I’m off to sunny Croatia for my summer school at Kastel Luksic. Abbie and Gareth are joining me this year and I think it’s fair to say, we are all really excited. I’m looking forward to 2 weeks in the sun and seeing all of my lovely Croatian friends again and meeting new ones.
When I get back I hope to have lots of very, very exciting things to announce Flute-wise! Everything seems to be going really, really well at the moment and the future looks packed with good things.
Maybe while I’m away you can just chat amongst yourselves about anything to do with the flute. I might even award a prize to the most interesting poster when I get back. Andy should keep an eye on what’s going on and, if we are really lucky, Stephen might send a few posts.
I’ll be back …. soon.
5 Comments
Perhaps you can all help me.
I’ve been ill for quite a while (since April time) with a nasty virus thing that isn’t going away. My flute has been somewhat neglected (I’m sorry confess) but eventhough I still feel quite rough (I’m in the middle of a minor relapse) I really want to get going again. The only thing is I’m lacking confidence.
I had an audition almost a fortnight ago and due to a lack of practice and a swollen throat at the time it went awfully. I am always conscious of younger flautists playing a lot better then I do before auditions but it was even worse this year, and now I am struggling to motivate myself.
So basically the question is can anyone think of any ways to help me love my flute again, because I know I do deep down. Ideally I don’t want anything to strenous because exhaustion and a ‘fuzzy’ brain is a large part of my problems.
Thanks,
Rachel
Sorry to hear that you have been so poorly Rachel! My advise is to set yourself little achievable targets so that you don’t finish a practice session thinking “I still can’t do that, or that was awful’. I don’t know what standard you play to but I would suggest nothing too taxing both technique wise or note wise if you are not up to it. There are lots of play along books which have some challenging key signatures with familiar tunes/songs. Some of the songs ones particularly have some interesting (?) rhythms too.
Have you got “Tone Development through interpretation’ by Marcel Moyse? This would help you to focus on the tonal aspect of your playing and the tunes are mainly quite short, they encourage you to play in different keys too. They also help you to focus on lip flexibility, breathing, dynamic control etc. to help get back into shape.
Another approach could be using Clare Southworth’s ‘Flute Aerobics’. You can tailor your ‘workout’ according to what you are able to do each day. It covers some of the elements included in the Trevor Wye Practice books but is much more condensed and may be a good starting point for you.
Have a look through some of the Grade syllabuses (ABRSM, TrinityGuildhall etc) and choose something to play from a grade or two lower that you are currently at. This will (hopefully) not take as long, be as much effort (as tackling something from your current level) but still give you a sense of achievement. And as you back into the swing of things you can up the level.
I hope this helps. You could ask for advice from your teacher too!
Barbara
Rachel,
If you have been ill for a long time it’s best just to ease back into playing the like only doing a 10-15 minute practice session a few times a week. As you get stronger and more confident these practice sessions may get longer and more frequent.
Another thing to help you get back is to play pieces which you love and that also might be easy to play as this get your confidence up and motivate you to play. Also if you warm up before playing your pieces you might find you can play easier as well – Stephen Clark’s warm-ups are very good especially the ‘pe’ one! (Thank you Stephen!!)
Also, knowing that you love the flute will help you to get playing again as it will be your goal to acheive by loving it again! And don’t worry, i struggle to get motivated on the bassoon even it’s a lovely instrument and i love playing it, it just takes a lot of warming up and then (as it needs a service) sarts playing up as soon as i’ve spent my 30mins getting it to sound good on every piece before taking bits out! It’s a vicious circle and takes time especially if you’ve had a long illness! I had Bronchitus a few years ago so i could play for short periods but then i just felt tired after playing! It’s all about stamina – once that improves you should be fine and loving your flute as much as we all love ours!
Hope this helps,
Ellie xex
There seems to be a problem with posts again as I wrote one yesterday and it was saved for approval but hasn’t appeared!
Barbara
Sorry Barbara. There’ll be a delay for comments to be moderated as Liz is away and she has left me to do it and, as I am a lazy swine, it takes me far longer than her.
I’ll try and do better next time.
Andy