Category Archives: Learning to play

Pydna Aulos Exploration 1

Hello, My name is Ben Peters, and I’m just starting up on playing the Pydna Aulos. These videos that I will be posting every once in a while will be not only a record of my learning, but also a … Continue reading

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The 1st Euterpe doublepipe school

Our parent organisation, the European Music Archaeology Project (EMAP), is organising a doublepipe school in Tarquinia, Italy, 3–6 May 2018. For the programme and further information on the Euterpe school, see www.emaproject.eu/events/euterpe. Euterpe is the Greek muse of music, commonly represented playing … Continue reading

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Introducing the aulos of Poseidonia

Last week, I had the honour of playing the aulos of Poseidonia beside the original in the ancient city of Poseidonia, 100km south of Naples. Here I am with Marco Sciascia, who made a reproduction for the EMAP exhibition in … Continue reading

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Practising episode 2: Seikilos song & tounging

I’m having fun with the Seikilos song, prompted by a collaboration  with Aleksandra Szypowska. I met her last month in Mark his Words, a semi-staged dramatisation of St Mark’s Gospel in Greek, by Patrick Boyde, in which we were both performing. … Continue reading

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Learning to play the aulos: practice documentation 1

It has been quiet on this blog for the last five months. Callum Armstrong has been busy, however – practising, composing and making reeds. I have kept up my documentation of his progress by pressing record on my video camera … Continue reading

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The Seikilos Song on the Pompeii aulos

Here is the best-known ancient melody, played, for the first time since antiquity, both on a reproduction of an ancient instrument and in the original pitch (a = c. 480 Hz, so to say). The finger span on the lower pipe (Pompeii Pipe 2) … Continue reading

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Circular Breathing Tutorial 1

STEP 1. “Balloon Cheeks” Breathe in and out normally through your nose. With your lips sealed and your cheeks fully puffed out, continue breathing in and out normally through your nose. Maintain an even pressure behind your cheeks while breathing … Continue reading

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Notating aulos music?

When exchanging ideas about playing the aulos, I always try to bear one puzzling fact in mind: as far as we know, ancient musical notation was never used to write down a two-part motion. We may have traces of very … Continue reading

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Fingering

Coming to the aulos from the triplepipe, my mind is clear. In order to give all ten fingers the possibility of virtuosic movement, without the instrument slipping out of your hands, it’s best only to open one hole at a time. … Continue reading

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Thumb Exercises

The biggest task I face learning the aulos is training my thumbs to have the same facility as my fingers. On the launeddas, the thumbs take the weight of the instrument, liberating the fingers to do the fancy work. Most … Continue reading

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