Category: Flute

Flute

Parental Support

utahfluteteacher

How can parents support their child as a young musician? There are many different ways you can offer support. Here are a few ideas.

First of all, the younger the child, the more support they’ll need from a parent. If they don’t read yet, your child will definitely need you to guide them through which pages they should be practicing and how many times they should play each piece that day or how long they need to practice. Read them what the teacher wrote in their book. Sit by their side. Help them practice flashcards. Let them know that you are there to support them.

As they get older, you can gauge how much to step back and let them do the practicing on their own. There is no magic age for this.

Each child is different in their development and personality.

Show interest in what they are learning. If you don’t attend the lesson with your child, ask them what they learned that day and demonstrate that to you. Look them in the eye while they are talking to you.

Provide opportunities for your child to share their talents. My dad used to always ask me to play for people who would come to visit.  I hated it! I’m sure I rolled my

Continue reading “Parental Support” →
Flute

Have Instrument. Will Travel.

utahfluteteacher

Yesterday we played for a funeral for a close family member. They just held a graveside service and naturally, there was not an organ or a piano at the cemetery. It was wonderful to easily transport our instruments (flutes, guitar, and cello) so we could provide some music.

For occasions such as this, you usually don’t get a lot of advanced notice before needing to perform. That’s when it’s a blessing to be experienced enough as a musician to able to have a rehearsal one night and perform the next day.

Why do we study, practice, and learn music? To just play for ourselves or to share that talent with others? Even though music is extremely rewarding individually…

I was taught that music is a gift to bless other people’s lives.

I’ve tried to pass this philosophy on to my children and to my students. Playing music with my daughters yesterday brought peace to not just me but also to everyone else there.

If you are a musician, please travel and always be willing to share your gift with others wherever you go.

Flute

Performing is Fun

utahfluteteacher

What is fun about performing?

Sometimes students are scared to play in front of others. I completely understand that. Sometimes I get nervous too. When I was younger my dad always wanted me to play my flute or the piano for anyone that came through our front door, or so it seemed. Did I love that? Absolutely not! But now, years later, I’m grateful that he was so proud of me and wanted to provide opportunities for me to share my talents with others as often as I could.

I went to college and earned degrees in Flute Performance and Pedagogy. Some of the college requirement options were to either do a research paper or do a solo performance. Which one did I choose? You guessed it. Performance!! I had a lot of fun preparing and playing multiple solo recitals during my years in college and graduate school, not to mention all the large and small ensemble performances I’ve been involved in for the past 40 years.

Utah Valley Symphony Sunday in the Park

Last week I played with the Utah Valley Symphony for our second outdoor summer concert in the park. The symphony is on the left just past the large screen and the van. It’s not the best photo, but at least it gives you an idea of the setting. Even though a lot of people filled the park to come listen to us and even though it was being filmed by the local cable company to be rebroadcast later, I wasn’t concerned about the people or the cameras.

I was just so happy to be playing again and even more grateful that the wind wasn’t blowing like our last outdoor concert. I sure missed not preforming last year, thank to COVID.

Our concert was patriotic and movie music such as Battle Hymn of the Republic, Moon River, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Over the Rainbow, Harry Potter and more. Nothing heavy and serious, just a lot of fun and beautiful music. There wasn’t anything scary about playing this summer concert.

So what’s fun about performing?

Continue reading “Performing is Fun” →
Flute

What Have You Learned?

utahfluteteacher

It’s great to finally start having some things return back to “normal” after the pandemic. We’ve all learned a lot during this past year. If each person made a list, and we compared them side by side, perhaps there might be some things that are similar but for the most part, I’ll bet each one would be different.

Keeping yourself and your family safe became the number one priority, no matter the costs. Having three “high risk individuals” living in my home at the time, we took the virus very seriously. The pandemic helped remind us what’s truly important in life and what things are nice, but not critical. Our schedules suddenly became free from all extra curricular events for a time.

I remember when I saw an empty parking lot at a chain of retail stores in the middle of the day and how strange it seemed. This was another reminder of what’s critical such as food and medication and other household items, like toilet paper, right? We all had to get used to wearing masks and it became a natural part of getting out of the car to go into a business. Yet, now it seems strange to see so many people without masks.

What did I learn as a musician?

Continue reading “What Have You Learned?” →
Flute

Summer Practicing

utahfluteteacher

Hooray for Summer! Who doesn’t love a change of pace, the warm summer sun, lemonade, swimming pools, ice cream and vacations?

With all the fun and extra events that summer brings, how do you stay motivated to practice during the summer? Commit to keep playing, especially if you are not taking lessons during the summer.

Sight read anything. Pull out old books you’ve previously gone through, flip randomly to a page and see what you can still play.

Go to flutetunes.com and try the Tune of the Day. They have an audio recording along with it.

Summer can be a great time to strengthen your scales and put them to memory.

Play popular music or folk tunes. All local music stores always have popular music or Broadway or Disney music favorites or Irish tunes or folk songs for flute. Try a new one each day as you continue to work on proper breaths, accurate tonguing, solid tone and vibrato.

If you find it hard to motivate yourself to practice, at the very least, listen to exceptional flute players. Maybe that will motivate you to practice.

In any case, enjoy summer and keep music a part of it in some way.