As a teacher I often am faced with student's bad habits.  Depending on how long the behavior has persisted, it could take some time to lead her on a new path.  Even I have to be self-aware when practicing or else I go on auto pilot, tune out mentally, and fall into a rut of practicing the same way all the time.  One such example is scale practice.

While I was at Oberlin we religiously practiced T&G #4 ala the Debost scale game.  That became an integral part of my daily practice for many years.  Then I recently met Patricia George, an amazing teacher who has worked alongside several influential flutists including Debost.  Her new scale book integrates many of the T&G patterns plus adds blues scales, interval scales, modes, etc.  I don't want to sound like I'm endorsing the product, but there are scales for students on all levels and each chapter is packed full of challenging exercises.  As I prepare for the fall at UTC I will be using this book with my students.  It has been an exciting time creating new routines with my scale practice.  Hopefully George's approach is equally engaging for my students.  Don't worry, Taffanel and Gaubert, you are not forgotten!

As school quickly approaches, my teaching load is increasing.  I was surprised the other day by a comment from a new student who is considering graduate school auditions.  On her way out the door she thanked me for playing during her lesson.  Apparently her last teacher never demonstrated or played duets.  What a shame!  There are many times when picking up the flute and playing a phrase or demonstrating a bad habit through exaggeration makes a greater impact than the teacher's words.  I can't image not playing during the lesson.  As an undergraduate at Oberlin, I remember how impressed and excited I was when Debost played during my lessons.  I really felt like I had learned from the "master."  In a small way I want to create that excitement for each and every student.

I'm teaching a music education student this summer who's primary instrument is clarinet.  In our most recent lesson I was reminded of how unique air support/flow is treated on the flute.  We do not have the usual resistance of a reed like the other woodwinds.  Instead our lips form an "air reed" and we have to slowly exhale in order to sustain from note to note.  This is similar to cellists pulling a slow, steady bow across the string.  If only a small part of the bow is used, then the tone is compromised; similarly, if a flutist only uses short, shallow air, then the sound is thin and weak.  Today I experimented exhalation through a drinking straw and a coffee stirrer.  The coffee stirrer simulates the resistance that an oboist might feel through a narrow reed, but also shows that effect aperture size has on the duration of a sustained tone.  More thoughts on this will surely follow as I continue to work with this student.

I'm a novice runner.  Tonight my husband observed my stride and said, "You're running flat footed like a duck!"  I was appreciative for the advice. because it truly felt like something was not right.

This is very similar to working with beginning flutists.  They may be successful in their respective band programs just sloshing through with bad habits, but careful observation by the teacher should point to some ways to streamline the approach to the instrument.

Many problems with beginners are related to the topic of stability.  Now in case I haven't revealed in early blog posts, I'm a Rockstro player ( which means that my thumb is behind the flute rather than under the body).  This makes all the difference for support.  It loosens up my fingers so that they do not get locked in place, and my embouchure is much more consistent resulting in more even tone.  If I see a student with not enough stability at the mouthpiece, then usually there are finger problems and the flute is generally wobbly.  I suppose it is possible to reach stability without bringing the thumb behind the flute, but gadgets like the Thumbport can help bridge this technique to a late bloomer.  So why not give it a try!!!

Well it's time for my Brannen's annual cleaning in Boston and I found out today that I have to replace 2 pads.  Probably a by product of moving to a drier climate.  Being without my flute has forced me to play the piccolo again.  Although I was bracing for a rather unpleasant experience since I haven't picked up the instrument in months, my response was quite the opposite - easy to play, fun, new repertoire...This has inspired me to perform a piece on piccolo for my next recital.  Every flutist should feel comfortable performing on piccolo.  Often times we are asked to play on the spot Stars and Stripes or fill in for a sick colleague.  Whatever the circumstance, "Be prepared," as the boyscouts say.  I am going to try and emulate this philosophy to the studio by dedicating one studio class to piccolo play and encouraging students to take the instrument more seriously.  Nowadays there is some great literature written for piccolo and versatility is never a bad skill to possess when you consider the fierce competition among musicians.

It's time I made a confession:  I have been neglecting my tone.  For years I've had to compress my practice into a short space due to time limitations.  Since my studies at Oberlin, I've believed that one can practice tone, technique, phrasing - all within the body of the expressive T&G scale patterns.  While I still believe this is true, I can no longer spend the time necessary to run through the entire series; therefore, I've been warming up the fingers and neglecting the tone.

Thanks to Jeanne's class in Atlanta and observing my current private students, I've discovered it's time to focus on sound.  Even if it's 15 minutes a day, slow, methodical practice is necessary.  Try making a beautiful sound without vibrato and then add it on the repeat.  Mix up the registers so that you are not always practicing low, medium or high ranges.  The Trevor Wye tone book is nice as is the Moyse tone book, De La Sonorite.  You can even play folk tunes by ear.  Whatever your musical material, work toward a beautiful decrescendo, a free vibrato, and an even tone in all registers.  It is a crucial part of your daily practice routine.

I was fortunate to attend the Baxtresser masterclass in Atlanta yesterday with one of the students from UTC, Alyssa.  What a fabulous day!!!  Ms. Baxtresser is a phenomenal teacher and such a gracious role model.  One would think after playing professionally in the NY Philharmonic and Montreal Symphonies that these positions would create an enlarged ego, but Ms. Baxtresser is quite down-to-earth and shared many points from her life experience as a professional flutist. 

The event was sponsored by the Atlanta Flute Club and the rather long day included an orchestral excerpt masterclass, a solo repertoire masterclass, and several lectures from Baxtresser on topics such as lyricism and vibrato, being a good student, preparing for an orchestral audition, etc.  I cannot wait to practice today and try some of her exercises.  It is as if I have had a whole week's worth of lessons from the master and I feel very recharged.  What I would like to do in the next series of blogs is share some of my notes from the class and tell you if these exercises are effective.  Enjoy!

Last week I attended the Mid-South Flute Festival in Memphis.  While there I performed on the Masters Recital, judged the Solo and Ensemble Contest, and directed the Junior High Flute Choir.  What a fun day!  The junior high kids performed well, as it was their first flute choir experience.  I was so proud of the two 8th graders who picked up the alto and bass flutes so quickly, plus the 8th grader who played the piccolo part up an octave on c flute!
I met some fantastic flutists from Arkansas and reconnected with an old friend from my days at UNT, Kristin Grant.  And it sounds like this will not be my last involvement with the Mid-South flute society.  I have been appointed chair of the Young Flutist Showcase for 2011! 

I was pleased to invite my collaborative partner, Dr. Hui-Ting Yang to East Tennessee for a series of concerts in mid-March.  During this visit we worked up Hypnosis by Ian Clarke and the rest of the Taktakishvili sonata.  It is such a pleasure to perform with Hui-Ting.  We were talking and discovered that it has almost been 8 years since our first collaborative project.  As I told her, performing as part of the Small-Yang Duo elevates my musicianship.  Stay tuned for our next project and the development of our new website!

I cannot believe that it's already 2 weeks since Professor Eva Amsler was at UTC.  My how time has flown by!  Everyone had a great time at the masterclass and recital.  Members of the UTC studio prepared repertoire by Hindemith, Saint-Saens, DeLaney, and Varese; and Eva talked with us about painting a picture with music and projecting sound throughout the piece.  One of my favorite memories was when Sam Sencabaugh was performing Density 21.5.  To make her point about the background of the piece, Eva gave her gold flute to Sam and had him perform the piece with the excitement of a new instrument.  What a moment!  His reaction was priceless! 

Later that day, we traveled to Southern Adventist University for the evening recital.  I performed a W.F. Bach duo with Eva which was a thrill, and then we enjoyed hearing favorites like Bach B minor Sonata and Variations on La Folia with Shalev Ad-El.  It was a special event and SAU made everyone feel welcome.  We look forward to another visit by Eva in the future!