Posture
    Posture is one of the first things addressed in a flute lesson. However, the term often conveys an image of a militaristic pose used in marching band or the image of someone walking around with a book balanced on the head. Both of these ideas imply tension and formality and are not conducive to relaxed playing. A better word to use is alignment. When students focus on alignment, instead of a rigidly held pose, they can envision the head balanced on the spine, the shoulders over the hips, and the hips over the ankles.

Hold the Flute
    Instead of talking about holding the flute with the hands, I refer to it as balancing the flute in the hands. The term holding implies tension, as in “Hold the flute and don’t drop it!” Balancing something is a softer approach, and it relaxes the hands and helps students develop a natural approach towards hand position.

Curve Those Fingers
    This statement is heard in many a band room, however, in the case of the flute, students often curve the left thumb too. The left thumb should be straight and pointed to the ceiling. Curving the left thumb creates tension in the arm. In addition, when students hear the word curved, they sometimes tense their fingers. The fingers should be relaxed, and all movement should come from the third knuckle back from the nail except for the left-hand first finger.
    I prefer  to describe the fingers as gently arched instead. For the right hand, Michel Debost, long-time columnist for Flute Talk and flute professor emeritus at Oberlin Conserv-atory, suggests having students pull a (horizontal) book off a shelf. This puts the fingers in a slightly arched position. Then the flutist exchanges the book for a flute.
    Practicing a half note trills followed by a quarter rest is a good way to work on the correct finger motion. Practice in a mirror keeping the finger tips close to the indentation of the key or open hole. This exercise could be practiced on each note of a scale (using regular fingerings) or on each note of an arpeggio. For advanced flutists, great improvement in technique can be gained by having the fingertip touch the key in exactly the same place on the finger and on the key. I ask students to pretend that the tip of the finger and the center of the key are both magnets and to visualize the magnetic pull between them.

Open Your Throat
    I often ask students the question, “Where is your throat?” I am always surprised at the answers I get. They range from the student opening his mouth and saying Ah while pointing inside the mouth like being checked for strep throat to a student pounding on her sternum. Because people seem to have many different ideas about what the throat is and how it works, I find it is better to tell students to “separate their vocal folds.” Googling vocal folds shows the location in the neck. This is the only place between the lungs and the lips where the air flow may be manipulated. The space between the folds is called the glottis. If the folds are closed abruptly, it produces a glottal stop which is a noisy conclusion to a note whether sung or played. To open the vocal folds, most teachers suggest the feeling of a yawn or saying the word hah. Manipulating the size of the opening is how vibrato is produced. (Start by playing or singing staccato hahs. Once under control simply slur the hahs. To develop a useful, artistic vibrato, this exercise should be practiced in a variety of tempos and vibrato widths (how sharp or how flat). Teachers can also say “Drop the jaw.” This is useful in opening the vocal folds too.

Support the Tone
    It seemed that every guest band clinician I worked with as a student talked about supporting the sound. I always wondered what exactly that meant. What I saw others do was take a breath and then tighten their abdomens. The abdomen was then kept tight throughout the rehearsal. I did not think this was correct, but no one talked about it one way or the other, and indeed knowledge of anatomy was not common among musicians at the time.
    Arnold Jacobs (former tuba of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra) was one of the first to advance the theory that teachers and players had to know basic anatomy. The diaphragm is an involuntary muscle that separates the thoracic cavity from the abdominal cavity. The key word here is involuntary. Abandon the word diaphragm from your teaching vocabulary.
    To understand how tight the abdomen should be when playing, ask students to sit in a chair with their legs stretched out in front and with their heels off the floor. The hips, knees and ankles should be in a straight line and equidistant from the floor. While in this position, they should play a scale and listen to the sound. Most notice a remarked improvement in the quality of the sound.
    Supporting the tone actually is a misnomer for how the air works. It has three areas to focus on: how much air, how fast or slow the air stream should be, and the angle that the air strikes the blowing edge of the embouchure hole. The first two relate to the dynamic of the phrase, the length of the phrase, the character of the phrase, the type of interval, and the tessitura of the phrase. (High notes require faster air than low notes.) The angle of the air helps create various timbres or colors and to play in tune.
    A common problem with the air system is that flutists forget that the air stream – no matter whether large or small, slow or fast – is always moving. Most students slow or stop the air stream when fingering difficult passages. They often think they have a fingering or tonguing problem when the real problem is keeping the air moving at all times. For example, students usually complain that they cannot tongue the Mendelssohn Scherzo. However, most players have found that when they can slur it in tempo, they can also now tongue it in tempo. For success, flutists should keep the air system separate from the tonguing and fingerings systems. Once these systems get meshed, there are always deficiencies in performance. Keeping the systems separate is easy to talk about but difficult to do. Vibrato speed and continuity also rely on the air system.
    In modern dance one of the warmups is called isolation. In this exercise the dancer only moves one part of the body such as moving a hand up and down while the rest of the body is completely still. Then the dancer may move just the foot from the ankle up and down. The exercise progresses through the body until all of the major joints have been worked. This exercise cleans the overall movement of the choreography. Flutists should do isolation work too.  Fingering a passage without the flute improves coordination. Once a passage can be fingered in time, then add the air. Vibrato can be practiced on one note and then by adding a certain number of pulsations per note while playing a scale. The flutist should listen carefully that the vibrato does not stop or start when changing notes. This isolation concept may be applied to many situations to be sure that fingering, tonguing, and vibrato are not changing the air system in any way.

Attack
    This word is applied to the idea of beginning a note. It conveys a rather scary, aggressive feeling. Certainly, the beginning of a note should not be fearsome. An alternative may be to refer to the beginning, middle and end of a notes.  The beginning of a note is produced by placing the tongue in the aperture or opening in the lips. Air pressure builds behind the tongue, and then the tongue releases the air. The air stops before repeating again. Many flutists begin phrases using a tongue-less attack which is sometimes called a breath attack. This keeps the pitch of the beginning of the note from being sharper than the middle of the note. The ending of most notes will be tapered slightly. Rather than stopping the air, flutists can continue blowing into the next note without tonguing (which is a slur or legato). 

Other Terms and Ideas
    There are a number of phrases that have been coined by elite pedagogues and players to express ideas involved in performing at an artistic level.

Spinning Orange
    I am not sure where this concept came from, but it has been used by many teachers over the past 75 years. The image is that the flutist has a spinning orange in his mouth, and as he plays the passage, he visualizes the air stream spinning the orange as he plays. Other versions of this utilize an egg or small jacks game ball instead of an orange. Whatever the size of the object, the message is the same – drop the jaw and create more space in the mouth while having an active air stream. This concept has always reminded me of the display at a vacuum cleaner shop where to demonstrate the powerful air system of one machine over another, there is a plastic ball on top of the vacuum. The speed of the ball turning shows how powerful the unit is. The type of sound obtained with this exercise is also called spinning the sound. When teachers say “Spin the sound” they are saying to visualize a spinning top, a spinning wheel, or a spinning vinyl record. The idea is to get the flutist to keep the air moving at all times.

Grip the Air Stream
    William Kincaid, former principal flutist of the Philadelphia Orchestra and the father of American flute playing, often said this. It was a way for him to get flutists to shape the aperture and define the direction of the air coming from the aperture against the blowing edge of the embouchure hole. This concept works especially well when playing piccolo.

Find the Sweet Spot
    I borrowed this term from my tennis playing days. Finding the sweet spot meant you hit the ball exactly at the spot on the racket where the strings ping, and the ball goes exactly where you have planned. In flute playing it refers to finding the focus in the sound – which may be done in two ways. In one, a student experiments with angling the air on the back edge of the embouchure hole. The player does not move the flute or embouchure hole, only the air. Michel Debost often suggested that students imagine that they are aiming the air to their left elbow funny bone.
    In the second way, the flutist experiments with the placement of the end of the flute. I explain it as if the end of the flute can move north and south (up or down) or east and west (forward or back) while still firmly in the chin. After moving the end up and down, it is obvious where the sound is the most focused or clear. Then the end of the flute is moved forward and back with the same objective. That spot where everything aligns is the sweet spot. Most flutists find a tonal improvement by moving the end of the flute away from the right shoulder. I think this is because of the shaping of the embouchure hole and the advances made by over- and under-cutting.

Down/Up and Forward Flow
    Marcel Tabuteau, former oboist of the Philadelphia Orchestra, professor at Curtis and creator of the American style of oboe playing, taught a concept of two-note slurs being played strong/
weak or down/up. He and William Kincaid also developed a concept of note grouping to help players understand where notes led to create an artistic musical line. With four sixteenth-note groups, the notes would not be grouped 1,2,3,4, but rather as 2,3,4,1. I looked for a term to explain this idea quickly and decided upon forward flow. According to their pedagogy, in music there are three basic gestures: down/up, forward flow, and single notes. Sometime  Kincaid referred to the single notes as solitaires.
    Whether you teach or not, these words should clarify some common flute concepts and offer useful images to improve your playing. The more articulately flutists speak, the more articulately they will play.

The post Words Matter appeared first on The Instrumentalist.

    What you do every day is more important than what you do sometimes.

    I loved the challenge of posting a video each week but I was also overwhelmed. Not only was I practicing flute and teaching, I was writing new material for the next stand-up assignment. I kept putting off the writing part because I felt that I did not have any funny ideas, even with writing exercises the instructor of the course suggested.
    That was like deciding I was not going to practice flute today because I did not think I had good ideas or because yesterday’s session didn’t go well. With that mindset, I realized that I would never get anything done. I needed to write every day and dig deeper into characters, observations, and one-liners.
    In comedy, punchlines should be surprising. First attempts at this may not land. For example, I used voice-fry as part of a character in one of my sets. I compared her to one of the Kardashians but that line did not seem to get a laugh.     The revision process led me to try the nickname Kartrashians, and then the line worked.

    Just because you are good at something does not mean you should utilize it as much as possible.

    When I learned how to taper a note on the flute, it became an obsession. Any chance I had, I tapered. At one point, I heard a recording of one of my recent performances and noticed that most of these tapers had nothing to do with the context. They sounded habitual and were distracting. I realized that if I saved my new skill for places where it made sense, it would be more impressive and contribute to my interpretation.
    In comedy, I love playing characters in a set. I am a mimic and like to see how ridiculous I can make them. However, I have started to notice they do not always contribute to the joke. One of my favorite comedians, John Mulaney, is really good at impersonations but he does not use them very often. When he does, they are spot on and heighten the joke. Another comedian, Maria Bamford, does impressions throughout her act, but her jokes are based on these characters, so she gets the laughs.  
    The best flutists play every note with direction and a main musical goal in mind. When I record myself, I make sure my vibrato enhances the direction of the line and that I do not bring out details so much that they distract from the next musical goal. In other words, every note I play contributes to the destination.
    If you watch Tig Notaro, Dave Chappelle, or Jim Gaffigan’s Netflix specials, there is not one word that does not contribute to a joke. They have not memorized their set word for word, but they are keeping the main points in mind and highlighting small observations and anecdotes along the way, increasing the tension of the build-up.

    It’s beginner’s luck when you perform well but are not sure why. You are advancing when you understand what made it good.

    The last week of my online class included an optional assignment: post a five-minute set in your chosen style. As I was waiting to be introduced in a club in St. Louis, I realized that some of my material was not relatable for this audience. Somehow I came up with a new opener and changed the order of my material – ten minutes before they called my name. It turned out to be the one of my best sets. Most of my jokes seemed to land and I felt good on stage.
    I took my newly revised set to another club, this time in Kansas City. The owner and I talked a little before he introduced the first comic, and I found myself trying a couple jokes in conversation to see if they got a laugh. They did.  Based on this, I felt that my set would go well. Instead, I completely bombed that night. I may have gotten a couple of chuckles but it felt awful.
    Because my last set had gone so well, I was very disappointed. I stayed for the rest of the performers and bought a drink to support the venue. Afterwards, I spoke with the owner again, and he asked how I felt it went. I was honest about how bad it was. He seemed relieved to hear this and offered me feedback.
    “You didn’t give the audience any context. Anyone here could have told those jokes. You didn’t give them your perspective. You should have explained your background like you did when we were talking. That’s what made your jokes funny.”

    Know the material so well that you can’t wait to perform it.

    As a flutist, this was something I had struggled with in my mid-twenties. I was taking lots of orchestral auditions and grew concerned about being correct. I wanted all of the excerpts on the list to be right. I am not sure what led me to focus on this but looking back, I wanted a job so badly that I did not want to mess up my chances. Just as in my disastrous performance, I wanted all to go smoothly, and followed my script exactly rather than adjusting to the flow of the performance.
    A pitfall in both comedy and flute playing is to focus on the prize rather than the craft. As I grew out of this and discovered my interpretation of the excerpts, things started to click. That is part of the process for learning any art form: trust your instincts as long as they are based on something. That is what will make your performance good.

    Learn to embrace the process.

    The first run-through of a new piece never feels very good to me. As a student, I avoided this because I did not want to experience that feeling. I have learned to accept that parts of learning something new may not feel great. As a result, I am more prepared and know how to practice so I can count on it getting better. It is all part of the process.
    It took a lot of experience to understand these basics on the flute. I expect it to take some time in comedy as well. What I especially enjoy, however, is that all of it feels vaguely familiar. Through honing another craft, I am throwing out some negative thoughts I let slip in during high school and college, and ultimately I think that both my music and comedy will benefit. I have got to stop taking myself so seriously!

The post Playing with a Sense of Humor appeared first on The Instrumentalist.

Getting Started
    For your first arrangement, start with a piece of music in the public domain that you think would sound good arranged for flute choir. Consider starting with a simple four-part vocal arrangement for soprano, alto, tenor, and bass from a hymnal, or another four-part choral piece.
    The simplest arrangement is to transcribe the soprano line for flute 1, alto line for flute 2, tenor line for alto flute, and bass line for bass flute. Create the score on staff paper or with a notation program. Arrangements in block scoring are good for less experienced players and arrangers. Independent parts work well for more advanced players. Transcribe the music so that the parts are easily played. Do not create problems with unique scoring. Consider the following as you create your score:
    •    In choral music, the tenor voice part, usually written in treble clef, sounds an octave lower than written.
    •    Alto flute is a transposing instrument in the key of G, sounding a perfect fourth lower. During the arranging process, the alto flute part may be written in concert pitch in the score, but remember to transpose the part before it is given to an alto flutist. Once you are sure that the notes of the arrangement are correct, transpose the alto flute part up a perfect fourth, and add one flat to the key signature (or remove one sharp) on the alto flute part. If using music writing software, transposing may be somewhat automated.
    •    Bass flute sounds one octave lower than the written pitch; piccolo sounds one octave higher than the written pitch.
    •    Depending on the tessitura of the flute 1 part, you might write the part an octave higher, especially if most of the original notes are in the staff.
    •    Proofread your score against the source material to make sure all notes and rhythms have been transcribed correctly, and that all dynamics and articulations have been added to both the score and parts.
    •    If some of the notes in the alto flute and/or bass flute parts fall below the instruments’ ranges, change the key to bring all parts into suitable ranges. For instance, if the music is in the key of F major and the bass flute’s lowest note is an F below the staff, all four parts will need to be transposed a perfect fifth higher to the key of C major. Remember to change the key signature in the score and parts as well.
    Once the score and parts are complete, invite some flutists to play through the arrangement. If you use a notation program, you can listen to the score through a computer.
    As you become more comfortable with the arranging process, experiment with variations for some of the accompaniment parts. This might include changing quarter notes to moving eighth notes or creating rhythmic variations.

Selecting Suitable Works
    Flute choir arrangements and transcriptions generally come from some of the greatest music written by composers before 1922. Arrangements are often transcribed or adapted from orchestral, chamber, and choral music (both a capella or accompanied), as well as solo vocal and instrumental music, including piano. Before starting, check online to make sure there is not already an arrangement of the piece you have selected.
    Some of the most successful flute choir transcriptions derive from string orchestra works. Arrangements of Baroque flute concertos by composers such as Pergolesi or Boccherini are also good options.
    Analyze the piece you want to transcribe. Determine its style period. Each era will be scored somewhat differently. Check the tessitura or range of the piece. As previously mentioned, a change of key may be necessary if many of the notes, particularly for the low flutes, fall below the range of the flute choir.
    Decide how many parts your arrangement will have and which flutes you want to use. Study the characteristics of individual members of the flute family to determine how they can be used to best advantage in each specific arrangement.

Part Writing
    There are several different schools of thought when writing for flute choir. Some composers and arrangers place most of the melodic material and difficulty in the flute 1 part, with other parts playing a subordinate role. Others prefer to include melodic passages throughout most of the parts. While the results of both arrangements might sound the same to an audience, ensemble members who only play accompaniment parts may become restless and bored.
    As a flute choir director for an adult ensemble, I have found that members express the highest satisfaction when all parts contain some moving lines and melodic content. With groups of mixed ability levels, many directors place strong players on each of the parts.
    Parts should move gracefully. Omit large jumps and augmented seconds. Watch for parallel fifths and octaves. Do not change the inversion from the original piece. Remember that a second inversion has to be prepared. Learn more about open or close voicing. Be true to dynamics and other articulation marks.

Further Details
    Try to keep the same transparency as the original composition. Music can become muddy with too many doublings.
    Look up any unfamiliar terms in the original piece. These terms may give clues to help you arrange the piece more effectively.
    Scoring choices can help musicians with dynamics. Use lighter scoring with fewer players for soft passages, and full scoring for loud passages. This also provides a welcome change of texture.
    Add slurs and other articulation marks where appropriate. Some may differ slightly from the original piece, particularly in vocal, string, and piano music. Apply articulations consistently throughout the arrangement, unless the source material indicates otherwise.
    Add cues to help the ensemble, particularly when the first beat of a piece  or a new section is silent. In addition, indicate when a measure is silent for all players by marking it G.P. for grand pause. These details will make it easier for a piece to be played correctly the first time.

Readability
    Whether you are notating the score and parts on staff paper or in a notation program, make sure that notes and other elements of the arrangements are easy to read and not crowded. Space notes by beat and leave adequate spacing between lines and staves. Crowded notes yield weaker performances.
    Scores are easier to read when barlines extend through all parts of a system (stave) and font sizes of notes, tempo markings, and measure numbers are large enough to be read easily, but not too large. Depending on the number of parts, there should be two or possibly three systems (staves) on each page. Alternate parts do not need a separate line on the score – for example an optional flute part in lieu of alto flute. You should mark the instrumentation in the score on every page.
    Check for readability and page turns when laying out parts as this can be a reason people will not buy a piece. I have seen many scores with tiny fonts and too many systems per page, as well as scores with large fonts requiring page turns every few measures. 
    Some important final touches are to include rehearsal numbers or letters at the beginnings of a phrases or sections, as well as measure numbers on the left edge of each line of both score and parts. These markings are a time saver during rehearsals.
    Consider adding background material about the arrangement and rehearsal ideas in program notes located in the conductor’s score. You should also include the arrangement’s length and difficulty level. Conductors will appreciate these thoughtful touches.

Instrumentation
    While there is not a standard scoring for flute choirs, I have found it best to score for six to eight parts, unless the group it is intended for is very large. For those who intend to pursue publication, music scored for fewer parts will have a larger market, as many flute choirs only have enough flutists for one or two on a part and have limited access to low flutes.
    I usually score for six or seven parts: piccolo, 3 flutes, alto flute, bass flute, and optional contrabass flute. As a director, I rarely program music with more than four separate flute parts to ensure that all are covered adequately. Many community and student flute choirs have players at various levels, making balance and part coverage more challenging.

General Suggestions
    If possible, make sure all parts get the melody, countermelody, or an active accompaniment at some point in the piece.
    It is sometimes tempting to give the low flutes all whole notes. Avoid that temptation.
    Avoid writing an excessive number of low Cs and low Bs in any part. Many players have flutes with a C-foot, and frequently the footjoints may be not be adjusted well enough to play these notes. Additionally, avoid writing flute parts that only have notes within the first octave.

Writing for Concert Flutes
    When arranging for flute choir, writing the concert flute parts is like writing for the violin sections of a string orchestra: there are at least twice as many of them as other members of the ensemble. Most flute choir music has three or more parts for concert flutes, and in most ensembles, there are multiple players, sometimes as many as six or more, on each part. Consider how the flute parts will balance with each other and with the rest of the ensemble.
    Keep in mind that notes in the third octave will be the loudest and that notes in the first octave will be the softest. In third-octave sections, consider adding an optional divisi an octave lower to help with balance, particularly in large ensembles. This will also be helpful on long notes to avoid covering moving lines in other sections.
    If seeking publication, I recommend including an alternate C flute part in lieu of the alto flute part. This will make your piece playable by a larger number of groups. Some ensembles may not have an alto flute or enough alto flutes to balance the rest of the ensemble. With an alternate alto flute part, C flutes provide better balance for the music. Naturally, some of the lower notes may need to be raised an octave to be in range.

Writing for Piccolo
    Scoring for piccolo provides a different tone color that may be used in many ways. Consider the role you would like the piccolo to play in the arrangement. (In some music, piccolo parts may be optional, and others may not have a piccolo part at all.)
    The piccolo can be a chameleon. It is able to blend well with the flute section or sit like a cherry on top of a chord by doubling the tonic. It can add sparkle by doubling a melody written in a tessitura that is slightly too low in the flutes to be heard clearly or be a soloist soaring above the ensemble in the first or second octave with a beautiful melody or countermelody.
    Avoid writing extended passages for the piccolo in the altissimo range. Some players play these high notes beautifully and in tune, but many do not. For notes above the written third octave C or D, I usually include options to play the passage an octave lower on the same stem. This gives the conductor the option to request the lower divisi notes in certain sections.
    The first and second octaves of the piccolo are beautiful. If appropriate, write a section to feature this.
    Consider doubling a flute melody with piccolo in thickly scored sections to help the melody come through and give it some sparkle.

Writing for Low Flutes
    Unlike concert flute and piccolo where the third octave is the loudest register, notes in the staff are the strongest register for alto, bass, and contrabass flutes. Notes in the high register are beautiful and ethereal with a unique timbre, but may players have intonation challenges on them. In addition, as the softest register, they may be overpowered in tutti sections. Instead, consider featuring some or all of the low flutes in a portion of your arrangement to provide a different texture and tone color.
    Over the past twenty years, as flute choirs have flourished, flute manufacturers have improved designs of alto flutes and bass flutes and developed more affordable models. At the same time, they have improved intonation, tone, and ergonomic design. Contrabass flutes have also become less expensive and are available from quite a few manufacturers. Contrabass flutes help balance the treble nature of the flute choir, so more and more groups have made the decision to purchase one.
    I strongly suggest adding a contra part to your arrangement – at least an optional part. While the contra part may sometimes have the same written notes as the bass flute part, consider featuring the bass flute without the contra, particularly in softer sections. This change in scoring will provide a welcome change in texture. Another option for the contra, depending on the piece, is to write a lighter part with shorter note values, such as a quarter note with a quarter rest instead of a half note, or sections that imitate string bass plucked pizzicato.
    If the contra line is different enough from the bass flute to be integral to the arrangement, consider labeling the part Contrabass Flute or Bass Flute 2. You may also include a bass clef part that doubles the contra, to be played by a cello, bassoon, or string bass. Carefully consider the range in this part, as it may sound an octave lower than contrabass flute, and make sure that it fits with the arrangement.

Voicing and Scoring Suggestions
    In my early composing and arranging efforts, Spanish composer and flutist, Salvador Brotons, offered me valuable advice on writing and arranging for flutes. He suggested using open voicing – parts scored with more than an octave between the top and lowest voice. I have found that the richest sonorities are obtained by using this idea. When root position (or close voicing) chords are used with full flute choir, the results can sound muddy and indistinct. Music scored for more than seven to eight parts can also be muddy because of the homogeneous sound of the instruments. When transcribing from orchestral or other large ensemble literature, it is tempting to transcribe literally. It is up to the arranger to use doubled tones and octaves sparingly to create the most flattering sound for the ensemble.

Final Touches
    Proofreading is an essential step to getting a score and parts ready for performance. It is frustrating for groups to spend valuable rehearsal time fixing wrong notes and rhythms. Music notation software with playback capabilities help composers check for correct notes. However, a careful eye and patience is required to ensure accurate and consistent articulation and dynamic markings throughout all the parts.
    When nearing completion of an arrangement, play through each of the parts to discover wrong notes or notes that a player might perceive as incorrect, as well as confirming readability and consistency of articulation and dynamics. It is also important to see whether each part will make sense to players when practicing, as well as in the context of the score.
    Occasional well-placed courtesy accidentals will be a timesaver during rehearsals and appreciated by the group and conductor. Doublecheck that all notes are within the playable ranges of the flutes. I own quite a number of publications with notes that are outside of the flute’s range, such as Bb or A below the staff.     

The post Composing and Arranging for Flute Choirs and Ensembles appeared first on The Instrumentalist.

Answer: In my first flute lesson with Mark Sparks at the Aspen Music Festival in 1994, Mark let me play and play and play before finally stopping me. After one of his trademark long pauses, Mark said something to me that I will never forget. “You need to be less of a flutist (long pause) and more of a musician.”
    Studying theory provides the tools music students need to become superb musicians. The knowledge acquired in the undergraduate theory and aural skills curriculum will enable you to analyze and think critically about the music you perform. It is good to read someone else’s analysis of a work you are preparing for performance. It is even better to understand it thoroughly, beyond your own part, and to arrive at that understanding and interpretation through your own careful thought about the piece. You will develop listening skills that will allow you to detect errors early and play precisely in tune, and you will learn to understand the function of each pitch and chord that you play. You will also likely learn to improvise and compose, which are important skills for all musicians in the 21st century.
    In short, the study of music theory is the study of musicianship, and is vitally important to your success. It is also a core requirement of most undergraduate music programs, usually spanning four semesters of study. You must prove successful in these courses in order to continue into the third and fourth years of study in the degree program.
    Unfortunately, music theory has gained a reputation as being dry, boring, and difficult. This perception is due in part to the way music is taught in the United States. Much of what is taught in a university first-semester theory course should ideally have been learned in the K-12 years. Unfortunately, due to increasing cuts in public school arts funding, many students arrive at their university having had little to no general music study. They may have performed in a band, choir, or orchestra, but it is possible they were taught by rote, and are not as musically literate as they believe themselves to be. Other students will have had a theory class and come from strong programs where they were taught to read and perform well.
    Because of this increasingly wide skills gap, most schools of music require incoming students to take a music theory placement exam. It is not uncommon for students to place into a remedial theory course. This is not the end of the world, but it is problematic for several reasons. First, it can feel humiliating to students who may have been the strongest musicians at their high school. It is also quite difficult to become fluent in any language, including the language of music, in one semester. Fifteen weeks of remedial study is not a substitute for years of music fluency training.
    Additionally, this added semester of theory study can cause scheduling issues with students’ primary area of study. This is particularly true for music education majors, who must progress through a dense and tightly-written curriculum. As these students move through the theory sequence, they may require more than one semester to pass some of the theory courses, exacerbating the issues of scheduling and self-esteem. It is small wonder that music theory is often seen as an annoyance rather than the opportunity it is.
    There are several steps you can take to avoid this path and actually enjoy yourself with success in your college theory track.

Prepare for College Music Theory
    Learn your scales. Become completely fluent in all major scales, all minor scales in all three forms, and arpeggios. In my home studio, I have a scale jar. During a scale drill for more advanced students, if I pull the paper from the jar that says C, I expect more than the C major scale. I expect the C major arpeggio and the relative minor scale in all three forms with its arpeggio. Often, when a student in a second-year theory or ear training class at Shenandoah Conservatory comes to me for help with a skill or concept, I find that the root of the problem is a fundamental issue, such as not being fast and fluent with scales and key signatures.
    Learn to read vertically. Flutists are monophonic line readers. You should know bass clef too. If you have the time and the resources, invest in piano lessons. Play duets, trios, and quartets, as well as your flute and piano repertoire, from the score to practice reading other lines in addition to your own. Notice, in practice and  rehearsal how your part fits into the larger form of the piece.
    Take a music theory course. If your high school does not offer music theory, look to online options. The Eastman School of Music offers a well-respected online fundamentals course at a reasonable price. You may also want to take advantage of the free short lessons and drills at music
. Some high schools offer AP Music Theory courses. Be aware that while some schools of music allow students with high AP test scores to receive credit for early courses in their sequence, others do not. However, the point of taking a music theory course in high school is not to skip undergraduate theory. The goal is to arrive with the drier fundamentals securely under your belt. No matter how prepared you are, you are likely to encounter new information and perspectives in your first few weeks of college theory study. Having a solid foundation will allow you to more quickly absorb the new concepts.
    Sing. Join the choir at your high school or church. Sing the flute parts to all the repertoire you study. Sing the other parts. Singing helps develop your musical brain, and you will be more prepared for aural skills and written theory courses.
    Listen. Learn to sit still and listen critically to music. Listen to live music. Listen to recordings of music you are practicing and rehearsing. Listen to music you have never heard before. If you have a score available, listen while following the score.
    These practices will enable you to enter an undergraduate theory program with more confidence and less fear.

What to Do if You Find Yourself Struggling in College Music Theory
    If you do find yourself struggling in college theory or ear training, be sure to reach out and ask for help immediately. I tell my theory and ear training students, “Don’t wait until you are drowning. Ask for help the moment you have that deer in the headlights feeling.” Theory skills are building blocks, and if you allow yourself to remain weak on one concept, you will struggle with every new skill that follows.
    Understand that the problem is likely not you. If you have been attending class, practicing aural skills, and doing written theory homework, then it is probably related to some weak area in your music fundamentals background. Don’t beat yourself up and don’t panic.
    Make an appointment with your professor. Most full-time professors keep office hours, and many adjunct instructors will meet with you if you ask them. Additionally, many schools have free tutoring programs. Your instructor can also give you names of tutors they recommend. For my classes at Shenandoah Conservatory, I know which tutors have a proven track record of helping students improve. I also consider individual student and tutor personalities and learning styles when recommending tutors.
    Many schools also have evening theory lab hours, where students can drop in and receive help from tutors. Additionally, many institutions, including my own, have implemented embedded tutor programs. These tutors attend the classes and are therefore more attuned to the current pace and demands of the course. In my ear training classes, which take place in a rehearsal hall, I ask the embedded tutor to sit in the back. Any student who needs help on a particular transcription or singing exercise may choose to sit with the tutor.
    If you have a disability, consider disclosing it to your university’s Disabilities Services Coordinator, regardless of whether you anticipate needing accommodations. Aural Skills (sometimes called Ear Training or Musicianship), is a course that requires quick thinking, reading, and writing. Some students who have never before utilized classroom accommodations find themselves needing them in Aural Skills. With creativity and communication, you and the instructor can usually arrive at appropriate and innovative accommodations.
    Finally, if you find that you will pass a class by a thin margin, consider repeating it voluntarily. It is better to repeat a lower-level course than to struggle and repeat a higher-level course multiple times. My own institution requires a C minimum to proceed in most courses in the sequence.
    Prepare well and take advantage of the services your university offers as you need them. A student who struggled in my ear-training class wrote the following in her end-of-semester self-reflection: “If I’ve learned something from this semester, it is that if you persist in your effort, no matter the obstacle, you will begin to see results from your hard work. And surround yourself with the people who can help you with your work!”
    Careful, creative, and engaging theory courses can turn a flutist into a musician. My hope is that you will find the study of music theory and musicianship rewarding and eternally useful, and as your confidence in the subject grows, you may even find it fun.

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Wendy Webb Kumer 

    It is the dead of winter, the days are short and inspiration for practicing is waning. What can you do to motivate yourself? My first reaction is avoidance. Then, quickly on the heels of avoidance comes the desire to Netflix binge, plan lunch dates with friends, curl up with a good book, or purge closets for donations. However, musicians are compelled to play, so here are some ideas to keep your flute playing fresh during a gap in the performance calendar.

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