
the flute remains relatively high. The thumb should be curved inwards (toward the
flute) and touch its side with the fleshy part (although curving the thumb a bit more
and using the tip rather than the fleshy part also works for me). Do not press the
thumb against the flute, let the flute's weight do all the job.
Here's how Tromlitz describes it (almost identical to Quantz but a bit more precise):
"The best placement for all eventualities is therefore to hold the flute,
as already noted, so that it rests on the knuckle of the
lowest joint of the first finger of the left hand, and the thumb placed on the
inside in such a way that the fleshy part of the first joint is on the flute, just
a little behind the second finger, though not quite equidistant from both
fingers. This way of holding the flute is not only secure, but convenient for
everything."
Now that should work perfectly for the left hand notes, but when the right hand is
used actively it will inevitably destabilize the left hand and make it grip too much
(maybe even deathgrip as you say). This is where the "Rockstro grip" comes into play
and prevents any tension in the left hand. As you say, the "Rockstro grip" was probably
always part of the tension-free way of playing the flute, but it was used only when
needed to compensate the destabilisation that the right hand would otherwise produce
in the left hand. This must be the reason why the flutists of that time were convinced
to hold the flute exclusively with the left hand, which could not be exactly true,
in my opinion.
As to Hotteterre's pinky, I don't think he was using the right hand pinky for stabilisation.
Like the others he says that the flute should be held between the first finger and the thumb
of the left hand. I think his pinky was touching the flute's side, behind the key, actually,
for whatever reason, but without any impact on the balance. In his famous picture, there's
quite a space between the fourth finger and the key, too.