8:05 AM
    In my office preparing for the first practice session, I spend about thirty seconds listening to my breathing, not trying to change it, just letting it be. It is a way to clear the mind of any distractions and connect with the silence within. Remembering that music is born from that silence, I imagine the most radiant, resonant flute sound, filling up first the inner space and then the entire room. Once the flute is assembled, I want the first notes to be an extension of that concept. By going through this process, these first notes of the day are usually much better and more satisfying than thoughtlessly playing any old warmup lick.
    The first practice session is the time to listen intently and critically to one’s playing, to reconnect with the sound, and ask questions. Can the articulation be clearer here? What happens if I lengthen one note in that run? Will it sound cleaner? One of my favorite professors (an accomplished pianist) once told me when I struggled with a certain fast passage, that I should “listen with the fingers.” It helped slow down my listening and hear every note, even at top speed.

10:00 AM
    Rehearsal begins with the Camerata Woodwind Quintet, one of our university’s faculty ensembles. I am fortunate to work with accomplished colleagues for two hours today, as we refine Samuel Barber’s Summer Music for an upcoming performance. The score places many demands on each player, but the real challenge is being aware of what everyone else is doing all the time. This is the real work as well as the joy of playing chamber music. We all follow the beat of our inner conductor while trying to synchronize our dynamics, rhythm, and phrasing with the group. A successful performance requires arriving at a group concept, which we can only do through the painstaking rehearsal of details, often bar by bar.

12:00 PM
    As a student arrives for her lesson, I switch roles from chamber musician to teacher, focusing on her playing. The degree of listening focus is just as intense as if I were the one playing– it is just redirected. I find myself asking the student some of the same questions I had considered in my practice session earlier in the day.
    So much of flute technique, especially tone and articulation, occurs inside a flutist’s body and therefore cannot be seen. It is one thing to see a student’s hand position and suggest improvements, and quite another to hear an unfocused sound and identify the position of the tongue, for example, as a possible culprit. Sometimes it is helpful if the teacher purposefully tries to sound like the student in order to diagnose what the problem might be and then provide a good model for more resonance and ease of playing.
    During the week, I often ask students to listen to recordings of the pieces they are working on. I want them first to get a general impression of the work. What sorts of feelings does the piece conjure up for them? Is the work similar to compositions they have heard before? 
    When listening to something in an unfamiliar style for the first time, it sometimes helps to mentally sing along and try to guess where the musical line will go next. Composers often rely on a delicate interplay between meeting a listener’s expectation and thwarting it. If music conforms to expectations too often, listeners are bored. When the opposite occurs, people are put off by the randomness and crave coherence. Careful listening and attention to your reactions as you hear a piece for the first time can help you assimilate and internalize it more quickly.
    I ask the students to find other recordings and compare and contrast them with the first one they heard. How are the performances different? What can they learn from each? Do they prefer one to the other? If so, why? 

4:00 PM 
    With the afternoon teaching finished, I launch into my second practice session of the day. I again take a few seconds to reconnect with silence, listening to the breath, imagining the most beautiful, singing tone. In this session, I may be learning notes for an upcoming solo recital or reviewing the pieces for tonight’s orchestra rehearsal. Some of this practice entails listening to recordings and studying the scores of the works I will be performing. 
    I want to know what is happening in the music and with whom I am playing at any given time. If there are solo passages, I want to know what is happening in the music immediately before and after the part I play, as well as any accompaniment. 

7:00 PM
    Orchestra rehearsal begins. The kind of listening required here is similar to the woodwind quintet rehearsal earlier in the day, but on a broader scale, and there is added visual element of the conductor. There is always a danger in orchestral playing of following a conductor’s motions too closely instead of listening carefully to the other musicians. This is always a balancing act. This evening we are rehearsing Beethoven’s First Symph-ony, a work that is already well known to almost every musician in the orchestra. As we rehearse details, I find I am listening more to my colleagues than to myself, but we must continue to listen carefully to match intonation, articulation, and balance, never forgetting the role we play at every moment. 

10:00 PM
    On the way home from rehearsal, I often turn the radio on. If I am lucky, I find a classical music program like Performance Today that is already in progress. If the work playing is unfamiliar to me, I try to figure out who the composer might be. If there is a flute solo, I try to guess who is playing based on sound, phrasing, and vibrato. I am wrong more often than not, but it is fun, and I always learn something in the process.

11:00 PM
    After a long drive home, there is silence. This is one of the most important parts of my listening day. The ears need time to reconnect with silence in order to recharge and process all the sounds of the day. After a good night’s rest, they will be ready to function at full capacity again tomorrow.

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Drawing the Flute
    This is an experiment I have tried that yields outstanding results. First, I give students a blank sheet of paper and ask them to draw the footjoint without looking at the flute. This is what one student drew. 

    Notice that she drew only the paddles and no keys. I found it interesting that she drew a flute with a B-foot because she plays a flute with a C-foot. When I asked her about the keys, she shrugged and said she did not know exactly where they should go. 
    Next, I added the keys to the drawing and asked her to color the paddle and the key that went together. Her drawing then looked like this. (The colors show which paddle goes with which key pad.) 

    Then I had her play a chromatic scale from low C to low E followed by a Db major scale watching for the slide between the Db and Eb key. In both cases her fingers moved with clarity and control. The improvement now that she had a better understanding of how things went together was obvious. 
    We moved on to the body of the flute. Before reading further, take a blank sheet of paper and draw all of the keys on the body of the flute. On the next page is a student’s drawing. Compare it to yours and to your flute.

    Notice that she drew the keys where her fingers are placed and also added the upper A. She probably added this one key because in the early lessons of the flute we enforce that in placing the fingers there is a skipped key between the left index finger and the middle finger. When I start beginners, I put a sticker on that key so students remember to skip that key when practicing on their own. 

By Twos
    Next, we looked at my flute as I demonstrated that the keys of the body of the flute operate by twos. The drawing below illustrates this.  Then as a review, we added check marks to the drawing indicating where the fingers are placed.Notice how the upper F also works with the E and D keys. 

    At this time, teachers could discuss how some manufacturers either make the lower G smaller in diameter to improve intonation or partially close the key with a plastic donut that is glued in or with a crescent that is soldered in. Explain why this is commonly called having a split E (the name for the note it affects) or perhaps the more correct split G (which is what happens in the construction). 

Trill Keys
    Without looking at your flute do you know which trill key the first paddle opens? The second paddle? Most flutists haven’t a clue. Once you know though, your intonation and quality of the tone on the trilled notes will be better. 

    Further drawings may be made of the headjoint, rods, and C# trill key. This experiment should be repeated as students become more proficient. The old adage the more you know, the better you will play certainly applies. Try this with your students and let us know how it goes. We welcome drawings and comments sent to: editor@flutetalkmagazine.com       

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Before You Start
    The first step when considering building a private studio is to determine whether you like kids. It may seem obvious, but many people teaching private lessons do not like interacting with kids and end up being miserable. If you have never spent much time with students before, now is the time.  Offer to teach sectionals with a  local school band program or give a presentation on extended techniques. Test the waters. Notice whether you are happy and having fun helping students. If you cannot see yourself doing this every day, you should find another income stream for your portfolio career. 
    You should also consider how you want to affect students’ lives through music. Everyone wants their students to have great tone, technique, and sightreading skills, but think about what else you want to offer them. What do you see as valuable in flute lessons that goes beyond the music?  Having clear goals and objectives will help you determine the best ways to achieve them.  
    Next, determine what type of teacher you want to be and what lessons with you will look like. Frequently, private teachers rely on the same books, methods, and even lesson structures that their own teachers used. Instead of coming up with their own voice and ways of teaching, many simply fall back on the old ways without even considering other options. Just because a certain book or teaching method worked for you does not mean it will work for all of your new students. Explore new ways of conveying information through games, apps, and movement. A combination of resources from the past, present, and your own innovations can elevate the level of instruction in every lesson. 
    Consider elements that you can bring into lessons to reflect your goals in teaching music. How can you teach teamwork, leadership, discipline, and manners through learning Mozart? If you have never considered including these topics in your lessons, you are not utilizing the full power of music education. 

A Teaching Philosophy
    All of these things come together in the biggest element to consider when starting a studio – your teaching philosophy. Why do you want to teach? The most passionate teachers have a solid teaching philosophy. They know why they teach, how they teach, who they teach, what they teach, and what they bring to their community by teaching. To formulate a teaching philosophy, you might start by answering these questions: 

    1. Why are you a musician? 
    2. Why do you want to teach music?  
    3. How are you going to put your philosophy into action? What goals do you have for lessons? What do you want students to get out of their music education? 
    4. What will make your teaching special? What will you do to bring your philosophy to every lesson? 

    Leonard Bernstein is a great example of an effective teacher with a solid teaching philosophy. He truly loved teaching music. When his Young People’s Concerts aired on television, his excitement and passion were contagious. He inspired and educated millions of people. His explanations of musical structures and harmonies were never dull. It was like he was letting you in on a secret or a suspenseful story. He saw music education as a way to reach people deeply and get them as excited about music as he was. He taught music because he saw it as a way to link people through their souls. His conducting skills were great, but it was his passion to reach people and bring them together through music education that made him so dynamic. 

Recruiting
    Before you can consider recruiting efforts, your teaching philosophy should be in place. While it will evolve over time, if you do not know why or how you teach, how can you expect people to flock to you to take lessons? To successfully recruit, you have to truly know why you  want to do it.  Your philosophy should reflect a balance of flute goals and non-musical aspirations. Most students and families will not know much about the flute, but they do know about leadership, community, manners, and good citizenship. 
    Utilizing your clear teaching philosophy, begin to develop materials for your studio that might include a website, email templates to band directors and other leads, and an online presence or social media page. 

Website Considerations
    When building a website, it is extremely important to remember that budding flutists and their parents do not have years of music education, so keep in mind that they most likely do not know what repertoire, finger technique, Alexander Technique, and vibrato mean. Be sure your content is easy to navigate and comprehensible. 
    Your website should emphasize your teaching philosophy throughout. Gather photos and videos of yourself with students (with permission) to demonstrate your teaching philosophy. Everything on the website should reflect your philosophy. This shows potential students you are serious about teaching and provides them with a clear understanding of what to expect in lessons with you. 
    If your website is only about you and your accomplishments, you can expect very few email inquiries. While it is important to have a great biography, it is more important to show what lessons with you are like and make the decision of which teacher to choose an easy one. When you demonstrate a solid teaching philosophy and thoroughly explain your lesson offerings, students and parents are more likely to inquire about lessons with you. When shopping for flute teachers, most parents and kids look for pictures of lessons with other students. They want to see if they can envision themselves fitting in. They are not looking for a teacher’s biography full of accolades, lists of orchestras they have played with, or dozens of professional headshots. These items are important to include on an artist’s website, but consider showcasing yourself working with students on your lesson and teaching pages. 

Creative music games such as the “Scale Pail”game help keep students interested.

Owning a Business
    Having a private studio means running your own business. This scares many musicians because they feel they do not feel qualified as business people. In truth, many of the same skills developed in your years of musical training will stand you in good stead. Musicians work in a practice room to deliver a product in a satisfactory way for lessons and performances. The same is true for private teaching. The preparation that goes into building a private studio is just as important as teaching the lessons which are like a performance. The organization and planning skills developed over a lifetime of music training also transfer to the requirements of running a business. These include keeping up with email correspondence, being on time for appointments, organizing the schedule, planning when recitals take place  (making sure they do not interfere with school holidays or youth orchestra concerts), being prepared with handouts or new music for each lesson, communicating with students and parents, and looking ahead to plan future steps. Even if you do not have an MBA, building a business is entirely achievable as a musician. 
    At the heart of building a successful private studio is knowing why you want to have this as part of your career and how you can truly make a difference. You have to take the time to figure out why you want to teach and what you hope to impart to your students. Having a private studio is so much more than creating a steady paycheck. To be a truly effective music educator, understand your special skills and figure out how you can light a passion for music in the next generation.    

Consider starting a summer camp for your studio and include fun bonding activities.

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Trading Roles
    There is an additional, common chamber music configuration in which the challenges may be still greater: the rapidly trading central role. More complex, polyphonic and imitative writing frequently takes this guise. Skill with quickly and lightly shading the tone is required to effectively address this type of writing. The purpose is to clarify the texture so that the listener’s ear is always drawn to the most important material. If handled too casually, the voices in complex writing can sound like a nursery school classroom with each child clamoring for attention.

Many Shades
    Though yielding to the other voice (shading) is a commonly practiced and rather rudimentary chamber music technique, rapid exchange of emphasis between voices, which can occur in various ways, is not so simple. Each passage has its own identity within the style and character, and shading should be applied appropriately, sometimes with great subtlety. Developing facility takes a bit of practice. Luckily, it is fun. Ask a colleague to join you in the following simple examples from the duet in E-flat major by Wilhelm Friedemann Bach (1710-1784). (Note: in my International Music Co. edition, this duet is in Volume 1, No. 3).

Basic
Mvt. 2, Adagio ma con molto, mm. 17-23

    This passage illustrates the basic technique. Players should attempt to match tone quality and vibrato, and tune carefully. In measures 18, 20, and 22, Flute 1 naturally makes a small diminuendo into beat 3, as dictated by the harmony (it is the resolution). This shading allows Flute 2 to have the solo in those measures. Vibrato on beat 3 should be minimal or excluded, and players should take care to avoid sagging pitch. Flute 2 shades in measures 19 and 21. Shading means playing a bit softer without actually changing the dynamic in most cases. Here it should be accomplished within a forte dynamic.

Faster
Mvt. 2, Adagio ma con molto, mm. 29-37

    This passage (shown at the top of the next column) from the same movement illustrates how shading technique is used according to the length, construction, and harmonic rhythm of the phrases. In measures 29-30, Flute 1 has the melody alone. In measures 31-32, Flute 2 has the primary voice, while Flute 1 is the accompaniment – but notice that the accompaniment is a moving voice. Generally, within the bar, moving notes should always briefly emerge in either voice. Flute 2 can slightly shade the dotted eighths in the melody in order for this to happen. If they are played too sostenuto, the moving line in Flute 1 will be obscured. In measures 33-34, harmonic rhythm is faster, and voices trade more rapidly. The player with the dotted eighth should shade slightly to allow the other moving voice to be heard. This can be done by placing a tiny diminuendo after the attack of the note.      You can create a space on the dotted eighth, but the phrase might sound stilted. Long notes in measures 35-36 can be de-emphasized through a softer dynamic within the diminuendo. Vibrato should be kept in check by both players throughout the passage, as it tends to cloud the texture and draw attention to itself. 

Harmony Too
Mvt. 1, Allegro, mm. 98-108

    Practice changing the rate of trading the spotlight in this passage. In measures 103-106, the rate of trading doubles with the voices alternating within each measure. Very subtle shading should occur on each dotted quarter note. In meastures 99-102 there is an interesting detail where harmony comes into play at times. Like moving notes, dissonances should generally be highlighted in the texture, as they represent a higher state of drama than consonant harmonies. 
    Each measure in this segment contains the dissonance of a second on the downbeat in the form of a chain of suspensions. If players exaggerate shading on the half notes and neglect to sustain into the tied notes, they are at risk of ignoring the dissonances. The half notes should be shaded very delicately, and perhaps a tiny crescendo applied at the moment the tie occurs, reinforcing the suspension. To complicate matters, this descending sequence should probably receive a slight overall diminuendo, which is not only appropriate to the style, but prepares the approaching crescendo in measures 101-104.

Balance
Mvt. 2, Adagio ma con molto, mm. 49-57 

    Shading is always relative to the register in which one is playing. The higher the note, the louder it is. In a manner very similar to the last example, measure 49 begins with the melody in Flute 2, who is then accompagnato in measure 51, where care must be taken regarding registers in order to balance. It is very easy for Flute 2 to be too loud. Exaggerate the piano dynamic. In measure 53 Flute 2 again has the principal voice, and Flute 1 should now alter the dynamic a bit towards forte in order to be heard playing the accompanying moving line a tenth lower, as low register notes are generally softer. In measure 55 the opposite occurs with Flute 2 having to shade for Flute 1 to emerge.

Character and Direction
Mvt. 3, Presto, mm. 7-11)

    Just as register affects shading, so do direction of line (rising or falling) and character (technical writing vs. lyrical).  In this fugal example, Flute 2 has the counter-melody in measures 7-9. Care should be taken with the 16th-note passage in measure 8 so that the virtuosity does not overwhelm the theme in Flute 1 in the low register. As the voices are crossing, balance can take care of itself; Flute 1 will become more present, and Flute 2 should weaken a bit in the descending scale and arpeggios in measure 9. Flute 2 should be aware that the last note of the flourish in measure 10 should be more present. It seems like the downbeat should be a normal unaccented resolution, but it should be immediately brought to the forefront as it is the first note of the next thematic statement.

Mvt. 3, Presto, mm. 22-24 & mm. 62-64 
    In both of these examples (shown below), care should be taken by Flute 1 to not overpower the theme in Flute 2 which is in the low register. In a contrast to the natural tendency, the accompanying ascending scale should have great energy but also a slight diminuendo to remain in balance.

mm. 22-24

mm. 62-64

Care and Share
    With determined practice these subtle balancing tricks become second nature. Once basic habits are mastered, more artistic concerns can emerge. Global aspects of general and specific phrase shape, mood, clarity of the composer’s message, and the pure joy of sharing chamber music with colleagues can receive the attention they deserve.    

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Answer: People are told from a young age that copying someone is bad, and that they should strive to be original. However, being able to imitate another player or even another instrument or sound is an important skill for musicians. I remember when I was a student at the Eastman School of Music, another student told me that her former teacher Harold Bennett, who played principal flute at the Metropolitan Opera, often used imitation during lessons. Students learning the visual arts are often directed to practice making copies of the works of old masters. Traditionally this formed a major part of their training. 
    Musical imitation hones listening skills and helps one really hear what another player is doing, whether it is listening to a teacher, a recording, or another instrument. By trying to imitate note length, intonation, tone, phrasing, nuances, and different air speeds, players learn to listen to what is truly coming out of their instruments. It is easy to listen to music without really hearing these finer details, but imitation requires paying much closer attention to them. 
    Imitation is also a valuable skill when playing in an ensemble of any size. A good orchestral second flutist listens and plays notes with the same length and style as the principal player. Even principal flutists should match the players around them, so the section creates a unified sound and style. It should not have to be pointed out that you are hanging over on a note, or playing with too much vibrato, or that you did not play the phrasing the same way as the other players in the woodwind section. Chamber music is the same, and players should be sensitive to the sounds around them and make quick adjustments. This can only happen when players are truly listening to the other musicians as well as their own sound. 
    I realized how important imitation is during a recent lesson in which I demonstrated a phrase, and then the student did not change the things that I was looking for upon playing it back to me. I realized that she did not hear the details in my playing, and therefore could not make the desired changes.      We then worked on imitation so that she could play with those changes, rather than me explaining note by note what to do. By listening and trying to imitate, you use a different part of the brain and learn to recognize non-verbal cues. 
    Another useful exercise is to imitate another instrument, such as the clarinet or violin, or the sounds of a singer. Listen to a great clarinetist and then try to copy the sound and phrasing without using vibrato. As you listen to a violinist, notice how they can change their bow speed and dynamics on a single note or bow. This is something wind players could benefit from. String players have many different bow strokes that give them hundreds of different sounds. Flutists can learn so much by hearing and imitating those sounds. 
    You could imitate nature sounds such as a bird in the woods. By listening to their sounds and rhythms, you might gain a better understanding of how to play Olivier Messiaen’s Le Merle Noir or Sergei Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf.
    Even if you want to sound just like Rampal, Galway, or Pahud, you will never sound exactly like another player. However, the exercise will improve your awareness and listening skills as well as your playing and make you a better member of any ensemble. This is an important skill that every player should spend time exploring.    

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