Jennifer Cluff

Pahud new Opera CD

2010-02-06T00:17:00.000-08:00

Dear Flutists,
Well this is a galvanizingly interesting video.
Emmanual Pahud playing opera works for flute.

I must say..... oh fabulouso!

The CD is available and live performances will be May 2010. This is a concert I hope with be broadcast on the internet. Let me know if there are any online viewings or pbs/showcase broadcasts, thanks.

Best,
Jen

Galway - Embouchure observation

2010-02-02T16:58:00.000-08:00

Dear Flutists,

Thanks to all those who purchased my celtic flute trio music (last blog post).
I'll be adding more as they become available.

Meanwhile, feast your eyes on this James Galway video:

The above video has to the best for camera shots of the embouchure motions that Galway uses to move from low to high octaves. Seldom do you see such excellent close ups of just what every flutist wants to see.
I think this video is a fabulous study tool for intermediate and advanced flutists!
There is a clear diagram of the movements here in a previous blog post.

And if you're feeling all inspired, and want to see another new and excellent flute video, this one has a great Debussy Trio excerpt played by Emmanuel Pahud. Enjoy!

Enjoy and do please comment.
Best,
Jen

Celtic Flute Trios for sale

2010-01-25T17:00:00.000-08:00

Celtic Flute Trio sheet music
For sale in pdf $8-$15 using paypal
(or gift-certificates)

Flutzalad Celtic Suites for c-flute trio
Level: Intermediate

Dear Flutists and flute teachers,

Yes, they are GORGEOUS, if I do say so myself.
I've arranged three suites of Celtic Flute trios for three c-flutes. All of them come with separate flute parts and full score.

Flutzalad Suite No. 2 ($15)
Fantasia on 'She Moved Through the Fair'-Road to Listovarnia - Morris Dance
See sample page of score
Listen to a midi play whole score.

Flutzalad Suite No. 3 ($10)
Scarborough Fair - Mari's Wedding.
See sample page of score here.
Listen to midi of whole score.

Flutzalad Suite No. 1 ($12)
Gounod's Mireille - Dream of Arren - Jen's Drone
See sample page of score.
Listen to midi of whole score on mp3.

The individually printed flute parts are Flute 1, Flute 2, Flute 3. Click on the jpeg to enlarge to see the clarity of the parts (use back button to come back here.:>)

Cues, breath marks when needed, and all editing has been done in advance.
Plus, every player gets equal solo time and each part is an equal level of difficultly. The full score is a handy reference at rehearsals. The trios are suitable for high school aged players as well as particularly useful for gigs for professional flute trios.
They're also great for forming trio groups from students who are overlapping their lessons by ten minutes. The individual flute parts come together beautifully on the first read for teachers/pro-players, but there is endless possibility to play them with even greater musicianship.

Please enjoy these samples, and email me at jen@jennifercluff.com if you would like to purchase them. They are for sale (using Paypal) for $8-$15 each and you will receive them within the day to print out at home.
Each includes score, and three individual flute parts, in pdf.
For ensembles where some players have B-foot, and others C-foot, the parts are clearly marked.

You can hear the above midi samples (played by Sibelius midi--eeek! I hope to get mp3s of real flutists playing them soon) by clicking on the links to arrive at 4shared where you'll see a little mp3 player which will play them for you.
It looks like this:

Just click on the little PLAY button on the left side of the tiny player when you arrive.

Special offer: for a short time, if you buy all three in one order (Three Flutzalad Suites 1-3 for $37), I will add a fourth flute trio by Handel from the opera Julius Ceasar Act III "Piangero la sorte mia" for free (regularly $8). This is a stunning Aria followed by a challenging presto. Beautiful, lively and thrilling.

Hope to hear from you at jen@jennifercluff.com
Enjoy!

Best,
Jen

Psychology of an orchestral career

2010-01-23T08:35:00.000-08:00

Dear Flutists,

I found a detailed article about the Psychology of Orchestral Musicians.
Most fascinating. Do read and comment.

Best, Jen

Flute for Smarties (Dummies) great!

2010-01-13T15:18:00.000-08:00

Dear Flutists,

A tremendous bickering was had by all on one of the Flute discussion groups about the possible quality of the above book. Oh how funny.

Perhaps the argument was about the humour of the title (which is really: Flute for Dummies) Who knows? So I'm laughing away, because if only they'd called it "for smarties...." But until you've read it, you can't really tell what the quality is. So I'm here to tell you that it's indeed a marvellous new book! It's absolutely chock full of everything you ever wanted to know about the flute but were afraid to ask, and it's practice-specific!! Everything you want to practice but were afraid to try...and I totally agree with the author on every technique.
High school students just about to start private lessons, parents of pre-teen beginner flutists, and adult novice flutists who are between flute teachers will especially find this book an important resource, I imagine.

And it's totally new and up to date. It just came out in Dec. 2009 by Karen Moratz.
What a fabulous book all around! Huge kudos to Karen for writing it.
A principal flutist of a top orchestra, and teacher for two decades, Karen Moratz has hit the nail right on the head on every topic from tone to tonguing to tuning.

Everything the beginner-intermediate player wants to know. Finally, all in one place.
And it actually does fit on the music stand, and the CD is actually very useful, and the exercises are excellent (LOVE the William Bennett harmonics/octaves warmup) and the text is clear, concise, fun and very appropriate.

A great read.

Run don't walk; every flutist should own a copy.
See for yourself!!

You can get a good price ($15) here, and teachers can read a review copy at the link below.

Karen wrote to the flute groups:

I invite you all to read samples from the book at www.amazon.com, at www.wiley.com, or at www.dummies.com if you haven't done so already. If you're an instructor at a qualifying institution, you can also request a free evaluation copy from the publisher at http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0470484454.html

Personally, I'm going to cover the yellow-black cover with some gorgeous recycled wrapping paper, but that's just me; smartie not dummie. har har. :>D
See for yourself.

Enjoy!
Best,
Jen

Bach Chaconne with Bouriakov

2010-01-03T15:37:00.000-08:00

Dear Flutists,

A very warm and cheery "Happy New Year" to you all.
If you want practicing inspiration for today, do check out Denis Bouriakov performing the Bach Chaconne on youtube.
Part 1
Part 2

This is sheerly terriff!

I love the transcription, which is the artist's own, and I just love this piece of music. It's one of the few times when a solo violin Bach work actually WORKS!!
What a player!!
Happy listening.
And happy practice year to us all!
Jen

21 year old Adam Walker wins LSO Principal

2009-12-19T12:15:00.001-08:00

Dear Flutists,

I noticed this post on the London Symphony's Blog today:

News from The London Symphony Orchestra Blog:
The eagle eyed among you will have noticed another new addition to the flute section which at last makes us complete. Adam Walker (21) joined us this week and he is even younger than Phil Cobb who is now 22 I believe. We had a lot of great players auditioning for us, but when Adam came in and played with us it was quite obvious that although he was young he had something that others didn’t. Let’s call it the x factor ----

Jen: I say WOWZA! I'm sure that he'll have the education of a lifetime, training with the LSO. For young flutists who've played 7 to 10 years, though, here are some sound samples of young Adam Walker, to inspire you.
Adam Walker Sound samples:

Prokofiev & Schubert

Doppler Air Valaques (at age 16)

Bach G minor sonata with harp and
Piazzolla Histoire du Tango with harp

And here is a biography for those interested in reading about Adam Walker's studies and performances:

Adam Walker
Born in Retford, Nottinghamshire in 1987, Adam Walker taught himself to play the flute at the age of 9. A year later he entered Chetham's School of Music, where he studied with Gitte Sorensen. In September 2005 he won a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music where he is currently studying with Michael Cox and in 2007 he was selected for representation by Young Concert Artists Trust (YCAT). In 2002, at the age of 14, Adam became the youngest ever winner of the British Flute Society Competition and in 2003 won the Royal Over-Seas League prize for the woodwind player with the most promise. The following year he was a Concerto Finalist in the 2004 BBC Young Musicians Competition performing Nielsen's Flute Concerto with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra conducted by Ilan Volkov at the Usher Hall in Edinburgh. He went on to give debut recitals at Wigmore Hall, St. George’s Bristol and to tour the Middle East. He has given numerous radio broadcasts, including appearances on BBC Radio 3 and made his Proms debut in 2008.

Over the last year Adam has made his debut at the Proms with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and with the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields at the Barbican, performed Joe Duddell's Flute & Harp Concerto at Presteigne Festival and given recitals at Wigmore Hall, Mozart BathFest, Spitalfields and Isle of Man Festivals, the latter broadcast by BBC Radio 3.

In 2009, at the age of 21, Adam Walker was appointed principal flute of the London Symphony Orchestra and received the ‘Outstanding Young Artist Award’ at the MIDEM Classique Awards in Cannes, in partnership with the International Artist Managers' Association. Engagements during the 2009/10 season include appearances as soloist with the Vienna Chamber Orchestra at the Konzerthaus, the Solistes Européens at the Philharmonie in Luxembourg and with Northern Sinfonia conducted by Janusz Piotrowicz at the Ripon International Festival.

On youtube, the middle portion ( approx. 2 minute mark) of this video shows him and harpist partner playing outdoors and laughing it up: GREAT spirit!

Congratulations young sir!

Best, all the flute news all the time, (ha ha)
Jen

Altering the Pitch to Play Along with a CD

2009-12-14T15:22:00.001-08:00

Hi flutists,
This week someone was asking about the difficulties in playing along with recordings that are not at A-440.

I answered:
You can change the pitch of a CD recording so that you can play along with it. You simply create an mp3 or wav file, and open the music tracks in Audacity, or other freeware that can change the pitch; then click on Edit, then, "Select-all" and then Effects to change the pitch in the effects menu to A-440.

Doing this darkens the recording, of course, and can sound oddly electronic on playback, but then you can use the new flatter version as a playalong recording. I've done this with a few pieces, and burned my own playalong CDs from them, especially when rehearsing remotely from other chamber musicians, and wanting to hear the chords and other features of harmony for practise.

If you simply want to know what pitch centre a given recording is being performed at, use an electronic tuner that has a pitch change mode button, and, in that way, you can find out what pitch center your recording is in.

I have an inexpensive palm-sized electronic tuner has a button that moves the main pitch center from A435 step by step up to A445 and then one can switch function to indicate the pitch of every semitone at the new pitch centre.

By singing or playing an A-natural from the original CD that perfectly matches, pressing pause (so you can re-check) and then simply singing or playing it INTO the handheld electronic tuner,you can discover what pitch the whole track has been recorded at.

I used my handheld tuner to determine that the "A" in the Beethoven Serenade opus 25 Galway recording is at A-446 in the Adagio movement.
(Note: I can see that the original questioner must have had a very difficult time trying to play along without an A-444 flute. This confounded me years ago, when I first started playing along with recordings too!)

Many European recordings are pitched at A-442 or even as high as A-444. Older reel-to-reel tape recordings made into LPs can even have pitch changes between movements! (Rampal's Bolling Suite for example; very useless for students using it as a Music-Minus-One! Doh!)

( Listening sample 2.2 MB mp3 no longer available.)

I'd love to hear more about reel-to-reel speeding up for "brightness" and other facts from the past recording industry from those who might know more. I'd also like to know what pitches the piano tuners use in recording studios in various geographic regions; as far as I've heard, Germany has the highest pitch, whereas most other countries try to stick to A-440 or A442, both of which are easier for A-442 flutes being made today.
Best, and I welcome input.
Jen

Flutes at outdoor and beach weddings

2009-12-11T18:13:00.000-08:00

Flutist's Question about a beach setting for background flute music.
I've been asked to play a beach wedding, and want to be prepared. It's likely to be flute and guitar, or perhaps two flutists. What special requirements do beach weddings present to flute players? Is the possible windiness the biggest problem? And will the flute need amplification? Or will the flute sound carry well outdoors? Should I worry about the salt air corroding my good flute?

Jen's answer:
I have played at least two dozen beach weddings with every type of terrain from deep sand, to slanting rocks, tricky to stand on, to having to climb up narrow paths to hilltops overlooking wind swept beaches, with pointy thorn bushes ruining our nylons before we even reached the location. :>)
Hopefully you will not experience all the hazards in one wedding. :>) Most outdoor flute weddings go extremely well. Flute carries on the wind, far better than strings, holds up to the challenges and the sound of two flutes creates a delightful ambiance.

Firstly, I believe that it is a bit of a myth that salt does anything particularly corrosive to the flute. I live within 60 yards of the ocean and my flute has not had any sand or salt-related problems in 15 years.

Secondly, you are correct that the direction and ferocity of the wind *is* the primary problem with beach wedding ceremonies.

To combat possible wind problems our flute duo now does the following:

We arrive 30+ minutes early, to meet with those setting up the wedding, in order to walk around and scout out the best location for the musicians. We require, in the wedding contract, that we will place the musicians in the most wind-free location, in the shade if possible, and on level ground.
Often this means relocating or re-orienting the placement of the wedding party prior to commencing the service, if it is a particularly windy day.

We always look for a flat place to stand or sit. Playing music for an hour on a slanting surface can truly charley-horse your muscles, which you will only realize later.

Each of us takes two clear 8x11 rectangles of plexiglass to use as sheetmusic covers (rather than clothes-pegs or music clips) to cover the sheetmusic. I keep my plexiglass in a folder with a cardboard piece between them so they don't scratch eachother during storage.

We gently alert the wedding planners that if the wind changes direction, that the musicians may then have to turn and face another direction, briefly, to allow the flutes to still speak. Wind silences the flute. So listeners can disregard any angle changes by the musicians. Yes, flutist will have to keep the wind to your back, but doing so also helps carry the flute sound farther, which is a bonus.

Our flute duo does request (in the contract) that if the musicians are to be performing for any longer than 30 minutes, that they require to be placed in the shade (sunburn at mid-day CAN be a problem when musicians are stationary.)
It's also important to know the address and driving directions to the alternate rain location, so you can specify a space for that on the contract also.

Also: remember to take sunglasses. White sheetmusic pages can really glare in bright sunlight, and there are even times when you have to face the sun in order to keep your back to the wind. It can look a bit like a "blues brothers" moment, so remove your sunglasses, if possible, for photos.
Also take water, sun-screen, and tie hair out of the way so it doesn't blow into the embouchure.

Amplification?
With a duo of classical guitar (nylon string) and flute, we almost always have to have the guitar slightly amplified or the guitar (but not the flute) becomes inaudible at a distance. This means running an electrical cord out to a small, lightweight amplifier which is placed under the guitarist's chair. If the guitarist uses a footstool, he/she may need to bring a board to place it on to get it level.
If using an amp, the need for power-cord availability is specified in the contract
The guitarist in my case always brought his own very long extension cord, but be aware that you may need more than one, depending on the distance of the power outlet. And that too many linked extension cords may not carry sufficient power. A pre-viewing of the beach area for these electrical cord considerations may be required.
If the location is too remote for guitar and amp, switch to two flutes, or flute and another string family member.

Weighting the music stand: In gusty wind conditions, even a manhasset stand may be blown over and may need weighting at the base. We use available rocks in situ, if possible.

Fifthly, do watch your step and do not wear difficult-to-walk-in shoes; wear flats with some grip. Spikey heels sink into soft sand and soft sandy lawns.

Also, keep your gig bags very well organized and close to hand so you can unpack and re-pack quickly when finished.

Sheetmusic:
Yes, you'll want all the sheetmusic in a binder, already in order, and you'll want to pre-practise moving the plexiglass sheets (there will be two of them, left and right) one at a time with one hand, for page turns.
There's a trick to this, in that you slide the right hand plexiglass to between the next two pages with one hand, (your flute or guitar is in the other hand) prior to lifting the left plexiglass and turning the page and weighting it with the second plexiglass.

If the wedding planners choose a location that is fairly wind-protected in the first place (and you can visit it in advance to see what it's like during 'typical' weather) then everything becomes easier.

You can also put a clause or caution in your contract that you do not perform on valuable instruments without a tent for the musicians if the weather on the day of the wedding is too severe or rain begins.

One bonus, I might mention, is that at one string and flute trio wedding we did on a cliff top above a beach, the weather turned fabulous just an hour before ceremony time, and right in the middle of the wedding three Orcas spouted and surfaced just off the point we were standing on. (See above photo at top).
These beach weddings can be very memorable. :>) Enjoy!

Best,
Jen Cluff

High C fingerings & Mahler's 5th Symphony

2009-12-07T14:37:00.000-08:00

Dear Flutists, there was a question this week about good fingerings for high C4 for use in Mahler's Symphony No. 5, the second mvmt. at rehearsal number 24. Here it is:

As I checked over all four flute parts for this symphony I see that it's four flute playing high C in unison. I immediately think: Danger Will Robinson, DANGER!!!. hahahhaa. :>D

But here's how one goes about figuring these things out prior to the first rehearsal.

Firstly there's a great Alternative Fingering Chart online for free at the Woodwind Fingering Guide.

Using their chart for high C (which flutists call C4 as it is the fourth C ascending on the flute), I tested all the fingerings there. Result?
For my open-hole B-foot flute, at a piano to mezzo piano dynamic, and aiming upward in angle with fast blowing speed, I found that the final fingering from the WFG chart (outlined in pink below) worked best for me.

But none of these fingerings is particularly easy for community flute players without the requisite embouchure and high register practice, and as all four flutists are playing it simultaneously and in unison, it appears that it is going to be quite an ear-clanger if every flutist used a different fingering.

So I tried all B-foot open hole fingerings in the Mahler second mvmt., playing the C3 to C4 octave leap and using the dynamics piano crescendoing to mezzo-piano, and came up with the results that I illustrate below.

The above high C fingerings were tested with the tuner at A-440 and again, using a B-foot open hole.

John Rush of the Tulsa Symphony also commented below, and suggested this fingering:

Thanks so much John, and will try it out. So appreciative for your input!

You know....great bonding time could be spent at a flute sectional over this. But do take ear plugs! :>) All four flutists would have to have b-foot open-hole, and use the same dynamic, the same upward blowing angle, and the same fingering if they were to survive. hahhaha! Danger Will Robinson, indeed!

Finally, being the thorough researcher that I am, having watched this portion of the Mahler 5th on youtube to make sure I didn't see some piccolo shots at minute 6:00 where this passage occurs, I copied the passage in sound on a tiny mp3 clip for your convenience - 10 second clip listen here.
As you can hear, if there were four screaming high Cs that clanged together horribly, would not be the best idea to let the conductor know that. It would be far better for two piccolos or just Fl.4 alone to play it one octave down on piccolo, thus blending beautifully with the strings and lulling the entire orchestra into a sense of its own beauty (grin!). Flute 1 and Flute 2 could play in unison down two octaves at the correct dynamic which is, I reiterate again, piano to mezzo piano.

Afterall, if Mahler wanted his work faithfully interpreted, why did he also write impossible things like low B-flats below low C in the first flute part of this symphony? Ha! He must have needed our expert re-interpretation.

So there you have it.
I know some players might consider it a worthy challenge to have all four flutists play a perfectly in tune high C at mezzo piano, but as you can hear from The Berlin Phil's filmed performance, even the professionals are not likely to have taken that risk.
I say: make beauty not ear-splitting horror noises, yes, that's what I say. hahahahha! :>D

But this also serves as a good example of a question for which there are several answers. You now know a good place to look up fingerings at Woodwind Fingering Guide, and, may I also recommend that all flutists, especially those who play at a high level in community ensembles, get ahold of an excellent fingering alternative book like Nestor Herszbaum's.

I think all flutists should own the Herszbaum Alternative Fingering Guide and print out the additional free fingering charts found on the net, and keep them in their orchestra folders.
And of course, my advice always tends toward in tune piccolo substitution in really difficult cases such as this.
Opinions welcome.

Best,
Jen Cluff

Marcel Moyse's embouchure instructions

2009-12-05T12:37:00.000-08:00

Dear Flutists,

These drawings and explanations come from the first five or so Suzuki flute books where Marcel Moyse was the advisor. They are no doubt copyright, so I'll leave the jpegs up for a week or two, and then take them down, while you go and purchase the Suzuki books or library-order them to see the original drawings and explanations.

Meanwhile, this may help to explain several aspects of the flute (like headjoint line up and how to play pianissimo while staying in tune etc.) that many flutists don't realize have been explained by Moyse himself with pictures!

I haven't tried embedding a link to web-albums before, but if you click on the picture below, you may find the slide show plays itself. Or try the picasa web album I made from these pictures, and click on SLIDE SHOW.

Moyse Suzuki pix

Best, and hope this helps the discussion we've been having on Galway Chat this week about possible errata in De La Sonorite.
I am using these Suzuki-Moyse pictures to cross-reference the De La Sonorite text.

Best, Jen

Höskuldsson plays J.S. Bach in Weggis Recital

2009-11-28T12:46:00.000-08:00

Dear Flutists,

This is the J.S. Bach A minor, unaccompanied Sonata, or Partita as played by Stefan Höskuldsson, principal flute of The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra.

Video - Showcase Recital Series, Galway at Weggis 2009

Stefán Ragnar Höskuldsson
Principal Flute, Metropolitan Opera, New York USA

For those readers who don't yet know this Partita by heart, the sheetmusic is free online here.
Very good footage! Do watch.

Best,
Jen

Chaminade too challenging for Honor Band audition?

2009-11-27T11:33:00.001-08:00

As a flute teacher, I have a novice flute student who wants to audition for Honour Band (ie: "All state", "All-city", regional best high school band) and the required piece is the first page of Chaminade's Concertino. How should I proceed?

The above question came up on one of the flute discussion groups this week, and several people questioned why the audition piece would be so difficult. See below for my personal take on it.
Also, having fun with coloured pens I created a quick (2.3MB pdf) overview of the first page of the Chaminade, showing the flute skills required, so that the teacher can show the student/parent/band-director how to lay the foundation for the skills that will eventually allow Chaminade to be played well.

See skill sheet for Chaminade Concertino first page HERE.

And here is my take on it:

Dear Band Audition discussers,

By choosing a difficult piece of music the audition committee can quickly eliminate 90% of the auditioners (and speed up the process of auditioning what could be hundreds of high school players) while still keeping the auditions open to all who wish to try out.

The difficult piece of music will also aid self-elimination among the weaker participants prior to the audition.
The challenge is then passed on to the private flute teacher, who must struggle to prepare those students who will NOT be able to functionally play Chaminade.

It would be easier, perhaps, for the flute teacher to tell the students:
----------------
"This Chaminade piece is a level 7 on a scale of 1 to 10, and you're at a level 2. Do you want to work seriously, and take a year to work to get to a level 4 or 5, and then just do the audition just for the experience; using it as a goal?
Or would you prefer to work steadily and easily and maybe do the audition in future years when you *really* are at a level 7?"
------------------
Personally, I find that the idea of asking a level 2 high school player to play one page of a level 7 piece causes physical tension and much frustration in the student. It is wasted practise time.

But perhaps this is the only local competition that engages the committment of the local students? If so, why not design a two year prep. course that prepares more beginner level students for NEXT year's auditions?

Perhaps the reality check (above) followed by a discussion on "how to get to level 7 of flute playing" might be of benefit.

The first page of the Chaminade could be written out with notes that explain what each skill is, for clarification of the skills required.

That would be a good way to show the student what to work on in their level 2 pieces. (dynamics, phrasing, high register, counting unusual rhythms etc.)

Best,
Jen

How to learn Etudes

2009-11-24T01:04:00.000-08:00

How to work on Etudes: by Jennifer Cluff

FIND THE SCALE & KEY OF THE ETUDE:

1. Decide which scale your study or etude is in. Play the scale first in the low octave, and then slowly, using longtones in the high octave. Play with full, rich, free and ringing tone. Correct any fingering difficulties by listening carefully for "blips" or too rough finger changes, take the flute down and WATCH the fingers if necessary, and smooth the blip area, and finally practice the scale, all slurred, two octaves, remembering to add breath support (crescendo going up and down too!). This clears up any inherent difficulty you may have with the scale before the problem then bungles your etude up. :>)
_________________
AQUAINT YOURSELF WITH THE THEMATIC MATERIAL:
2. Play or better yet, sing or mentally "hear" the rhythm and style of your study to establish the musical ideas that are in it.
Have a look at the tempo marking (Allegretto, Presto, Moderato) to ascertain the character of the music.
Don't worry about how fast you can play it at first, but use "outlining" to establish the etude correctly in your mind.
(for more on the technique of outlining use the search box on the right of this screen and type in outlining.)
___________________
OUTLINE THE STUDY AND USE AN EASY BREATHING METHOD:
3. Allow yourself to play through a rough outline of the study, pausing on downbeats of any bar where you feel you're just beginning to run low on air. [See notes below on how to breathe when learning a study at slower tempos]. Don't bother getting all breathless and tight as you're first discovering the music of a study. Instead, play tiny little sections beautifully and perfectly, and especially MUSICALLY, even your first or second time through. This is very good as a sight-reading exercise, and also begins imprinting the musicality of the study before you've even fully learned the notes.
___________________________________
BREATHING in ETUDES:
___________________________________
Since many studies have impossible expectations concerning breath marks and ease of breathing
The study of an etude can begin with super-slowed-down renderings of etudes with the permission to stop and pause on the downbeat of any bar . You have permission to pause on any downbeat WELL before running out of air completely. I especially recommend that you stop and pause as soon as you feel like you’re running out of air.

This method of breathing naturally works great during the period of preparation when you’re doing the slowest practice of the etude with the metronome.

The pause-note is then replayed as the beginning of the next section, bar or phrase, so as not to lose melodic and harmonic continuity.

The frequency of these "fake" pauses relies on just how slowly the study is being played and allows the student to begin to comprehend how much air to take in, and how to conserve it through repetition and
experimentation.

This means that the flutist can continue to play in a slow tempo without becoming tight lipped, breathless or tense, and can find ways of working the study as accurately as possible EXCEPT for the final
breath planning. The tone will always be full and rich, and the body free to relax.

As the metronome climbs in speed, these pauses are naturally eliminated since the air use is gradually improved and the "fake" pauses tend to appear every four or eight bars, as opposed to every one or two.

As the tempo increases further, over several days work, and the etude becomes closer to perfect in terms of dynamics, finger agility, articulation (tonguing) and phrasing, the final planning of the breaths is then worked on, using pencil markings to add to those breath marks already present in the edition.

This method eliminates the student's frustration with long and difficult studies that seem to ask the flutist to breathe only every four or five lines, which we all know is impossible except at breakneck speeds; speeds that may never be reached in the earlier years of study.
It also allows the full attention to be given to producing a gorgeous, brilliant and rich tone; a factor that should NEVER be sacrificed when learning new music.
________________________________
TONE:
4. Play in a manner that allows you to focus on your tone at all times. If a leap to a high note sounds with poor tone, stop and do slow and careful longtones up to the highnote, memorizing the sensation of wind-speed and embouchure that you have when that particular high note sounds well, when approached by step.
Next, with the sensations memorized, leap to that same high note and assume the same airspeed and embouchure position. If you do this the first or second time you ever approach this passage of music in the study, you'll be already training yourself to land each note of the work with fabulous tone. That will put you much farther ahead than "splatting" your tone on certain notes, and then having to discover later that you've taught yourself to "splatt" on those notes.
______________________________
CIRCLE THE HARD PARTS FOR SPECIAL ATTENTION:

5. Gradually circle the toughest fingerings etc. that you find in the study or etude, so that you're well aware of which parts will require more work. Come back to the etude after a rest and make longtones out of the tough parts, first playing only two notes in a row, then a different two notes, and linking them together into groups of three, four, five and six notes.
______________________
FULLY EXPLORE DYNAMICS:
6. Always play with dynamics and experiment with their parameters in your etudes and studies. If your production of dynamics has not yet been practiced that day, take a break at this point to do some of Fiona Wilkinson's vowel-dynamics as outlined in my file by that title. Then, return to the study and ease the dynamics into it.
__________________________________
NEAT TONGUING:
7. Pay special attention in one or more of your study-practice sessions on clear and concise articulations. If your tonguing has not yet had a buff-up session on a given day, spend some time tonguing repeated patterns on a single note, that relate to the articulation patterns in the particular study you're working on. For example, if the study has a staccato high E3 that seems difficult to articulate clearly, try four staccatos on each note starting on B2 and chromatically ascending to high E3 and above. If you take 4 minutes to do this, and then return to the staccato high E in your study, your body will have already perfected the correct embouchure, tongue strike and air-speed to assure you of a good E3.
________________________
RETURN TO CIRCLED AREAS EACH SESSION:
8. Each practice session that you return to the study work on the circled (difficult) bits first as longtones, and then proceed to speed them up slightly. Then when you start the tuneful opening of the study, you're much more likely to fly straight into the tougher sections without hesitations. Remember that at this stage you're able to speed up the tempo gradually, and can still pause on downbeats, gather your breath and faculties, and soar into the next section. Keep all sections musical, even though there are still pauses between them.
____________________________
ADD SPEED USING THE METRONOME:
9. As the study begins to be familiar and easy, click the metronome up one notch each time you run through it, and study the rise and fall of the phrases. Do not allow yourself to speed through at tempos that are simply too fast for accuracy (you'll only teach yourself how to repeat bad tone or mistakes, and that's not a good idea.) Sometimes you'll have to stay at a metronome speed for a few days until your body adjusts to the new techniques. Don't worry. You'll soon experience a quantum leap as your body learns and adjusts.
_______________________
CREATE A FINISHED AND POLISHED ETUDE:
10. Finally, as you approach the tempo you feel is most musical for the study, start erasing any unecessary markings or breaths, so that you're left with the true number of breaths and "fakey pauses" that you can manage. Eventually the goal is to eliminate almost all the fakey pauses, but in the meantime you can remind yourself to take deeper breaths at certain points by marking those places with a double-breath sign if you like. Go over extra-long phrases several times to see just how much breath you should have taken in to make it all the way through the phrase. If you need to reduce the out-going air, or reduce the dynamics from ffff to mf in order to conserve breath, mark this also.

The goal, remember, is to make real music out of the study. Record your final version and listen back to it, pretending it's a magnificent concert solo, and you were to make the most gorgeous presentation out of it.
If you've done this to the best of your ability, move to the next study in the book (you can proceed in any order, actually) and begin it by playing ITS scale, and perfecting the tone and fingering of that scale (recommence at no. 1 above.)

A general graded list of basic flute etudes can be found here.

Hope this helps,
Best,
Jen

Just one flute lesson?

2009-11-14T14:12:00.001-08:00

Dear Flutists,

What happens when you try and comply with a visiting adult flutist who wants "just one lesson"? I know that many flute teachers don't feel they can do much at all in one lesson (for zillions of reasons I'd be happy to share), but every now and then you get a terrifically motivated adult student who's been working away by themselves for year, who wants to get the most information is an hour as they possibly can.
Well, needless to say it's a HUGE challenge for sure for the teacher, especially if there's only an hour and no follow up, to:
a) assess what the student needs now
b) explain clearly how to accomplish practicing on the most needed areas
c) be relaxed and yet focused enough to teach alot and yet have an enjoyable hour with a student who's en route and may be tired, and a little scared of criticism
d) impart enough information that the lesson can truly make a difference when the student gets home to practise.

For those of our readers who are not yet teachers, it is indeed a TALL ORDER, which is why relying on one hour lessons spread over a year is not usually advisable. :>)

So, for your comment/perusal, here's a sample of the follow-up notes I sent to an adult intermediate student after a one hour, one-time-only lesson, where I tried to help as much as I could in sixty-minutes. Enjoy. Jen

Dear Student.....

Thankyou so much for a wonderful flute lesson today.
I thought it would be helpful if I summarised the points made while they are still fresh in my mind.

1. Low register tone work is the foundation of any new embouchure.
Why? Because you can hear the changes and improvements much more quickly and because the muscles and poise that you improve during low register are the foundation of the muscles/poise that you will use in the middle and high registers. So always spend a good warmup period on low longtones starting on middle-of-the-staff B1. *(Moyse's De La Sonorite or Trevor Wye's "Tone-Bk.1 Practice Book for Flute".)

2. During low register longtones, use the softest possible finger motion to close each key. Sense exactly the split second when the key's pad closes the tone hole of each note. Play with this deliberately, don't rush through. Sense each key's spring action and even smear into each note to discover a tactile sense of when the pad is closing exactly (like a clarinetist feels their finger pad close a hole in the clarinet.) This allows you to do two things at once; finger low and close to the keys (no thumping from a height) and work on low longtones at the same time.

3. Once you have found a good low register note (the first B can be played many times with many minute changes made until it sounds full, rich and fabulously colourful before moving on to other notes.) that exact air-speed and embouchure will likely work for many low longtones in a row. See if you can put your embouchure "on pause" and not move it at all, and then glide your fingers down chromatically to see just how many notes in a row can use that same embouchure. This allows you to simplify the embouchure for the whole range of notes, and not work it too hard.

4. Go to a piece that has lots of low register in it to play with your new and improved tone (Faure Pavane). You will find that low, soft fingers and a rich, full low register tone will have paid off, plus you will get a break and be playing something lovely.

5. Move on to working on your middle register once low register is secure.
To go up an octave from B1 to B2 there are two thing that must happen:
a) the air speed will go from approx. 40 mph to 80 mph. (numbers are made up by the flutist as they discover air-speed perceptions)
This is a crescendo-like air speed increase.
b) the lip corners can come forward like a "half-kiss".
Play with both these parameters one at a time, and then put them together so that you crescendo on the low B (adding air-speed) first, and then slowly and gently moving the lip corners forward to rise an octave. You can also do it the other way around: move the lip corners forward to hear just when the upper octave suddenly smears upward by itself, and then crescendo. Finding a perfect balance between these two actions will give you a one-ledger line B that has a full, rich ringing, colourful tone. Take the time to do this many times before proceeding. Release excess embouchure tension always.

6. Once you have that rich tone on the upper B2, memorize the feel of it exactly and put the mouth "on pause" while you glide down each chromatic note. Find out just how many notes in a row use that exact mouth and air speed. You will find that once you have one ringing note, that all the neighbouring notes sound good for the same reason the first one does. If you lose the tone, just find the low B1 again, and then repeat #5 above to find the high B2 again. I do this everyday for several minutes. You can always find it again if you always take time to find it each day. Don't skip this step in a rush to do something else...this *is* the most important foundational exercise to embouchure and tone.

7. Proceed with chromatics down from B2 all the way to the original B1 you started with. Experiment, and take time. When you have a rich, full, clear tone in the middle register, for variety, go to a piece you're working on and take just two notes from it, and then gradually add one note from either side, keeping the rich colourful tone while you slowly re-expand the piece from just those few notes.

8. Changing your embouchure from too tight, to too lose, to "just right."
One of the main things to watch out for is jaw pain, jaw tension, or jaw tightness of any kind. The jaw hinges work best if they are doing what comes naturally: talking or eating.
Eating is too much open and closing the teeth, and we want the back molars apart like you have a finger or a carrot stick between your back molars. The jaw should just loosely hang open in this position.
Now, take talking as our example of easy jaw use. You can talk forever without jaw tension or tiring your face or mouth, so find your natural talking position for the jaw as follows:

a) place the flute on your chin in normal playing position and talk "Abcdefg" or any sentence you like. Feel how the jaw is in a natural position, and lightely open at the hinges.
b) Then say "ooop" to pull your upper lip down onto your lower lip. (previously you might have been pushing the flute upward vertically on your face, instead of pulling down on the skin between the nose and the upper lip to lengthen it. "ooops" said with an embarrased lowering and pulling of the upper lip downward might just be the right word to use to learn to lengthen the distance from nose to lip).
c) Say "peu" to allow a small aperture to appear in the lip center.
d) say "peu" to start a flute low note.

Five minutes a day spent repeating the above steps may just work to find an easy, untiring natural placement of the embouchure that directs the air effortlessly at a 45 degree angle downward. Experiment with this every time you pick up the flute. The time is not wasted, it is invaluable at creating a clear tone with minimal extraneous face motion.

9. Spend more time in the low and middle register with this new easy embouchure, using the mirror to distinguish whether the air is flapping the lips or the cheeks too much. If it is, you can lightly place your fingers where the flapping is in order to locate the muscles you may need to have more poised and still.

10. Finally, for future work on high register (I would stay on the low and middle for at least three weeks or so, until you have a really great focused sound with your new embouchure) you will be bringing the lip corners slightly more forward and increasing the air-speed slightly more (70 mph to 120 mph.)
This is done the same way you began leaping from B1 to B2 by using both crescendo and "half-kiss". So always start high register by "walking up" from B2 after first blowing up the octave to find a good basic starting point.

We can work on this the next time I see you.

Other minor points from the lesson:

i) Thin lipped people may need more air-space between upper lip and teeth because they need a longer "run-way" for the air to travel before leaving the lips. Thick lipped people may actually have to spread their lips sideways to reduce their inner lip's already very long lip 'run-way". Lip thickness can play a role in teaching methods, so be sure that the teacher understands the two extremes before quoting their method as the "only method".

ii) Bb played with one-and-one is the first Bb fingering learned because it is the "default fingering"; the one that will have to be used when no other easier Bb is possible, so it's good to be very handy with it. However if the whole piece/study is in a key with Bbs throughout, thumb Bb is easy, available, simpler, and smoother. Usually flutists mark their music for thumb-off or thumb-on using "o" or "+" for when to change from Bb thumb to Bb-1&1. Good notes to change thumb position are notes that have no thumb like C or C# or high G.
Bb thumb makes it impossible to get a good high F# or good high B-natural. Thumb must not be on Bb thumb for these notes.
Side-key Bb (side lever above F key) is great for a variety of uses, but more rarely used. I use it for longtones because it stabilizes the balance of the flute during left-hand-only notes and can stay down for A, Ab and G. Very useful in some pieces too for super-smooth note changes (less clunky and better tone because less keys go down.)

iii) To tune a flute while playing, you need to be able to point your "half-kiss" shaped lips up and down. From 45 degree angle downward to 45 degree angle upward. (for very soft 'pppppp' for example.) If you used your wrists to roll in and roll out, you'd have these problems:
a) wrists get sore from overuse
b) flute tone quality different on every note you bent with the wrists because lower lip covering and uncovering various amounts will make tone colour different, and our first goal is an EVEN tone colour throughout the range of the flute (read the text of Moyse's Sonorite)
c) can't use wrist motion in fast music; so when COULD you use it???? Only in slow music? It's too unstable; the motions are too large.

Instead, use the much faster and easier methods of playing in tune:

Use these methods first:
1. Increased air-speed (add 10-20% faster air than you think you need is a good rule of thumb, especially for flat low notes, or fuzzy high notes.)
2. Aim upward or downward using lips only (the kissy shape gives you more lip "run-way" to aim the air specifically with. Don't overdo it though. Find the easiest way to aim up and down, and do it very very slowly at first.
3. Sing the note (throat-singing) while playing, to increase resonance and to tune the note with the body.

Hope this helps, and sorry the mini-disc ran out of batteries, or there would be an mp3 sent along so you can hear the changes you made during the lesson.
It was a great lesson and you're a terrifically musical player.
So great to meet you.

Have fun on your holiday.

Best,
Jen Cluff

The Adult Beginner - Is it all about Talent?

2009-11-12T15:30:00.000-08:00

Last night I did some fascinating reading about teaching older students. I had been questioning my views on teaching older adult novice flutists. Below are some quotes and some interesting avenues of discovery.
Comments are welcome!

Quote: from Unleashing Talent by Ricardo Iznaola

The Myth of Innate Talent

TRADITIONAL musical pedagogy is still tainted by the conventional wisdom which teaches us that musical talent is an innate ‘gift’ with which a few privileged people are blessed, and that its presence or absence is not necessarily related to a vocational calling, which may exist in the ‘untalented’ individual. This deleterious viewpoint shuts the door to the riches of musical training to untold numbers of people who never give themselves a chance to pursue their musical dreams, in the belief that they were born without a talent for music.

The belief in ‘innate talent’ is also a convenient expedient to excuse pedagogical failure; indeed, how can we blame a method or a teacher for the difficulties encountered by this or that ‘not very talented’ individual, poor soul, full of desire and enthusiasm but ‘not gifted’? This pedagogy of predestination has to be counteracted energetically and without compromise.
Traditional musical pedagogy must follow the lead of the great early childhood training methods (like those of Orff or Suzuki) and ground itself on the premise that everyone who shows a strong desire to ‘do’ music has a talent for it. This is the only truly disinterested pedagogical posture because it places the burden of responsibility where it properly belongs – with the teacher, instead of the learner.
We, as pedagogues, must come to believe in talent as a function of method.

The Adult Beginner
The success of early childhood musical pedagogies lies in their assumption of a universal musical capacity in children not dissimilar to that which allows them to learn their mother tongue by rote, through imitation, playfulness, trial and error, etc. This success gives credence to modern 'generative’ theories of music which assume similar mental structures for music as Chomskian linguistics speculate may exist for language.

Be that as it may, these pedagogies deal with a stage in the development of human beings when the spiritual ‘slate’ is cleaner, less burdened, than in older individuals, who carry a heavier emotional and intellectual load. Our main interest, pedagogically, lies with the musical training of the latter.

Post-adolescent musical pedagogy is notoriously deficient in handling the challenge presented by the ‘passionate adult beginner’: what to do for those students intensely in love with music but possessing little or no training, who usually bring with them deeply ingrained convictions about their lack of talent, their being too old, too physically badly coordinated, their lack of aural ability and other such negative self-concepts. Where to begin? What goals can we realistically expect to achieve? How far can they go?

There is no denying that the passing of time does have a deteriorating effect on the human body, with joints becoming more stiff, reflexes slower, stamina and endurance lessened. These effects of ageing, however, are not strong enough to produce noticeable malfunctions usually until well past middle-age and are practically irrelevant in most normal adults until the sixth or seventh decade of life. Even more, some radical medical thinkers are now disputing the unavoidability of old age’s dereliction and are beginning to offer alternative viewpoints of far-reaching implications.

Of even less consequence is the effect of age on mental/spiritual capacities, except in cases which are pathological in nature. We can keep fully functional intellectual and emotional capabilities for most of our life. We must then conclude that much more important than the obstacles imposed on us by physiology or the passing of time are those created by our psyche, by our self-concept, by our relationship with authority figures, etc. In short, by the world surrounding us, and our interpretations of it.

The sad fact is that, in most cases, the students of whom we speak will never experience the full realization of their true potential because their real needs will never be addressed or even recognized. Their own self-concepts (and our implicit assumptions as their teachers), will deny them that right. The negative expectations about their lack of success will become self-fulfilling and self-perpetuating and, in our faculty lounges, we will look at each other with a knowing wink as if saying, ‘See? I told you so.’

For those of us involved in academia, this scenario is a familiar one (and who among us can claim innocence?): the distinguished master, talking about his ‘star pupil’, with glittering eyes, hushed enthusiasm in the voice, pride in the accomplishment of the pedagogical mission...or talking about ‘that other student’, eyebrows raised in disgusted surprise, a sneer, and a dismissive shrug.

How commonplace and how terribly unfair! Surely ‘that other student’ is more a victim of who knows what complex circumstances than of a cruel fate that has deprived this pupil of ‘talent’.
If only the illustrious and no doubt well-intentioned master would take the time to educate (bring out) rather than instruct (pile upon). If only the teacher could empathise rather than criticise and could become an ally instead of a judge…

Seen in this light it becomes evident that a primordial pedagogical responsibility remains in the discovery or, more precisely, uncovering of hidden talent. For diverse reasons, many people have their talents buried under layers and layers of emotional debris. These are the people we consider untalented (as they themselves do). The talented are those who have managed to maintain unimpeded access to their talent: those souls who are relatively free from the burdens that scourge the human spirit.

In particular this pedagogy avoids:

•the overbearing authority of historical traditions, which may easily lead to dogma and rigidity. This is the greatest enemy of intellectual freedom.

•critical statements which express, explicitly or implicitly, moralising value judgements. This is the greatest enemy of emotional freedom.

•standardised or formulaic procedural approaches to technique which constrain the playing mechanism by their narrow and unimaginative perspectives on the issues of technical control and security. This is the greatest enemy of physical freedom.

Instead this pedagogy searches for:
•tangible evidence demonstrating the existence of connecting, integrative principles whose applicability is based on contextual interpretation rather than pseudo-apodictic certainty.

•ways to stimulate the student’s discovery and identification of problem areas that are viewed as opportunities for learning and progress rather than as reasons for condemnation or derision.

•the fitting application of functional movement, and its related sensory feedback, to each individual circumstance presented by the ever-changing technical procedures contained in the work under study.

Read the full articles at these links:

The Adult Beginner - Is it all about Talent?
http://www.egta.co.uk/content/sloboda
http://www.egta.co.uk/content/unleashing_talent
http://www.egta.co.uk/content/unleashing_talent2

Jen continues:I wonder if some of the physical tensions that adult novice flutists can present with would be helped by The Feldenkrais method? So I spent a little time researching that as well. Here are some interesting avenues of thought:

Unlearning tension and increasing "feel" article by Feldenkrais

Working with an older musician (brief article about uses of Feldenkrais with a 70 yr. old composer/pianist with neck and back pain from posture habits).

Book excerpt from: Awareness Through Movement by Feldenkrais

Video of Moshe Feldenkrais working with stiff necked person (from whiplash).

ATM Feldenkrais floor work on video

And all levels of musicians may want to read about:

Quote from Feldenkrais use in the performing arts.

This refers to accomplished musicians who may find that they currently play with emotional/physical stress:

Working with a Berklee Saxophonist:
A saxophone player once came to me suffering through arm, shoulder and back pain. He was familiar with the Feldenkrais Method because he had taken the group classes, called Awareness Through Movement, during his college music training. His practices were becoming more and more troublesome and he found he needed to inhibit certain movements in order to make it through a performance. Technically, he had mastered his instrument. His level of virtuosity was quite apparent. Yet, he was physically uncomfortable. This same virtuosity, as well as his livelihood, was being threatened by his current condition.

In the beginning of one of our first lessons, I asked him (an accomplished saxophonist) to play a few musical passages that were: a.) easy and comfortable, b.) difficult and required significant effort, and c.) poignant and full of emotion. Observing him play, I noticed a great attention to the music, but considerably less attention to himself. The musical notes were the foreground, and his body a distant background. I noticed there was little acknowledgment of the ground through his feet. His difficulty manifested itself in back and shoulder pain. His eyes were strongly tensed and his head position forward, as if he were trying to reach the musical notes on an imaginary music stand. His habitual tensions were forming the quality of tone, effort and expression in his playing. Read more....

I hope to explore more of this topic in the future, and try out Feldenkrais for myself and report back. As a flute teacher, I find that the ease and balance of the physique is critical to the freeing of the emotion and learning of an instrument in a student. Who knows? It could increase the perception of "talent".

Please do comment if you have interesting ideas on the above cornucopia of information about freeing talent, freeing the body and freeing the musician.
Best,
Jen

Klickstein's book about practicing

2009-11-12T02:31:00.000-08:00

Dear Flutists,
Take a look at this new book out on the basics of practicing and performing music.
You can read most of it here: The Musician's Way (google books preview)

And the author, Klickstein, also has an interactive and informative blog as well as a very useful set of musician's links to peruse.

Performance links

Musician Wellness

Musician Creativity

Very informative and thorough. I've ordered a copy from Amazon.ca in paperback.
Other similar titles welcomed (although I've read a TON on this topic---I'm still actively seeking handy and pithy resources such as this for my University level music students.)
Great stuff. Very to the point.

Best,
Jen

Teachers playing along with students?

2009-11-09T21:20:00.000-08:00

Dear Flutists, A terrific conversation on Flutenet today.
What a wonder that there are two different points of view on this topic. I would have always thought that playing along with beginner and novice students was part of every lesson. Interesting read!

I was at a masterclass with a couple of my students given by Petri Alanko. It brought up a question...maybe controversial enough to get all the flute teachers talking? Not sure. We flute teachers noticed that Petri did quite a bit of playing along with the students. We brought this up later, one of my colleges said she did the same, the rest of us didn't (and couldn't remember seeing other teachers doing it).

Petri's explaination - and my college's, was that it's easier in early stages to 'explain things' by playing along. Petri also admitted to thinking there was some kind of 'resonance learning' going on - playing so close to the student so that they feel as well as hear (and see) the example.

Do any of you play along with students? Petri did say he does this with younger students, or in the beginning stages of learning a piece, once the student is looking for their 'own' expression he stays out of the way.
I'd love to hear comments from you all!

K.W.
------------------
Dean Stallard writes:

I do it all the time K. I warm-up together with the student, I play along in pieces ( in addition to hearing them solo), I play duets and probably spend about 50% of lesson time actually playing myself. Like Petri I do it less as the student matures.

The reasons for this are several; for one young students learn better by example and trying to copy than by getting lots of instructions. Of course they will get some directions from me, but I will often play with them as they try to do what I said.

That brings us to the second reason; a modern flute is designed to play in tune (relatively;-)) and with good tone. A student wildly stabbing at the first sound they find is learning nothing. They need the stability of stable intonation so that they can find out where to place the flute, how to play it in tune and of course the consequences of not paying attention to this.

Most kids' ears are developed enough to hear when something isn't in tune, although they may not hear which way they need to adjust. Playing along it is much easier to help them find out and get the "feel" for homogenity. Any young beginner that can hear what is in tune without some outside reference is to put it mildly in the
minority;-)

Which brings us to the 3rd reason; as the flute is designed to play in tune and with good tone, I am giving them an idea of what that good tone might be once they are in tune. The dual aims of playing in tune with good tone teach them to blow the flute properly much better than any long lectures from me that go in one ear and out the other. They need good examples to aim for when practicing at home. We need to build musicality and aptitude before any amount of theory has anything to cling to.

And lastly, musical intelligence is developed and assimilated from a vast array of references and not something that can be taught. Unless my young students are using I-Tunes to listen to top flautists on a regular basis, their lessons with me are the best opportunity there is to help them assimilate the references they will need to play the flute musically and with personal inflection. There is a vast difference between this and some teacher that has remote-control monkeys where "musical meaning" has been decided on by the teacher and rehearsed to the Nth degree.

Even if they are listening to top flautists on a regular basis, it is not sure that this will help them play musically in the short term. What they hear will be impressive and motivating for them, but it will be so far removed from what they are actually working on that it will be an abstract experience as far as their own playing goes.

In short, I play along regularly with my young students because I want my students to be independent musical beings from an early age and that they play the flute in such a way that it gives me, the student, their family, their peers and anyone else in earshot, pride and pleasure to listen to them.
Dean Stallard
-------------------
Jen writes:

Dear Flutenetters,
This is a *great* conversation!
I agree with all those who've given opinions so far.
In fact, I'm stunned by the thought that there are private teacher who think they should *not* play along with their beginner and novice students.

Of *course* this is the fastest way to teach! Read "The Inner Game of Tennis" and "The Inner Game of Music" to understand why, if this is news to you at all. :>)

As Dean points out, analytical, descriptive, physical instructions are not well absorbed, (in one ear and out the other) whereas sound imitation is the most obvious way to learn music.

What possible argument could there be, except in the case where some doofus private teacher plays on top of the student so much, the student never plays by themselves, nor can hear themselves well.

And yes, as the student progresses, the teacher gradually stops playing along on every other piece, and this leads to the intermediate student playing solo for most of the lesson.

At either end of a one hour lesson, playing duets helps continue more subtle musicality.
All duet playing and the opportunity to be in mixed teacher-student flute trios, large ensembles and eventually, full student quartets are full of opportunities for
imitating style, blend, balance, nuance, articulation and intonation-teaching,

Without youth orchestras or mixed-instrument chamber group enrollment, flute duets/trios/quartets, imho, should always make up a large part of the intermediate flutist's course of learning.

Yes, one can clearly hear that the basic band flutist has only ever imitated the (dreadful?) doubtful sounds he/she has heard in band. I hear that all the time too.
The "flute tone quality" bar in big noisy bands can be set so low that even students with "good ears" have minutely copied the untutored, nay horrific blasty tones they've heard around them in band.

The private flute teacher may well be, as P. says, the best flutist the student has heard all week.

I wonder why the heck that is, but it's often true.

And, obviously, those students with good ears and a feeling for music will need "playalong" for alot less time then those who never listen to good music.

Thanks for this topic.
Genius topic!

Jen Cluff
----------------
B. wrote:
The only drawback with doing this 'all the time' would be that since students generally have an extraordinary ability 'on-the-fly' at:
A)Knowledge assimilation through imitation.
and
B)Protecting their lack of knowledge and related insecurities from
others in their responses.
I'd mention that we also need have them display their own understanding of rhythm and meter through performing on their own without any form of cues from others.
--------------
Dean writes:

Of course B., but that understanding needs to be built first.
Remember that notation is simply an abstract representation of a musical pattern. Unless the visual recognition of such patterns is closely linked to how they should actually sound musically, one is left with the note-by-note static performance that so many fall foul of.

There needs to be a strong link if the student is to learn to instinctively react to
what they see and/or hear in a musically intelligent way. Intelligence has nothing to do with knowing lots of facts, it has to do with being able to apply knowledge assimilated and adapt it instinctively to different circumstances without the need to go back to basics. For this reason, a student will show their true level of knowledge and understanding when sight-reading, playing by ear or improvising, rather
than when they perform a well rehearsed piece. Their instinctive responses to the material they are presented with are the true test of their skill and understanding.

Note also that I used "all the time" in a broad sense;
re: >>I warm-up together with the student, I play
>>along in pieces ( in addition to hearing them solo), I play duets and probably spend about 50% of lesson time actually playing myself. Like Petri I do it less as the student matures.

Dean Stallard http://www.fluteped.com/

Thankyou for this conversation. Most helpful to all of us.
Best,
Jen

The frowning piccoloist

2009-11-01T16:51:00.000-08:00

Dear Jen,
I've actually never seen anyone play with a smile embouchure before...very curious. It is something I'll watch out for in future students though. However, I was wondering what your take on playing with a pretty severe frown was. I saw a great piccoloist for a professional orchestra play like this and it must work for her, but I'm wondering how good of a thing it is to do in general? It seems like extra muscle work whenever piccolo can be taxing enough as it is. C.

Dear C.,
I don't know for sure how severe a frown must be for it to be "too much".
If a player has a protruding lower tooth, or a very individual jaw alignment, an unusually short distance between nose and upper lip, one lip thicker than the other, or a receding chin or buck teeth, virtually anything is possible.:>)

Perhaps the flutist with the severe frown is accidentally over-working their face muscles in an attempt to control the lip aperture; in which case the face and embouchure will tire more easily over several hours of playing; but on the other hand, maybe they MUST create this particular "face" in order to get their lips to form the best embouchure for tone.

Everyone is very different. There are so many variables among faces, lips and embouchures. Even the length of the teeth, cheeks and openness of the jaw hinge would create additional variables.

If a flutist had a very thick upper lip, frowning might help pull the embouchure into better balance, who knows? If you place your finger on the center of the upper lip, and then on the center of the lower lip, you fill find out for yourself how facial muscles affect the lip opening.

If you are teaching a flutist with too much facial tension, in the future, I would suggest working with the embouchure experiments of Roger Mather in volume two of "The Art of Playing the flute" which is entitled EMBOUCHURE.

You can also look at a variety of photos of flute embouchures online. Do you see any that are close to what you're describing with the "frowning piccoloist"?

You can also watch the "frown" muscles at work in this embouchure exercise advocated by James Galway:

An older flute teaching "how to manual" by Charles Delaney shows the muscle use of the face, and indicates that the muscles directly around the lips are the most useful, but this information may be out of date.

Delaney has a list of muscle-use conditions, but everyone has to figure out how to balance each muscle group. Here is what Delaney writes on the topic (click on jpeg to enlarge it).

Using an online face-and-emotion illustration (the movement demos don't work on my computer for some reason) you may be able to make your own understanding of the face muscles more clear:

Here is the frown muscle; it pulls the corners of the lips down but does little to help the lip aperture in the very center of the lips. However, maybe it helps stretch the upper lip downward in some players:

Here is the orbicularis obis muscle tissue that surrounds the lips. If you frown, and pull down the triangularis, you may affect these pursing and shaping muscles, but it is simpler and more direct to use the orbicularis obis muscles that are closest to the lips. The orbis alone can allow fine control of the lip aperture, especially in more advanced players:

And finally, although I'm no expert in these matters, here are the smile muscles, which as many of us have discovered, pull the lips away from the embouchure hole of the flute, which can be a very typical problem in student beginners who are told to smile to play the flute:

Hope this helps.

In general I don't know if we can simply look at a face and decide that the embouchure is too much, unless we are working one on one with a student, looking for tell-tale signs that they are overworking their muscles unecessarily.

After all, there are a zillion face types, muscle usages, dental formations and embouchure attempts, as well as the question of quality of tone.
If a player plays with good tone, in tune, and doesn't tire easily, then their embouchure is right for them, I guess.
Best,
Jen

The leadership style of great conductors

2009-10-26T20:50:00.001-07:00

Dear Flutists,

This is extraordinarily edifying.
It's a short talk entitled:
Lead like the great conductors and it's one of the many mind-stimulating lectures on all sorts of topics at Ted.com

An orchestra conductor faces the ultimate leadership challenge: creating perfect harmony without saying a word. In this charming talk, Itay Talgam demonstrates the unique styles of six great 20th-century conductors, illustrating crucial lessons for all leaders.

Enjoy!! And I just love this speaker's taste in conductors too. :>)
Jen

Debost, locking pinky, and fan mail

2009-10-12T10:01:00.000-07:00

Dear flutists,
An interesting view inside a dedicated music school's flute department with Debost speaking about his flute class.

It's great for incoming performance majors to see the other students of the flute on film, performing on stage and in masterclasses. It helps you to see the dedication and hard work that go into preparing for a music career.

Also of interest in the above clip:

Do you notice that the student playing in the first clip on stage is using a thumbport! Yahoo. Now I'm not the only one with a big black plastic rectangle showing on film.
Also:
The student playing in the studio with the gold headjoint, has their keys tilting backwards (mentioned in other blog posts as a sure way to create tuning problems as the flute rolls backward unexpectedly) and has a a very stiff pinky finger on the right hand.

Right after watching the above short film, I received this email:

Dear Jen
You changed my life! For the last couple of years I've been getting "locking pinky" syndrome. It was becoming quite an issue and I was getting worried about doing some real damage. Anyway, checked out your site, where your advice was to move the right hand thumb back..worked like a dream! No more locking pinky. Your technical advice is always right on the money.

So I thought, wow...I've been getting lots of "out of the blue" fan mail lately, I must share it!!

Dear Jennifer Cluff,
Please forgive me for writing out of the blue. We haven't met. My name is G and I am principal in the orchestra of N. of France.
I just want to take the time and thank you for all the WONDERFUL information and advise you have put out there for us fellow flutists. Your advise has helped tremendously both my students and I !

Dear Jen
I recently, thanks to you, ordered The Physical Flute and I just love it. Again, this will be of great help for my students and I. Without your site I probably would have never found out about this amazing book.
Anyway, many thanks again and please keep it up ! I admire you for having the patience to type all that !.

Dear Jen
Though not a flute player myself (I teach instrumentalists music theory at a college), I'm a big fan of your blog and have recommended it to many flutists. In my opinion, it is one of the most practical and useful sites available for any instrument......

I wanted to let you know that all of my flute students are following your blog. We actually had a conversation about it in my Career Perspectives class (50 students). I’m having all the students read 5 blogs throughout the semester. Some were complaining that they couldn’t find a single useful blog for the instrument. And then the flute players chimed in about your site and how much they love it. Just thought you’d like to know….

Wow. This feels terrific!!
In almost eight years of having this site and blog, no one has yet written in to say my advice was not working for them.
Plus, when I see the students and teaching of other big name teachers and players, I still feel there's so much to learn.
This keeps me engaged and fascinated about the flute and its teaching.
Thankyou to everyone who is as thrilled with this instrument as I am, and thanks for those who make films and share all the information they know.

Best, and happy Thanksgiving to our Canadian readers,
Jen

Beautiful Telemann by Il Giardino Armonico

2009-09-21T15:03:00.000-07:00

I was struck by the beauty of this film of the twelfth Paris Quartet Chaconne by Telemann, as performed here by Il Giardino Armonico.
Simply lovely.

I love all these Paris Quartets, and look forward to playing this Chaconne, which I hadn't heard before. I've got The American Baroque Ensemble recording, which doesn't include this No. 12.
Just had to share!
Jen :>)

Bach Mobius Canon

2009-09-14T19:07:00.001-07:00

Dear Musicians,

I just want to point out this rather lovely mathematical purity:
Bach's Canon from Musical Offering with Mobius strip computer graphics.

And while I'm admiring how well the Mobius strip works for this purpose, I have a confession of either great genius or great whackiness.

About two years ago, I had an epiphany about the Mobius strip, and how easily it might be overlooked in mathematics and quantum theory, because it is just too darn simple.

Additionally as it only has "one side, one face" it is capable of great complexity, but perhaps, somehow [1 x 1] shapes are geometrically too simple to cause much of a stir. As we all know, when you multiply anything in math by the number 1, you hardly notice the result.

Yes, that made me laugh indeed.
Invisible due to its one-ness. hahhahaa.

But the mobius strip's physical attributes of one side and one face, may just make it one of the most flexible shapes in the universe.

Imagine the mobius strip as a possible description of the motion of an electron around a nucleus. Imagine that a mobius formula could describe solar system's recycling of energy. What if the mobius formula is a possible definition of Pi? Afterall, even Pi when written out as 3.14......has that endless quality, doesn't it?

And with the mobius strip, its great flexibility allows you to create any and all possible shapes out of single construct. Try making a paper one, just to cut it apart and see all the permutations.

Or if you want to confound yourself just with office supplies, simply wrap a thick rubber band around a cylinder, like a pencil, and have a look for yourself at all the shapes that are possible:

Notice how the mobius configurations look different from every side at once (one side of the pencil has two wraps crossed with a third one on the diagonal, in the above pink pencil example, while the other side of the pencil has three parallel wraps).

It was after toying with a paper mobius strip and cutting it apart, just as we show children to do, that I realized that at the same time it can look like multiple loops, when compressed, and yet when elongated, it can look like a single strand.

Perhaps we need only improve our microscopes to fully understand the double helix of DNA or the single strand RNA, with their incredible power to remain unchanged as they stretch during cellular division and then shrink back to their original size.

That made me think of string theory vs. particle theory (yes I've watched a ton of documentaries on these topics) and that made me think that it's just possible (not likely, but at least a tiny bit possible) that the universal mathematical mystery that Stephen Hawking (yes, the Stephen Hawking) needed to spend more thinking time on, was indeed the Mobius strip.

So... ha ha....I'm so bold that ...ha ha....I emailed Mr. Hawking the theory.
I couldn't quite put my finger IN the theory, but I waved my hand in that direction, anyway.

Oh sure...laugh.

I did laugh. I assure you; everyone I tell has a wee chuckle.

And I did receive a very polite automatically generated email from his lab student saying: "Thank you for your email. Mr. Hawking is far too busy to read most email. Reminder: Kindly do not send mathematical theories".

Sigh. Well so much for that.
I'm at one with it (ho ho oh ho!)

But I want to at least put this confession of my own radical self-confidence in the Mobius strip down in history with a blog date on it.
Just in case it turns out to be useful.
I bet the entire Universe is in the shape of the Mobius, and that's why we find it so confusing to study.

And, of course, the Bach canon above only makes it more fun to contemplate.

Best, (and please don't send any more crazy mathematical theories. hahahhaha!)

Back to practising Opera Arias (arranged for two flutes and piano by moi for upcoming comedy-flute show.)
Jen

James Galway's Callouses

2009-09-08T18:23:00.000-07:00

Dear Flutists,
I see from my "search box" that someone out there in flute land is seeking the photos of James Galway's hand callouses.
See: Photos of Galway's hands here.

In the past, some flute teachers have actually said "You must build up some finger callouses, like Galway", and many other flute teachers have hotly disagreed.

You must decide for yourself, but I believe that the lighter the touch, the better the pads seal, the faster the technique (finger motions).

Having recovered from pretty acute left hand and arm pain from playing a leaking flute with inadequate muscle freedom, I tend to believe in the non-callous school.

James Galway himself has also has written about arm and shoulder pain from too much sudden technique practise.

So for interest's sake please do see the lightness and ease of hand position that I use for speed in this video.

The above video was in answer to a query today from a flute teacher who had difficulty getting beginners to balance the flute in the hands without strain.
Best,
Jen

Moyse plays Mozart D Major in 1930

2009-09-03T18:25:00.000-07:00

Dear Flutists,

A lovely surprise on the net today:

Marcel Moyse (1930) playing Mozart D major Concerto!

Enjoy this blast from the past.
Best, Jen