Flute 102: A Flute Method Book that Acknowledges D7?! Insanity.

Welcome back to my gushing all over the flute method books by Patricia George and Phyllis Avidan Louke!  Today we briefly explore the features of Flute 102: Mastering the Basics.  If the blog posts I am doing on these method books pique your interest, I suggest you go to Amazon.com or Fluteworld.com to order these books.  They aren't that expensive, in fact I would go so far as to say they aren't expensive at all, and they are a great investment for your studio!


Let's jump right into my highlights of Flute 102:
- there are daily warm-ups
- there is a page dedicated to the circle of fifths
- the fingering chart goes from low B to high, high D
- lessons have been put into groups of five which comprise a chapter
- each chapter is titled something like, "F Major & Friends"
- there is a methodical but strong push on learning scales
- each chapter introduces standard solo repertoire (for example, in C Major & Friends, your students get their first look at Mozart's Andante in C!)
- there is a supplement at the end titled, "Contemporary Technique Solos" - yes, they introduce extended techniques!
- throughout the book, students are asked to focus on their tone, vibrato, and techniques like double tonguing

In short, this book continues where Flute 101 left off.  It promotes the practice and learning of essential musical concepts, like scales, while drawing attention to things that intermediate students will begin asking you about, like vibrato.  I am also thrilled that the chapters are done by key because it will give students the opportunity to briefly focus on key signatures which are still relatively "new" and difficult to remember.  I also think it is fantastic that students will be introduced to the standards of the flute repertoire.  A little Telemann, Mozart, Bizet, and Kuhlau never hurt anyone...much. :)  It should also be noted that with each standard piece comes a brief paragraph of music history.  This feels like a double win for me; it teaches the students about the composers and their music.  It gives them a better understanding of what they are working on.  Think about it, said no musician ever, "Eh, who cares about that dead guy and the world in which he was living; surely neither had any impact on his compositions."

But, not shockingly, what I think I am most excited about is the fact that extended techniques are introduced!  Students will begin to learn flutter tonguing, key clicks, harmonics, sing-play, microtones, timbral trills, pitch bends, and multiphonics through short pieces.  The pieces aren't too challenging and give a nice introduction to each technique.  Even better is the guarantee that the students will feel accomplished and think that the pieces sound cool.  That is a successful recipe for encouraging practicing!  Besides, it makes learning techniques seem more manageable.  There are so many great pieces out there now and most young students are listening to recordings wondering when they will be able to tackle Ian Clarke's "Great Train Race", for example.  Well, here is a great place to start!