Wellness Check!: Upper Body Stretches

I carry a lot of tension and stress in my upper body (neck, shoulders, and upper spine) and post-babies (three boys 6 and under) I found that I needed to realign myself.  My playing posture had taken a huge hit. I was slumping forward and with how close my head was to the stand, you might think I was blind. But that was not the case at all.  Instead, I had become unaware of my body mapping and it could be heard in my playing. Carrying tension in any part of your body and/or being out of balance can greatly impact your playing.

To address this all too common problem, I decided to make a video introducing a flow of stretches and poses that I use every day to release tension and keep myself aware of my body alignment.  I am excited for you to watch, or even better, participate, in this flow with me. If you are new to these stretches and poses, remember that yoga and even basic stretches are part of a practice that you choose to do.  It takes time and commitment to see improvement. Move at your own pace always. I hope that this flow helps you address tension you may be experiencing and leads to more fruitful practice sessions and performances!  Check it out:

Sight-Reading: Top Five

I know, I know.  I already did a blog on sight-reading.  In my previous post, I quickly listed the various aspects of music to observe prior to playing.  In this post, I am going to make a numbered list of the top five aspects to consider when preparing to sight-read.  This is how I tackle sight-reading for auditions/chair placement.   I find it to be a clear strategy and I hope it will help you too.

1.  Time/Key Signature.  If this isn't the first thing you look at, my goodness, what is?!  The first thing I want to know is what meter I am in and what key I have been gifted.  Meter will impact phrasing and emphasis of a musical line.  The key signature, well, if you know that you will play at least half of the notes correctly.  Furthermore, knowing the key signature will highlight accidentals and may help you analyze the music from a theoretical standpoint more efficiently (if you are a theory nerd and do that regularly).

2. Tempo/Rhythm. This may seem like two things.  It is not.  Often, the tempo you take will be dictated by the most inked-up measure.  Look at the tempo marking, be it a number next to a note value or a musical term.  Acknowledging the written tempo is important as it guides the overall performance due to its relationship to style.  However, you may not end up playing at the written tempo which is okay.  Believe me, as someone who has judged sight-reading and has been judged, a judge would rather hear a slightly slower tempo with perfect rhythm than a hot mess at tempo.  That said, try to stay within ten clicks (I am talking metronome tempos here).  If you slow it down too much, that isn't good either.  When observing rhythm, look for rhythmic patterns/themes, look for tricky or out of place rhythms, and look for the measure that will rhythmically destroy you if you don't slow down (this last one will dictate how fast you should play).

3. Style/Articulation.  Again, looks like two things - sorry.  Once you have a mental hand on the notes and rhythms, you should consider the style of the piece.  Look at articulation marks and really try to bring them out. If there are no special markings but you recognize the music to represent a particular musical style, say a march (which has distinctive stylistic practices), make sure your playing demonstrates your knowledge.

4. Expression/dynamics.  I almost hate to list this so low; honestly, I hate prioritizing these items, but having a strategy on how to tackle all the musical elements is helpful.  Anyway, this is somewhat similar to the style idea.  If dynamics or expressive terms are written, it goes without saying that you should observe them when playing.  However, it is possible that dynamics may not be written in, depending on the music.  In this case, use your musical intuition and make smart choices as to how to play the line.  Adding dynamic contrast that demonstrates your understanding of the music can make you stand out from your peers.

5. Phrasing.  I put this one last because in most sight-reading situations, the judge will be thrilled if you have done the first four items well.  This, this is a bonus.  When you are looking through the music, consider where you are going to breathe.  Make sure that your breaths support the musical line and don't interrupt or halt it.  Often, phrases are 4 or 8 measures.  If it is helpful to you, and it is not immediately apparent in the music, sing the line in your head while fingering through.  If you were singing, where would you breathe?  That is more than likely the place you should breathe.  Beyond breathing, and still part of phrasing, ask yourself if the phrase is a question or an answer.  Music is a conversation and a lively one at that.  Consider this, how quickly do you zone out when someone is talking in monotone?  If it is not within a sentence or two, you have the attention span of...a person who is really gifted at paying attention.  Well done, you.  Most of us prefer animation and inflection in conversation - this is also true for music.

There they are, my top five for sight-reading.  This may seem like a lot to consider in a short span of time (usually a minute or less).  The best way to become efficient at any skill is to practice it.  I like having my students sight-read in the last five minutes of a lesson.  The more you do it, the better you get.  You will learn from mistakes such as not spending enough time in one of these five areas.  In my previous post, I listed ways to get music to sight-read.  Those are still valid.  You can also always ask your director or lesson teacher for appropriate music to sight-read.  Believe me, they will not turn you away.  You will make their day.  Besides, those people will have a good idea of what excerpts are commonly seen in auditions.  The more literature you see, the better; you may even walk into sight-reading to find that you don't have to sight-read at all.

What I Am Listening To/Working On: Nicole Chamberlain Music

As promised in a previous post, I would like to take the time in this post to highlight the work of flutist-composer Nicole Chamberlain. I discovered her music about a year and a half ago.  It all started with Percolate (and this specific recording!):

After that, I scrambled to find where I could purchase this music - everything is on her website (click Nicole's name above) and many of her pieces are also sold through Flute World.  Once on her website, I got lost in an array of music I wanted to own and learn how to play immediately!  I loved her use of extended techniques and the sounds/moods of her pieces.  Did you catch the quote of Mission Impossible in Percolate?

At this point, I have performed Percolate, conducted Railroaded, recorded Chatter, worked on In Cahoots and Asphyxia, and am currently working on Acrophobia.  Clearly, I am obsessed.  But seriously, this music is challenging and so much fun to play.  The use of pizzicato tonguing, beatboxing, jet whistles, multiphonics, and stomps is a delightful workout (no, really, my abs hurt when I am first learning a piece and building up endurance).

Chamberlain seems to be a fountain of new music at the moment and she is writing for a variety of flute ensembles.  Her CD Three-Nine Line, featuring her compositions, was released earlier this year.  That said, recordings of her pieces can be found on her website along with videos posted by the composer or other experts demonstrating the extended techniques in each piece.

You should definitely check out Chamberlain's website and music.  Then find some friends who want to step out of the traditional realm of playing to play these pieces.  You will be glad you did.

Here is the recording of Chatter I mentioned earlier.  I am playing with my good friend Elaine.

Musician's Yoga, Body Mapping, and the Alexander Technique: Awareness

Let's jump right in, shall we.  Physically, I struggle to "work out" because as a young person, I was constantly engaged in physical activity such as ballet and other dance forms, soccer, tennis, gymnastics, etc.  I never had to "work out".  Now that I am older, and I am not getting any younger (no body is, get it?), I feel my body ache doing things I was once able to do without a second thought.  Mentally, in short, I have responsibilities (kids will do that) that I have not had before.  I often find myself stressed.  So this summer, I decided to do some reading that would, hopefully, make me more knowledgeable about my overall well-being, both physical and mental. My reading included the following books: Musician's Yoga: A Gude to Practice, Performance, and Inspiration by Mia Olson; Body Mapping for Flutists: What Every Flute Teacher Needs to Know About the Body by Lea Pearson; and Simple Step-by-Step Alexander Technique by Michèle Macdonnell.

After reading these books, I by no means am an expert on these topics, however I do feel enlightened and inspired to learn more and improve myself. The first two books are written by flutists, which is awesome because, hey, I am a flutist.  Here is what all of the books seem to agree on, emphatically: 1) awareness of your body and its responses to everyday activity is extremely important and 2) we carry stress around in our body through misuse and tension both of which can inhibit our ability to perform mundane tasks and/or perform musically.  All three also provide many pictures which demonstrate proper balance and poise and conversely imbalance in the structure of the body.

Musician's Yoga offers meditations and yoga routines, as well as individual poses, to help a flutist find inner calm and balance.  The varying routines, each including multiple poses, to focus the energy of the body, increase flexibility, and implement the balance found in all aspects of flute playing (from practice to performance) will help you become more aware of your posture as you play.

Body Mapping goes into great detail about how each part of the body works and how the whole structure is connected.  What I got out of it, based on the aches I have felt of late, is that the tension in my neck is hindering my ability to breathe fully/quietly/effectively, to feel flexible and relaxed in my playing stance, tongue faster, and even use the maximum mobility of my fingers.  It seems crazy yet also so obvious that tension in one area of my body spreads throughout and impacts my playing.

Finally, Alexander Technique,  offers a brief but clear introduction to the technique which focuses on the primary control (the alignment and relationship between the head, neck, and back).  It suggests that we study the way babies/toddlers move, their stature, to realize what natural poise looks like.  It is often suggested, by the way, to watch babies breathe to understand the proper/natural/most efficient breathing technique.

Again, I am not an expert, but rather an intrigued student who has only just begun this journey.  I plan to slowly teach myself how to implement the finer points of all of these books into my everyday life and, of course, into my playing.  In the last few weeks I have started to do yoga, via DVD.  I can already feel a difference in the way I carry myself and stand.  I feel less tension while I play.  However, I am far from mastering yoga and I can only imagine how much better I will feel as I continue to practice yoga.  In the near future, I would love to make up my own routines, with guidance from Olson's book and other experts, that I can use daily for myself or teach my studio students.  These routines could be an overall experience or singularly focused to release tension and improve flexibility in a particular area of the body.  It is my hope that as I learn my own body map, I can help my students learn and correct, as needed, their own.  Furthermore, taking note of how I complete everyday tasks will only prolong my body's ability to perform music without falling prey to tendinitis or other painful aches.  It starts with how I stand, how I sit, how I bend over to pick something up, how I write on my computer or on a piece of paper at a desk; all of these positions we put our bodies in and forget to consider, to be aware of, how our body feels.  Awareness is paramount.  As discussed in both Olson's and Pearson's book, inclusive awareness, taking in all around you, is part of the musical experience.  Macdonnell discusses this type of awareness too when she talks about being in the present, in the now.

It is so easy to get lost in the music, to only see the music.  Yet, if we are not mentally and physically healthy and aware, then it is all for naught.

Let's Talk About the Alabama All-State Band Flute Audition Etudes

Welcome to my studio!  Here are my videos on how to practice, think, and prepare the etudes for the Alabama All State Band Auditions for 2019 (auditions music/requirements).  For anyone considering auditioning for all-state, let me first say that I think that is great!  It is a good short term goal that, as proper motivation, will allow you the opportunity to grow as a musician regardless of the audition outcome.  Practicing scales regularly leads to higher technical ability and also strengthens your theoretical understanding of music.  A good etude will push and engage you as a musician.  Remember that all music should be played musically, even scales.  An etude may be labeled as a technical etude, but it should still be played expressively.  Just some food for thought.

In my videos, I will suggest ways to practice these specific etudes.  You may have other ideas or know methods that work for you, but I wanted to share my strategies too.  Something I don't say in my videos that I would like to share now is that the technical exercise (as I call it) is one of the best, if not the best, ways to learn notes in relation to fingerings/muscle memory.  The technical exercise means playing a passage (never the whole piece, maybe 8 measures at a time or less as needed) in varied rhythms.  Straight eighths or sixteenths can be practiced in dotted rhythms, triplets, eighth and two sixteenths, etc. You can practice your scales this way too.

So, without further ado, here are the videos!  I sincerely hope that you find them helpful and that they inspire you in your practice sessions.  Good luck, happy practicing, excelsior!

Middle School Technical Etude

Middle School Lyrical Etude

High School Technical Etude

High School Lyrical Etude

Etude of the Week

In the last year, I joined a Facebook group called Etude of the Week.  Initially, I just listened to everyone as they finished up an etude book (I joined mid-book).  I enjoyed seeing flutists of all levels participating and offering each other support.  Flutists as young as 11 played at their own tempo, working on the aspects of flute playing relevant to their own personal growth.  College students shared their recordings too.  Professional flutists including Amy Porter and Nicole Esposito also posted their renditions and included tips on how to practice or what to focus on.  What an amazing opportunity presented by social media.  I should give credit where it is due, the group was created by a flutist from Flutistry Boston, Katy Wherry.


At this point, I have already participated in a full round (Köhler's Romantic Etudes) and am in the midst of another (featuring Moyse's Melodic Studies and Paganini's 24 Caprices).  This group gives me accountability.  I practice nearly every day and have personal goals, but having to record myself and post it makes it harder for me to neglect my potential to grow as a musician.  Think about it, I am out of school and don't have a professor/teacher to check in with once a week.  This is how I make up for it.  An added bonus is that my sight-reading skills are vastly improving as I only have a week, sometimes less, to learn an etude.  I am learning new music I might not have had reason to explore prior to this experience.  I have an amazing support system via the other flutists in the group; furthermore, each recording gives me a new perspective or interpretation of an etude with which I am now familiar.  There are so many positives to being in this group.

That said, I will be the first to say that I am not an overly big fan of social media.  I participate in it, but I also see that it can create, and has created, a negative environment.  I have watched videos on YouTube and read nasty comments.  When a musician is trying to improve, recording themselves and receiving feedback is key.  But the goal as compassionate human beings should be to provide constructive and supportive feedback.  No one is perfect and there is always something to improve.  But only pointing out the negatives, or just being plain mean, benefits no one and it could do serious damage to a person's self-confidence.

The nice thing about Etude of the Week is that when people comment, as far as I have seen, it is always positive.  They offer praise, words of encouragement, and constructively suggest ways to improve. It is a healthy learning environment.  I am proud to be a member of this group.  In addition to learning my etudes, it is now my goal to contribute positively to the learning environment I admire.

If you had not heard of this group before, you should absolutely check it out! Consider joining - you can be an observer until you are ready to join the fun yourself.  There you go, that is my plug for an inspiring group.  Hope to hear you playing etudes alongside me soon!

My Journey into Beatboxing

While earning my first master’s degree I met a truly inspiring flutist.  This student helped me to loosen up, chill out (if you will), in rehearsals and as a musician.  This same student introduced me to a whole new world of flute playing.  He shook up the whole studio by learning Greg Pattillo’s Three Beats for Beatbox Flute.  It was so cool!  And secretly, I wanted to be able to beatbox too.  But as with all new things, I was extremely hesitant to even try.  For years, I pushed it away, making excuses for why I couldn’t learn how to do it.  Did you catch that?  Couldn’t.  I thought I did not possess the ability to learn what my friend had.  Why?  Well, it is despairingly simple.  I was scared.  There was nothing to stop me from learning.  I could have asked my friend to give me pointers, but I didn’t.  I wasted a perfectly good opportunity.  Furthermore, I wasted five years of growth potential on fear.  I was so scared of failure and embarrassment.   There are so many quotes I can throw in here about how people who are successful weren’t afraid to fail because it would lead to success or how the only difference between successful people and unsuccessful people is the willingness to prepare, to put in the hard work.  But I don’t need to, because undoubtably you have heard them all before. 

And here’s the thing, once I decided that I was going to do it, that I was going to learn how to beatbox, I took off.  I watched countless instructional videos about how to beatbox (I will share some of my favorites at the bottom of this post), and they helped a little bit.  But at the end of the day, I learn by experience.  I started incorporating beatboxing syllables into my warm-ups, for example scales, and I purchased beatboxing etude books and pieces.  Now I know what you are thinking – there are beatboxing etudes?!  Yes, yes there are.  I will share the books I purchased with you in the following paragraphs as I compare them and detail what worked for me.  Let me say this, I don’t think I am as good of a beatboxer as my friend who so inspired me, but I do hope to have the opportunity to jam with him in the future.  I was so honored and, yes, inspired (theme of the post much?) watching my friend grow as a flutist and I can only hope that if he heard me beatboxing he would be proud of me. 

Shall we get down to it?  The book that helped me, hands down, the most in learning beatboxing was  Flute Beatboxing: Studies& Pieces by Tilmann Dehnhard.  Dehnhard has another amazing extended technique book that I may have to do an entire entry on in the future called The New Flute: Workbook & DVD.  In his beatboxing book, Dehnhard explains how to make each sound and then goes on to give focused etudes on each individual sound in progressively more challenging levels.  Level 1 is Bronze followed by Silver, Gold, and Platinum.  In the first three levels, the Ts, K, and B sound are taught on their own.  Then, in the Platinum level, the final etude is a mix of K and B.  Furthermore, there are concert studies which integrate all three sounds. Finally, he gives students “Beatbox Classics” which are familiar tunes with added beatbox sounds.  I should note that Dehnhard notates the B (bass drum) sound as P in his music and Ts as T.  You will see in this blog that composers notate beatboxing differently.  Isolating each sound and placing them in a more traditional learning setting solidified my ability to process and master each sound.  Technology is great and I loved listening to Pattillo demonstrate each sound, but this book gave me a physical goal.  I guess I am truly old school. 

I had also previously purchased The Art of Beatboxing by Brandy Hudelson which is also an etude book.  I bought it because I was working on her piece Wild Nightingale.  Wild Nightingale was my first goal in beatboxing.  I was staying clear of Three Beats, again due to fear, and wanted a piece that I could perform.  For the record, I have since worked on, although not performed, Three Beats.  Hudelson’s book was not accessible to me when I was in the beginning stages of learning to beatbox.  She introduces a lot of beatboxing syllables, each with a detailed description on how to produce the sound, and incorporates them with complex rhythms and sometimes compounds them with other extended techniques.  Having worked through Dehnhard’s book and worked on/performed Wild Nightingale, I think this book is more accessible to me now.  I would not recommend this book to learn the basics.  What this book does do that is fantastic is in the chapters leading up to the etudes, Hudelson discusses how to improvise with beatboxing and how to compose with the technique.  I arrange music for my students and for flute ensemble often and I think it would be fun to incorporate beatboxing into a future project. Below the sample notation is a recording of my dress rehearsal for a performance of Wild Nightingale (consider it proof that an old dog can learn new tricks).

The final etude book that I had purchased early on was Four Etudes for Beatbox Flute by Greg Pattillo.  This book was also a bit much for me, personally, in the beginning.  I felt like I was just thrown into the deep end.  To be fair, remember that Pattillo has multiple videos and a summer camp in which you can learn to beatbox from the pro himself.  For me, the videos didn’t engage me the way I need in order to learn.  Physical etudes hold me accountable.  Pattillo, like every composer I have encountered who uses beatboxing, provides instructions in the book on how to produce the sound.  You will see, again, that Pattillo notates differently than the previous two composers.  What is neat about this book is that the tunes are not only familiar to a musician, but also to those who do not study music.  The tunes are from popular culture and are transcriptions of some of Pattillo’s popular videos.  Again, I think I would be more successful with this book now than I was a year ago when I started this venture.

In a future post, I plan to discuss a super neat flute composer whose compositions I have been obsessed with of late: Nicole Chamberlain.  Chamberlain is a composer who has given the flute literature world a plethora of cool pieces for solo flute, duets, trios, flute choir, and mixed chamber ensembles incorporating beatboxing and other techniques.  No surprise here, Chamberlain notates the beatboxing technique differently from the aforementioned flutist-composers.   For now, I will leave you with a couple of the instructional beatboxing YouTube videos:

Extended Techniques: The New Flute

In my previous post concerning beatboxing, I mentioned The New Flute by Tilmann Dehnhard. I would like to expand on that a bit, in the form of an entire post.  In short, I would say that this book is extremely similar in content (extended techniques) to Robert Dick's The Other Flute; however, I find this book more visually appealing and, overall, more accessible.

Dehnhard not only explains, verbally and in great detail, how to achieve and work on a given technique, he also provides a variety of exercises which begin at a beginner's level and get progressively more difficult.  I personally love having topics broken down into focused, smaller bites.  Makes it easier to swallow.  The topics discussed in this book include, but are not limited to: sing-play, beatboxing, whistle tones, wind noises (i.e. jet whistle), percussive sounds (i.e. percussive articulations), pitch bends, harmonics, multiphonics, circular breathing, tremolos, and flutter tongue.  The book also comes with an instructional DVD.

A particularly cool feature of this book is that Dehnhard combines multiple exercises into a comprehensive etude (of sorts).  While learning to sing-play, he writes an exercise in which you play the melody of a J.S. Bach Bourrée and sing an accompaniment line.

Later, while mastering beatboxing, an exercise using the melody of the Bourrée returns and beatbox syllables have been added to the fray (no singing in this instance).

Finally, a few pages later, the Bourrée is presented as an etude in which you play the melody, beatbox, and sing an accompaniment line.

How cool is that?

For me, this gives me proof of progress.  Not only did I work on mastering specific techniques, I learned a piece in fragments before seeing it all together.  No doubt, if you flip open to the final product, it is more than intimidating.  Yet, having walked through it all on your own terms, at your own pace, putting it all together seems more manageable. This process of chunking music is an important skill to learn and apply in all of your practice sessions; this book sets a good example for how to execute the chunking process.

I am slowly working through this book and will try to do regular updates on how it is going.  My plan is to learn an exercise from the book, record myself, and post the video with a brief discussion on struggles I had and/or how the book helped me improve.  So keep an eye out for that post.  Maybe I will even post the Bourrée in the future.  Just seems like a cool trick to have up your sleeve anyway.  :)  Excelsior!

"Wake up!" I'm back.

Returning to a project is always an interesting experience.  In part, it is exciting to pick up where you left off and come up with new ideas.  In part, it is extremely difficult because you have to pick up where you left off and come up with new ideas.  Why did I stop blogging to begin with?

Life happened.  After completing my master's in flute performance, I spent a few years playing in local ensembles/chamber groups, teaching lessons, and blogging.  Then I decided to take a few classes in the music education realm to see what I thought about that.  I liked it, which makes sense because I like teaching.

But the biggest change happened when my husband got a new job and moved our family to a new state.  It goes without saying, there were a lot of changes and adjustments made.  I, for one, started a second master's degree in music education.  Two years later, I have completed my master's in music education and I am EdTPA certified. 

But now what? I am more experienced as a teacher because of the opportunities presented through the degree program including the culminating experience of student teaching; but I am not, at present, teaching in a school as a full time job. 

I won't lie.  I am disappointed.  I did not think that I wouldn't have a job this year and that is a lot to take on mentally. 

So, in part, I am here for my own mental wellness.  I don't do well with idleness.  I like being busy and having things to do.  This blog gives me a purpose.  I also greatly enjoy learning and writing about music.  While I try to build a studio again and find my place as a music educator in my new musical landscape, I am going to keep myself active and happy. 

For starters, let me share a piece I discovered earlier this year.  I was invited to work as an aural skills instructor for a summer music camp and all of the counselors and instructors had been asked to play a piece in a recital for the campers.  The previous summer, I played Ian Clarke's The Great Train Race.  I love performing and when given the chance, I like to learn/play a piece that exposes students to something new and/or unexpected.  I like to entertain and surprise.  I mean, you can't do this all the time, but for an informal recital for a summer camp it almost seems called for, don't you think?

Thus began one of my many YouTube musical journeys - you know, the ones where you start one place and through clicking the suggested videos you end up somewhere completely different?  Well, this particular listening experience led me to the piece "Wake up!" by Tilmann Dehnhard. 

The piece is straightforward tonally and rhythmically.  What makes it fun is the instrumentation.  It is written for piccolo and alarm clock.  I kid you not, the title is "WAKE UP! für Piccoloflöte und Wecker."  Even more delightful, or not ( depending on your mindset), is that it comes with a tiny alarm clock. Here it is in all of its glory:

Anyway, the piece is a little jazzy and is meant to sound improvised.  The alarm clock sounds four sixteenths on beats two and four.  You, the piccolo, fill in the rest (I hope you enjoy my play on words as much as I do).  As noted by many players, you have to tune the piccolo to the alarm clock.  My alarm clock was a slightly flat C.  Probably the most difficult thing for me was balancing with the alarm clock.  When I practiced, there was no issue because the alarm clock faced me.  As it got closer to performance, I started practicing with the alarm next to me, but facing away from me.  As the piccolo line goes into the upper register as the piece progresses, it became difficult to hear the alarm clock and therefore maintain tempo.  I don't know if you know, but the piccolo can out-sound an alarm clock.  There are very few silences in this piece, three instances, and they are all at the beginning.  If you get off-tempo from the alarm clock, which can be easy to do when you are having fun, there will be silences that are not written.  The final fun fact I will share with you is two-fold: 1) while playing straight sixteenths on a concert C in the final measures you turn off the alarm clock and 2) the last note is a high C. Turning the alarm clock off is fun because if the audience isn't fully paying attention they won't even notice.  And because the piece wasn't a test of endurance already, you get Prokofiev-ed by Dehnhard when he throws in a high C at the end.  Here is a recording by the composer himself.  Enjoy and Wake Up!

Flute 103: Have We Mastered the Basics Yet?

Here it is, the final installment of the Flute 101-103 trilogy!  And I thought I would throw in a couple of teasers at the end for The Scale Book and Advanced Flute Studies: The Art of Chunking because I've come this far, might as well.  I am so excited about the Flute 101 series and I hope that in the brief time I have spent on them I have given a good presentation of what they contain.  By no means do I think Flute Student should be shunned from society or lost to the flute civilization; I am the product of Flute Student and I think I turned out pretty great.  I merely get excited about the exploration of flute method because there is no one right answer.  Every student learns differently and for some of my students, Flute 101 will be more effective than Flute Student (or Suzuki - I feel like people might think I am attacking Flute Student :(  )

Highlights:
- continued structure of key signature themed chapters
- even more integration of standard repertoire
- use of extended techniques in each chapter to improve overall playing
- suggestion of working towards giving a solo recital, with sample programs
- more in-depth look at composers and their music, including performance guides

To give you an idea of what the performance guides are like, I will talk about the information that can be found in the guide for Gluck's Minuet and Dance of the Blessed Spirits.  First, this is an obvious choice to include because it is the definition of standard.  Like the Mozart, if you have dreams of becoming a professional flutist, you will play this at nearly every audition. And even if you don't have that dream, if you take private flute lesson, at some point your teacher will pull this gem out.

So what light is shed on the Minuet?  Here you are:
- A brief background on Christoph Willibald Ritter von Gluck
- A plot summary of the opera from which the Minuet comes, thank you(!)
- The musical context, what is going on in the orchestra during the solo
- A few basic reminders on the simpler aspects of playing musically (the piece is in 3/4 so strong-weak-weak)
- The musical structure, ABA, and how the sections differ
- Helpful cues/tips on how to play the written "grace notes"
- Many examples showing how subdivision in the B section is the key to rhythmic perfection
- Suggestions for musical gestures, i.e. sighs
- Concluding thoughts on the difficulty of the piece and the best ways to go about working on it (like, with a METRONOME)
- Once you get to the music, the A section includes the other flute part so that the teacher can play with the student; knowledge is knowledge is power

I think what I like about this series is that it makes it easier for students to do more investigative work on their own.  This is a basic all-in-one method.  That being said, I don't think that any flute student's education is complete with these books alone. No, no, no.  Everybody needs to experience some Andersen op. 33 action.  And they'll love it...I mean, we all did, right?  Just consider this a thrilling new venture in the world of flute pedagogy!

Now, as promised, here are quick looks into The Scale Book and The Art of Chunking!

The Scale Book: A Path to Artistry is a book meant for any level musician.  Seems like a good idea to me.  But how do you make scales "friendly" to a beginner?  Well, it helps that this book looks, physically, exactly like Flute 101.  Something that looks familiar is always less of a headache than something foreign.  The third page details how the authors think elementary, intermediate, and advanced students should tackle the book respectively.  Not only does this book introduce scales beyond major and minor, it makes references to musical examples like The Swan from "Carnival of the Animals" and the book correctly suggests that scales are the backbone of flute playing from technicality to tonality and musicianship. Here is what the authors say about why they made The Scale Book:

The Art of Chunking explores, well, the art of chunking.  Chunking is one method for learning music.  It is the idea of breaking large chunks of music down to smaller, more manageable portions.  In this book, the authors want students to focus on one group of sixteenths at a time, meaning one beat in most cases.  These beats are separated by a rest and this method, according to the authors, benefits the flutist in numerous ways including, but not limited to, eye coordination/short-term memory improvement, opening the throat during rests, and helping the flutist recognize patterns in the music.  In order to do this, the book contains a comprehensive daily warm-up, 48 lessons in major and minor keys, etudes, cadenzas, and solo works by Telemann, J.S. Bach, and C.P.E. Bach. This book is meant to follow the completion of Flute 103 or "any intermediate method." I do think students should at least dabble in this book because it presents many good concepts.  This book is somewhat on the honor system though because as any lesson teacher knows, we can't make our students practice the proper way.  We strive to teach and show them the importance and benefits in doing so, but in the end it is entirely up to the students themselves.

Excelsior!

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!

Flute 101: The Obvious Title of a Flute Method Book

For most of my flute teaching career, I have used the Flute Student method book series.  However, at the suggestion (a very strong - one might say nagging - suggestion) of a fellow flute teacher, I ordered Phyllis Avidan Louke and Patricia George's "Flute 101: Mastering the Basics" book off Amazon.com.  Obviously, I have some thoughts to share because I am blogging about it, and here is the long and the short of it: I think it is utterly brilliant!

Here is a bullet point list of what I consider highlights of the Flute 101 method system:

- The first lesson - sort of a pre-lesson - is called "Fun with the headjoint"
- Lessons 1 and 2 teach G, A, B, and C
- Starting in lesson 3, if the fingering for low and high register notes are the same, you "learn" both notes
- Especially in the early lessons, many of the music selections are repeated in different registers and keys as the student learns more notes (in my experience, young students are more excited to practice and play music they already know)
- There are duets in nearly all, if not all, the lessons (I've never met a student who didn't think it was more fun to play with me and for more "social" students, this keeps the lesson interactive)
- Many of the lessons begin with warm-up suggestions (introduction of the importance of warming up? Be still my heart!)
- Constant bombardment of recognition of playing in a specific key (they do exist!)
- Extremely clear and repetitive introduction to rhythm
- Suggestions and tips throughout on how to play musically in a language easy for younger students to understand
- The book is spiral bound.  This is huge (meaning awesome - not a size reference)...believe me

Okay, okay, I seriously could go on and on and on...but I won't.  My plan for the remainder of the blog is to showcase in more detail one of my favorite aspects of the book.  Here we go!

So, the "pre-lesson" I spoke of:  "Fun with the headjoint" is an organized and accessible introduction to playing the flute with which all of us fine flute teachers are familiar.  The student focuses solely on producing a sound consistently with the headjoint alone.

They are simultaneously introduced to simple rhythms and counting.  Once they have mastered producing a sound, the authors introduce two songs, "Mary Had a Little Lamb" and "Hot Cross Buns", but having the student stick their index finger partially and fully into the end of the headjoint.

In part II of the pre-lesson, the students produce upper and lower register B's with their headjoint by placing their right hand over the end of the headjoint.

From here, there is more practice with ryhthms and playing both registers.  The pre-lesson closes with a teacher/student "Snake Charmer" duet in which the student plays upper and lower B's while the teacher plays the melody.  Super ingenious and super fun!

I highly recommend this book, especially for younglings!  The introduction to sound production, the repetition of songs, and the duets will keep any student excited and focused on learning the flute.  Blogs talking about Flute 102 and Flute 103 to follow! :)

End of the [Academic] Year Hustle

The last few weeks have been very busy for me.  The Columbia Community Band had its last concert for the season and it was a lot of fun to play!  We played Elsa's Procession to the Cathedral by Wagner, The Whistler and His Dog which featured myself on piccolo and Dr. Manzo from the University of Missouri, and Sparke's Tuba Concerto (also with Dr. Manzo).  With the conclusion of that concert, CCB prepares for MU commencement ceremonies and our summer programs.  At last night's rehearsal, we read an arrangement of selections from The Wizard of Oz (see video)!  I was overjoyed to play it because it took me back to Jr. High as that piece was played often.  We also read my absolute favorite march, National Emblem.  The trio section is just amazing if you've got the low brass for it.  In short, it was a fantastic and fun rehearsal.

I also had a lot of fun making a flute lamp out of my aunt's old, run-down beginner flute.  My dad (and mom) came to visit a couple weekends ago and on a whim I decided it was time to turn that unplayable flute into something useful!  With my dad's help, it was surprisingly easy to make the flute into a lamp.  A flute is already hollow and the circumference works perfectly with the light bulb and lamp kit.  The most difficult aspect of constructing the lamp was finding a lamp base and then, once I found one, weighing the lamp down because the base was hollow and the flute is, of course, top heavy.  It was a fun project to do with my dad and every time I sit at my desk, I smile because it is just so awesome and beautiful.

The next big project I took up in order to make my life easier and better my studio was to create a catalog of my music library.  I have  A LOT of music.  Some might think I have a music buying problem, but really, I just like owning my own music and I can't help it if I find something called "Fun Flute Duets" while searching for something else.  What am I supposed to do?  Not buy a book of supposedly fun flute duets?!  And for the record, that book is, indeed, fun.  It has a lot of cool, and conveniently short, arrangements of duets in the following "categories": food, animals, traditional Irish, traditional American, and Halloween.  Anyway, back to the music library.  I started by creating an Excel file and putting in the title, composer, instrumentation, and group type (solo, duet, etc.) of each piece.  Then I went back in and gave each piece a letter (A,B,C, etc.) to represent various categories like "Flute Method" or "Flute Unaccompanied Solo" and then a number (1, 2, 3, duh...).  This might seem excessive, and maybe it is, but it will keep me sane and help me find music and keep track of music if I lend it out to a student or friend - yes, I created a "Checked Out"  column.  I am currently in the process of putting the ID (i.e. A-5) into a return address label template so I can print them out and place them on the proper pieces.  I also got 8.5x11 Alphabet Tabs at Staples (love Staples) to further my OCD organization system.  Super excited.

Leaving my nerdiness behind, I finally got around to planning and organizing the first annual Crecelius Flute Studio Recital!  My students will be sharing the stage with the students of Katie Smyth Flute Studio; this is Smyth Flute Studio's first recital as well.  I've got the programs printed, the venue secured, and my music in order.  It will be a wonderful afternoon of flute solos, duets, and a quartet.  It is my hope that this will be an annual tradition.  I remember playing in my Jr. High/High School flute and clarinet lesson teachers'  studio recitals growing up.  It was fun to have the opportunity to perform for my parents and I, as a music educator, believe it is important for my students to have the same opportunity.  Not only is it fun and makes parents happy because they get to hear their children play, but if my students continue to play music through high school or even go on to major in music, they will need to develop a stage presence and become accustomed to playing solos in front of people.  And obviously I hope that my students will, at least, play through high school.  I cannot wait for Saturday!

These are but a few things that have been happening in Crecelius Flute Studio - I love being busy.  In the near future, I hope to give a recital of my own.  It has been far too long since I gave a solo recital.  I have some pieces in mind, but I am definitely open to suggestions.  Sometimes, I think it is easier to just have someone tell me what to play.  Ah, the pains of not being in school anymore!  I also plan to be better about blogging again.  I would blame how busy I have been, but I really need to be more committed.  I have a few ideas for upcoming blogs and I hope to have exciting experiences this summer to inspire me!

Learning New Music Challenge

This post is a challenge to any musician it reaches.  Here are the guidelines:

1.  Find a new piece of music to work on, a piece of which you have never played a single note.

2.  Before looking at this piece for the first time, assess your practice technique.

3.  Listen to the piece, score in front of you (if possible), regardless of whether you have never heard the piece before or you have heard it more times than you can count.

For all three of the above mentioned guidelines, your flute, or whatever instrument you play, should still be stowed safely in its case.  That's right.  Don't even touch the instrument.  Bad habits are far more easily attained than good ones.  The best way to fight off bad habits is not to touch your instrument until you've put some good thought into how to go about working on the piece.

So, now that I've brought up the elephant in the room, how do you practice?  Here, my good friend and fellow flutist, Katie Smyth, discusses one method.  And this lovely post is why I am here today writing the post I am writing.

What really stood out to me from the second link is the following:

1. The set-up: The students were given the music, a metronome, and a pencil.  A metronome and a pencil...

2.  The time of practice varied from 8.5 to 57 minutes.  Hmmm.

3. Some of the mentioned practice techniques from the top 8 practicers:
- "Practice was thoughtful, as evidenced by silent pauses while looking at the music, singing/humming, making notes on the page, or expressing verbal “ah-ha”s."
- "Errors were preempted by stopping in anticipation of mistakes. Errors were addressed immediately when they appeared."
- "The precise location and source of each error was identified accurately, rehearsed, and corrected."
and finally...
- "The number of times they played it correctly in practice...had no bearing on their ranking...What did matter was home many times they played it incorrectly. The more times they played it incorrectly, the worse their ranking..."

You really should read the whole post, it is quite good,but here are my takeaways.  Practicing doesn't have to be an all day nightmare affair.  If you are smart, you can get a lot accomplished in, say, 8 and a half minutes.  Studying the music before you play it is important.  It not only gives you the bigger picture, as in where your part fits in with everything else, but it also can help you identify the tricky parts you will probably spend most of your practice time working through.  You really shouldn't, at any point, just run through the piece over and over and over again.  Most likely, that will lead you to many bad habits.

Instead, isolate problem areas before they occur.  Discover what sort of technical issue you experience: fingerings, tonguing, vibrato/tone quality, breathing (if you are a wind instrument in particular), or dynamic.  Here are practice tips I know I have given before, but let me do it again because as a mother and a teacher I will spend my entire life repeating the same things over and over and over again.

1. Have a pencil with you.  Mark in anything that you need to, including accidentals.  If you missed the note more than once, just mark it in.

2. Practice with a metronome.  Practice way under tempo.  If you can play it perfectly slowly, you have an infinitely higher chance of playing it at tempo perfectly.  Slow practice is everything.

3. If you are having a fingering issue that slow practice doesn't cure, use rhythms (remember from practicing scales for district and state?  I'll post it again.), loops, anything that takes the measure or even one beat out of context so that you can clean up and finesse the part.

4.  Only practice one given problem at a time and for a maximum of 10 minutes at a time (or even a day).  Let's pretend that you have five problem areas.  Now think about it. If each problem area was isolated and received 10 minutes of intensive care, you'd get a lot of work done in under an hour.  An hour! Not 4 or 5 hours of making the same mistakes as you repeatedly do meager run-throughs of the piece.

5. If you are having an air support, or tone clarity problem, get rid of the vibrato in the practice room.

6. Need to work on double or triple tonguing?  Then do that.  Don't continue to hammer away at a passage your tonguing isn't ready for.  Single, double, and triple tongue scales during your warm up.  Flip the double or triple tonguing to engage the back half of the technique ( KTKTKTKT instead of TKTKTKTK).  Ever play a scale with just the back half (KKKKK)?  It's miserable, but it makes you better.

7. Listen to the music!  Honestly, it might be better to spend more time listening to someone play it correctly than you spend playing it yourself.  Also consider listening to, not just the piece you are working on, but other pieces by the same composer and works of other composers from the same period.  This will deepen your understanding of the composer's composition technique and it will make you aware of the proper playing styles/practices.

Learning how to practice well, efficiently, and successfully can take years to master, but once it's done, the results speak for themselves.

Back to my challenge, care to try it?  Want to take it further?  I had an amazing musician, conductor, and educator once suggest that I listen to and study a score for at least three months before I played a single note.  To this day, I haven't been able to wait that long.  But I'll do it if you do it with me.  What do you say?  Come on, jump in the pool with me!  It will be fun, and you'll be the better for it.

Performing in the Community: Singing with Full Heart and Voice

I am currently discussing the idea of putting together a sacred music performance at my parish.  Ideally, this is something that would grow into a more regular occurrence, perhaps with more musicians (not counting the congregation) participating over time.  It could create a choir that performs for and with the congregation, playing music they know but don't hear often and teaching them new music that could be incorporated into regular services.  Either way, it is a bonding experience with the members of my church that I really want to happen.

As I attempt to put together a program to present to the church music director, I am trying to balance well-known pieces with new pieces.  I am trying to create a theme of sorts.  I am trying to make the program fun, filled with songs that the audience will want to sing along to and will continue humming long after the performance ends.

This could be tricky though because every parish has its own musical identity.  I know that Queen of the Rosary in fair Elk Grove Village, IL had its own identity solidified in the foundation created by a musical director that had been there for years.  There were songs you anticipated hearing regularly and he had a set list for holiday masses.  The same goes for Sacred Heart in Notre Dame, IN.  Not shockingly, their identity had a strong Irish lilt to it.  The Celtic Alleluia was a standard and with the presence of fantastic in-house sacred music composers, the parish was set in its musical ways.

In both of my previous parishes, there were certain aspects of sacred musical practice that stick with me today.  QR makes me desperately wish there were a guitarist playing with me and then ND's choir came equipped with not only a guitarist, but a flutist, two violins, a cello, and a percussionist.  Of course, I can't expect Sacred Heart here in Columbia, MO to morph into either of the previously mentioned parishes.  I wouldn't want that either.  But I would be lying if I didn't say there were some itches I'd like to scratch that involve some more instrumentalists!  And from my experience, give the right percussionist the right percussion instrument and the music takes on a whole new life and, generally, the congregation seems to enjoy the addition.

As I progress in the planning and realization of this idea, I will keep you posted and, obviously, invite you!  Two things I know for sure:  It will begin with "All Are Welcome" and close with "May the Road Rise to Meet You" because really, could you do it any other way? :)

An Email From Robert Dick

This morning, I woke up to find an email from professional flutist Robert Dick in my inbox.  It was his response to the "Do Not Read" segment on Monday night.  (begins around 2:18):

He wants to go on The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon and I think it is a great idea!  How awesome would it be for him to pull a Lou Malnati's/Daily Show and prove how awesome he is at playing flute?  If it happens, I would expect (and hope) that Robert Dick would not even mention or go into the tasteless joke - that would only put the focus on the joke.  Instead, go on, talk about what you do, laugh and have fun, and play the flute in a way most people are completely ignorant.  But that's just my humble opinion. Here is his email with instructions on how you can help him play "The Other Flute"  on the show!

"Robert Dick Newsletter – March 19, 2015

This is an appeal for YOUR HELP to respond to a horrible sketch on the TONIGHT SHOW mocking me, my name and my book “The Other Flute”.

On Monday, March 16, Jimmy Fallon, host of the TONIGHT SHOW, the most watched TV show in the United States did an infantile “Dick joke” sketch about me and “The Other Flute”. 

Here’s the link so you can see this for yourself.

Do Not Read – THE OTHER FLUTE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bG1Q2SkpttI 

 After taking counsel with a wide range of friends -- I have decided that a lawsuit is pointless. Bad taste isn't against the law, and Jimmy Fallon was within the bounds of protected free speech. He was certainly way out of the realm of good taste or respect to fellow humans. Very many of you have suggested that I go on the Tonight Show and I'm giving it my best shot. I NEED YOUR HELP. Go to the Tonight Show website, or the Tonight Show FaceBook page or to their YouTube page --and tell them that they just have to have me on and that I'll play the flute in a way that really is "The Other Flute" -- and in a funny and entertaining way -- will blow their minds. Here are the links:

www.facebook.com/FallonTonight?ref=br_tf

You tube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bG1Q2SkpttI   start at 2:20

Tonight Show website: www.nbc.com/contact/generalgo to "I have feedback", then "I have a comment or suggestion"

PLEASE WRITE YOUR MESSAGE TODAY AND SPREAD THIS FAR AND WIDE -- THE TONIGHT SHOW NEEDS TO RECEIVE THOUSANDS OF COMMENTS AND REQUESTS.

THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH.

Robert"

What do you think? Is this an appropriate response and should Robert Dick go on The Tonight Show? If you think he should, let The Tonight Show know!