Jennifer Cluff

Peter & Wolf fingerings

2009-07-03T11:12:00.000-07:00

Can anyone help me out with the fingerings for Peter and the Wolf flute 1 part, after rehearsal 4. The conductor is taking it like mad and I've practised it every which way and it's driving me to true bird-braindom. Thanks.

Dear fellow flutists,

Yes, I feel your pain. It is entirely unfair for Prokofiev to have written so many bird-brained figurinos for us. It's true cruelty to animals when it comes to playing these un-flutey birdcalls seven measures after rehearsal four (and oftimes at quarter = 100 to 104!! Eeeek!)

Note that you can leave down the low Db lever for this entire passage:

Also, there's a way to break down the four note flip-outs at eighth bar after rehearsal 4. Practise with these kinds of rhythms:

Finally, just after rehearsal five, this pianistic solo (obviously Prokofiev was *not* a flute player at all) is helped by use of the Bb side lever:

The Bb side lever helps you learn two things:
a) how to use the side of RH1 (the F-finger) on the Bb side lever so that the index finger's tip still remains in place over the F key.
b) how to be accurate with RH1 when playing B to Bb to G. You'll find your index-finger-Bflat or 1and1 fingering much improved after side-lever practise.

More fingering suggestions for Peter and the Wolf can be found on my webpage, and feel free to help yourself to simpler version of the Classical Symphony by Prokofiev with my piccolo re-writes from a previous blog post.
Hope this helps!
Darn that Serge for not checking with flute players before writing pianistic bird calls!! :>)
Doh! :>D
Additional flute-expert's Prokofiev fingerings welcome if you'd care to use the comment button below.

Best,
Jen

Just for Fun - Carnival of page turns

2009-06-14T01:06:00.000-07:00

Dear Fluters,
Just for fun; Denis Bouriakov in his own arrangement of Carnival of Venice for wind symphony.

Watch for windy page turns.....

...and some great flashy playing too.

Best,
Jen

Voliere or Aviary by Saint-Saens

2009-06-11T13:54:00.000-07:00

Dear Flutists,
A question came up today about learning and practising the amazing (and amazingly full of technique!) bird solo from Saint-Saen's Carnival of the Animals, movement 10. (full score in pdf here.)

I have created not only a Voliere practise method in pdf which has all the most common errata corrected, but also an mp3 for slow outline practise. I also have some useful trill fingerings here in pictures.

But first, let's hear the bird as it flutters around the aviary.

To wit (to woo!!) :>D

The above is a youtube video of Alexandra Grot playing it and even smiling at the end. (Yes, the bird lived and was even very happy with not sustaining feather damage from bashing against the bars of the aviary! :>D)

Now, for the fabulous trill fingerings that you may want to use. You can choose for yourself alternate fingerings that work for your flute, or use these two simply for rebalancing the hands.

D3 to E3 at fast tempi:
Lift LH3 & depress trill key 2.

E3 to F3 at fast tempi:
Lift LH2 & depress trill key 2. RH4 optional.

Now to the practise method.

Because the technique for this piece begins with creating effortless large interval leaps of one and two octaves, I've created a practise sheet in pdf that has the entire Voliere written out in all-slurred "outlining".

Outlining is the simplified version of a piece of music, and it allows the student to practise the main pitches of each bar for tone, and to achieve the air-speed and embouchure adjustments needed for a fabulous, ringing, clear and projecting tone quality. This is especially needed during large interval leaps.
When "outlining", the small value notes are simply left out until the student establishes balance and sureness at the embouchure. Focus on getting the air-speed and embouchure right for tone quality. Remember to always adjust the lip aperture forward for high register, and return the aperture back again for low register.
Download the practise sheets for Voliere here.

I have also included some stabilizing fingerings in the above pdf, as well as the original Saint-Saens Aviary flute part below the outline, in ossia style, for comparison.

The alternate fingerings given are for fastest tempi, although you may wish to use true fingerings at slower tempi and be equally adept at both. Always match timbre and pitch when using alternates, and keep all fingers low and light.

Please comment on the fingerings and techniques I've suggested if you're a professional reading this, and if you find any additional groovy hints to add from your own lifetime of playing this excerpt (I've performed it with full orchestra three times over the years and pros have played it alot more often than that, I'm sure.)

And for those who are just starting out learning this solo,do use this helpful mp3 of a very slow tempo for Voliere (played by midi, slowly and accurately).

You can play the outline version overtop of the midi, and gradually incorperate more and more small-value notes from the original version as you progress.

The tempo of the mp3 can also be sped up by using a program like Audacity (select all and then choose faster tempo and re-save the mp3 with a new tempo name.)

Here is the practise mp3 of Voliere.

I really and truly hope that this practise method is as useful for other flutists as I find it to be. Providing you already practise great tone, chromatic scales, smooth octave leaps, and double tonguing, you should gradually be able to apply all these techniques to this piece and play it with ringing, carrying tone (even though it's marked piano, most flutists play it mezzo in order to project.)

Please leave comments, and give further expert advice. I know alot of flutists out there have tried brashly crashing through this solo without using the most helpful possible practise methods.
I really wanted to share the technique of all-slurred outlining which in my opinion saves your delicate feathers from a hasty thrashing.
Best, Jen Cluff

"Mastery" by George Leonard

2009-06-09T11:00:00.000-07:00

Dear Flutists,

I was truly struck by the usefulness of this DEEP read by George Leonard, in his book called "Mastery".

I believe that all musicians should read it.
It's a book that's probably in your public library, or you can purchase it, or you can read several chapters online here:

Read chapters from Mastery by George Leonard online.

Enjoy and write comments/feedback.
Best,
Jen Cluff

Beginner resting flute on shoulder?

2009-06-04T13:53:00.000-07:00

Hello, I am trying to teach my daughter to hold the flute without resting it on her shoulder, she is 10 but her arms are about 3" too short to hold it properly. She starts band for the first year next school year which is in August. I want her to impress her teacher by knowing what she is doing and how to hold it properly. Is there a way to get her to hold her flute without resting it on her shoulder and having her head turned to the side? I know she is supposed to rest it on her chin and then have her thumb hold the bottom half of the flute but she has to turn her head over to her shoulder just to play it and then she ends up resting it on her shoulder instead of her chin. I can't afford lessons for her and since I know how to play I figured I can get her started but I need help with how to teach her to hold it properly and still be able to reach the keys. Thank you, C.

Jen Cluff replies: Dear C.,

I started at 11, and I too rested the flute on the left shoulder for the first few weeks. The solution is really to start with the flute's headjoint only, and then eventually graduate to adding the middle joint to the headjoint, and playing B A and G melodies. This method works far better in the longrun and is covered in a video on my previous blog on starting beginners.

Yes, it's a big problem if youngsters get into the habit of resting a 'too big' flute on the left shoulder. It causes neck strain, and as you have noticed, means that the weight of the flute is not being spread between all the balance points.

However, you may find that the youngster who really wants to play despite all obstacles (such as I was; played it every day for hours after school without any parental input at all) will quickly develop the arm muscles just enough to get the flute off the shoulder.

If you're looking for simple instructions to suggest, they might be these:

1. Stand with feet shoulder width apart and standtall with shoulders low and relaxed
2. Create as much distance as you can between shoulders and hips by making the torso tall, but leaving the shoulders down.
3. Create as much distance as you can between the shoulders and ears (shoulders stay down, head rises up as you lengthen the neck).
4. Bring the flute to YOU, don't bend to reach the flute.

But for some really tiny children, it's perhaps better to start them on a smaller instrument so that the struggle to balance a full flute is attempted gradually. Many children start on simple little fifes nowadays to give them the basics as they grow into the flute. Recorders are also useful.
The Liz Goodwin Fife Book at the $12 Yamaha Fife are both available at Fluteworld. Total cost: $25 approx.

Headjoint Games at first:

Many beginners progress really well, if they start seated cross legged and experiment with the flute headjoint only. There are plenty of "copy what I do" games for headjoint only that are really fun.
As the youngster progresses, gradually adding the middle joint of the flute to the headjoint, they can play many tunes with the "right hand on the barrel" (with the footjoint still off.) See these notes on it from my articles on teaching beginners:

Right hand on barrel:

If your beginner is 9 to 11 years old, but small for their age you may wish to begin them on a C-flute with closed holes, and an off-set G, and to suggest they leave the footjoint off the flute for the first few months, until they adjust to the size of the instrument.

If balance and strength are slow to come, it can be very helpful to learn to play with the left hand only, on the notes G, A and B, and to leave the right hand, palm facing forwards, around the barrel of the flute to steady it.
(The barrel is where the headjoint inserts into the middle section.)

Many notes are possible (chromatic and diatonic) as well as the overblowing of low, middle and high octaves. G, A, and B can later be extended to include F and E (only D doesn't work without a footjoint) and the teacher can teach footjoint-left-off as well. Using the head and middle sections only many skills and tunes can be learned in this way without undue discomfort for the smaller child.
Youtube videos showing how to play with the right-hand on the barrel

Patricia George on "right hand on the barrel"

Aligning the headjoint for a student:

Additionally, one big question one for you as the parent/flute player/observer is: Is the headjoint on correctly for your daughter's chin-shape? How is the headjoint aligned?

Unbeknownst to many parents and amateur teachers, appoximately 75 percent of flutists need to line up the far side of blowing edge with the middle of the keys. Only 25% of flutist should line up the center of the blow hole with the center of the keys.
A short pdf on "basic hold" for the flute, might be of use. It's is the one that shows how to line up the headjoint, and how to angle the flute, rather than play with it parallel to the chest
See the way that the flute is swung forward so that the head is in fact looking to the left.

Read more about this here at "Lining up your headjoint" and try it yourself, so you'll know how to be alert to the variations in human face shapes, lip shapes, chin shapes as well as hand size and finger size.

Part of the difficulty of holding any flute is that, like the violin, it's a oblique cross-body instrument. It does not cross the body like a "T", but angles across.
What works well is angling the whole body 45 degrees to the right of the music stand, whether standing or sitting, and then pushing the right thumb gently forward, so that the head and neck feel comfortable in looking to the left.
See this picture of foot placement so you can visualize the correct way to stand (double click to embiggen :>)

The above picture comes from the handout called "Top Ten Secrets of Great Flute Playing".
Along with fingering charts, and "cheap and fun beginner flute book lists", you'll likely find your youngster enjoying flute far more with both some starter lessons from an experienced teacher and for your part, with the addition of lots of flute music being played in the house (live, or on CD or mp3).

Curved headjoint:

If your child is truly small in stature, and you aren't able to learn flute teaching for beginners quickly enough, then I would contact a local teacher who specializes in young flute players, and see if they can demonstrate and/or let your daughter try a curved headjoint (or even rent one for a few months).
A good brand of beginner flute that comes with both a straight and a curved headjoint is made by Jupiter .
If a curved headjoint is hard to locate on your budget, ask around locally; flute teachers often have one to lend out for a week or two. In general, contacting a flute teacher is a good idea all around, as they may have a curved headjoint for loan, as well as be able to start the student off with several introductory flute lessons to learn how to use the curved headjoint.

Curved headjoints may be needed for a few months to a year.
Yamaha, Gemeinhardt, Armstrong, Emerson all made beginners curved headjoints at one time or other, and there are some as low as $50 online, being sold used. You can watch a youngster play one in this video on youtube. Note the curved headjoint's angle. It too needs a teacher's experience to set up properly (and be fitted and aligned.)

Learning the basics so you can teach them well:

For future use, as a parent who also plays, I could point you toward various pictures and diagrams on how to hold the flute, but they will only be of SOME help with your own youngster.

It takes time for good posture to develop, and there are several "awkward" stages that beginners go through, where expertise flute teaching is an asset.

An experienced teacher can easily get a ten year old started on the BEST flute habits for a liftime of enjoyable playing, but an amateur teacher, or one who has never taught a small child flute before may accidently teach BAD habits that can be difficult to break once they've become ingrained.

I have many helpful handouts online for parents, students and student teachers.

Basic information for people who want to teach the flute:

Collected articles for beginner flute teachers

The top ten secrets of good flute playing

General flute teaching information including "Teaching the First Flute Lesson by Mary Byrne.

Holding the flute, a basic hold

Buying a flute sized to fit the child

PURCHASE an inexpensive, unbreakable plastic fife (good for holidays at the beach)

See curved headjoint flutes for children

You may also need to train yourself, by using the public library to order one or more books on "how to teach flute"
Books on how to teach flute

Also useful:
Have a look at an 8 yr. old who's a bit of a genius, but she's holding her flute with her body facing 45 degrees to the right and only her head turned to face the front.

Video of 8 year old flute playing body position.

In summary, my best advice is:

a)buy or rent a curved headjoint (a beginner flute with both straight and curved headjoints is about $500 U.S. but you can resell it later.)

b) start with a $12 plastic fife for a month or two (like a recorder, but side-blown) so that your daughter can learn about breathing, tonguing, embouchure, and fingering without having to master the full flute until she grows larger.

and/or

c)work on headjoint only, and then move on to the headjoint plus middle joint. (I would leave the footjoint off because the weight being off makes the whole thing easier.)

Best, Jen

Embouchure, Smilin' Juttin' and Jivin'

2009-05-31T09:20:00.000-07:00

Dear subscribers,

I can't believe I have almost 180 subscribers to this blog and over 400 subscribers on youtube. How amazing!!!
Thankyou to you all! Wowza!! Thankyou readers! What a marvel!
Can't wait for your input and comments.

So, just a quick update on "smile embouchure" as a topic (and for new readers joining us, the "smile embouchure" is not recommended on flute because of the thin, airy, shrillish tone quality).

For those of you who subscribe, regarding yesterday's post on Lazzari's book and embouchure pictures, I have managed to locate a wonderfully generous Italian flute friend who provided us all with a decent translation of the Gianni Lazzari text that accompanies the embouchure pictures for my latest post; so you may want to know about it, and see the translation! :>)

Here's the new and improved drawing samples of embouchure pictures with English text describing the finer details of why smiley-embouchure tends to make the flute tone airy, spread, whistley, and in general, not a good flute tone.

If subscribers want to have a copy in pdf, please go ahead and print one from this file: Lazzari's embouchure drawings & text in pdf.

For those who missed the "smile embouchure and why it doesn't work" there's an earlier post on that here.

And, of course, if you haven't yet viewed the video, see the James Galway video that started it all here:

The related Cluff blog post with video on jaw use is linked here too for those readers who may just be joining us:

And, there's my own video on jaw jutting from a post several days ago as well, of course.

Comments and more detail from teachers and players are welcome!

Best, and hope this catches us all up with new and useful information for flute students and their developing embouchures.

Jen :>)

Il flauto traverso by Gianni Lazzari

2009-05-30T09:33:00.000-07:00

Dear Flutists,
A book published in 2003 by Gianni Lazzari (in Italian language only at this time) has come to my attention. I was able to find some of its text online at googlebooks. What marvellously helpful drawings!!

Lip pictures can be of help in locating the embouchure muscle use in flute students. I draw embouchure "reminders" such as these on my student's sheetmusic and notebooks constantly during lessons.

A friend from Italy translated the accompaning text for me (thankyou!)for the above jpeg and I have also created a pdf that shows the text that goes with each picture, for printing out, if you'd like a copy. It is the same as above, but BIGGER. :>)

Lazzari has mentioned the "smile" embouchure and, of course, the limitations of it. But these pictures show WHY it wastes too much air, giving often a breathy, airy tone that so many students complain of. More on this topic in future, and please do leave comments. Pictures of this kind are welcome too, if any flute teachers out there would like to send them to me. :>)
Fabulously interesting!

I dearly hope this book is translated for English readers soon!
Fabulous!

Jen :>)

Jaw motion for flute - Is your jaw jutting too much?

2009-05-25T14:36:00.000-07:00

Dear Fluteplayers,

One of my readers wrote to me regarding jaw use. If your flute teacher is telling you to "move your jaw forward and back" and yet you're reading articles, books and blogs by flutists who warn about excessive jaw motion it can be confusing.

I'll refer you first to part 1 of 3, of Walfrid Kujala's "Jaw Boning" article.

Walfrid Kujala and other flute teachers have written about how to use the jaw for dynamics, tone colours, intonation and for reliable and fast 'interval leaping'. These are all embouchure methods that combine abdominal air support and the angles afforded by a slight opening and closing of the lip aperture in a vertical manner. This is the opposite of sliding your jaw forward or "jutting" it forward and back to play the flute.

So to further elucidate with the miracle of web-cammery, I had fun today, making a quick video on flutist's jaw use to explain the basics of easy jaw motion:

For background reading on this topic, you can have a look through these previous blog posts, which have plenty more supporting articles and explanations of jaw related flute skills:

1. The Flute & the Jaw Bone

2. Why the smile embouchure doesn't work well on flute.

For good quotes by Michel Debost in "The Simple Flute" and from Thomas Nyfengers delightfully informative book "Music and the Flute" read on:

Thomas Nyfenger on Embouchure & jaw:

" If the lips are cushioned forward, we must learn to use and control the position of the upper lip which, for many flutists, [unfortunately] just hangs like a piece of dead liver while the lower jaw and lip dance around [excessively]."

"The jaw can move up and down but it moves slowly, and in the process also changes the angle of the airstream as it moves up-forward and down-back. Thus the constructive bug in the mandibular joints, coupled with the effort to compensate for the unwanted motion (at least in flute playing, a more foreign act to the body than chewing) create another in a series of potential isometric [tensions].

To understand this problem, let us discuss the muscles involved in opening and closing the aperture in the lips. First, the ability to raise and lower the upper lip independent of the muscles at the corners of the mouth, and likewise to move the lower lip without "jawing", is essential to efficient, rapid, and smooth [legato during large] intervals.

If you have ever observed an alligator wrestler doing his thing, you will notice that the essential defensive maneuvers consist of holding the beast's jaws closed....This is becuase the wrestler knows that the extreme weakness of the jaw-opening muscles are in no way reflected in the immense power of the closing apparatus. We too are better equipped for closing, tightening, gripping with the embouchure than for opening it."

"I often prescribe exercises requiring a minimum of jaw motion while changing octaves so to increase the student's awareness of this mechanism (of using the muscles around the lips such as those used for sneering, pouting, pushed forward and back, in order to find the senstive area inside the lips, in order to control the size and angle of the airstream).

Later, I add an explanation of how both the jaw and lips can move in any combination to acheive the desired results....My principal contribution in this area is the potential development of the opening and closing muscles, allowing a freedom of movement which can then be employed in conjunction with other means."

Michel Debost on "Jawboning":

"By jawboning, I mean constant change in the angle of the airflow into the embouchure (hole). Playing intervals of more than a third (for example changing from the lower to the mid-range), they seem to need a different thrust of the chin and/or an alteration of the shape of the lip aperture.

My contention is that this practice is neither logical nor totally reliable......in a slow chromatic scale from mid range to low register there is no perceptible lip or chin movement.

Jawboning [has a few small] advantages. It is useful for correcting intonation and in tapering off some long note diminuendos.

It quickly becomes a mannerism if used constantly.

Ninety-five percent of [large legato] intervals in our repertoire are under the octave. These require the involvement of the the whole body, not just the mouth and chin."

Hope this brings out some comments from my readers!!
Use the comment button below.
Best, Jen :>)

Documentary - Trout Quintet - Watching Musicians at Work

2009-05-24T09:45:00.001-07:00

Dear Readers,
Just a quick note to subscribers: the format of your subscription has been changed so all links are clickable at my blog. So links (blue & clickable) will be at the JenCluff blog host site from now on. Thanks.

The Trout Quintet is a documentary showing five great musicians performing chamber music together. Wonderful to watch how they emote, work together, listen and perform. Okay, I know, there are no flute players in "The Trout", but we can learn so much by watching and listening to precision chamber music played with heart.

"The Trout" documentary:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Enjoy (as Jacqueline Du Pres is one of my all time favourites; check out her smiling at other players! :>)
Best, Jen

The Smile Embouchure & why it doesn't work

2009-05-21T15:51:00.000-07:00

Why is the smile embouchure not a good thing for flute players?

This came up as a topic for discussion on one of my flute groups, and I had a great time trying to explain my "take" on it.

I put everything I knew about "Why isn't it a good idea to smile to form a flute embouchure?" here in this pdf article.

Please read the above pdf and then comment below.
Here are some reference links too:

The great book: The Illustrated fluteplayer from which comes this useful 'THIS IS THE RIGHT WAY' picture:

Also see: Nancy Toff's "The Flute Book" (free online preview here) on the embouchure instructions of Taffanel, Gaubert, Moyse and others in their books. (all agree with the ideas presented here.)

Also see: Walfrid Kujala's three part "Jaw Boning" article from 1987 (search University library periodicals or contact Flutetalk magazine).

Also see: A previous Cluff-blog reference to the Kujala "how to" article concerning the jaw and flute dynamics.

Galway video on a headjoint exercise to stop that oh so smiley embouchure :>)

Nyfenger's Music and the Flute book where he explains the jaw is configured to bite, chew and speak, and how to avoid jutting the lower jaw forward which is its weakest position.

Please comment using the button below.
Best, Jen :>)

Lorna McGhee teaching in a recent flute masterclass

2009-05-18T09:28:00.000-07:00

Topics to discuss: What is University level flute playing & what do you learn in University?
What is a masterclass?

Firstly do enjoy listening and watching Lorna McGhee teach the Frank Martin Ballade:

Part 1 McGhee masterclass

Part 2 McGhee masterclass

Part 3 McGhee masterclass - Martin Ballade

Now for answering two frequent freshman questions:

Every September I meet incoming College and University level flutists who commonly wish to know about two things:

1. What level of flute playing is considered "University level?"

University level flute performance majors typically play high quality grade 9 and 10 RCM flute repertoire. An example of 'A.R.C.T'(equivalent to grade "11" Royal Conservatory of Music) level is the Frank Martin Ballade which is shown in the above Lorna McGhee masterclass videos.

If you are not yet familiar with the repertoire lists typical for grade 9 and 10 Royal Conservatory you may wish to begin to work up to them, learning the technique of the flute, as well as several grade 9 pieces prior to University entrance with the help of your private teacher.

Articles for University students at this level of playing are here.
College prep. advice for flutists is here.

If you are not yet at the grade 9 or 10 level, you will of course want to do daily, very focused practise sessions on tone, technique (scales/arpeggios) and work on the grade 6 to 8 repertoire with your private teacher.

Students wishing to become education majors in order to become Band Teachers should be able to play at a grade 8/9 standard on their primary instrument prior to University entrance.

Typical grade 8 RCM repertoire would be:
Gaubert's Madrigal, Barber's Canzone, the G minor or Eb major (easier) J.S.Bach Sonatas, Ravel Piece en forme de Habanera, Pergolesi G Major Concerto, Tartini Concerto in G Major.

If you do not yet have a private flute teacher , (as I often greet several highschool band students each fall who mistakenly have not had private lessons but wish to continue on in University for a music education or music performance degree) you should find a private teacher; information is here.

If you've had no private lessons at all, then you may need a year or two of private lessons prior to entering University music performance courses, and you'll need to clear your schedule to practise up to 2-3 hours a day (in short sessions with several breaks.)

Trying to perform at a high qualityUniversity level with no prior private lessons can create an enormous daily time scheduling problem, as you will need to practise the flute (tone, scales, vibrato, tonguing, dynamics, tuning, etudes, exercises etc.) from 2-4 hours per day while completing a large amount of other musical course work. This can be quite a work load for those who've never studied their instrument privately before, so if you are serious about being successful in your post secondary education, you may need a year or two of prep. prior to commencing a Performance degree. You can always enroll as a part-time University student and take an Arts course, music theory or music history course as well during that prep. time. Part-time jobs that help save for University area also a good idea during prepatory years.

The flute student's level of flute playing seen in the video of Lorna McGhee's masterclass at the Portland Flute Festival above, would be A.R.C.T. (or grade "11 RCM"), and would be typical of a recent graduate from a four year Bachelor of Music in Performance. Another complete performance of the entire Martin Ballade is here.
This is the level toward which University flutists are working during their four-five years at school.

2. "What is a masterclass?"

Flute students arriving at University without previous exposure to flute recitals, competitions and masterclasses may be curious to know "what is a masterclass?"
A masterclass features a visiting "master" of the instrument who assists each participant to discover the best musical methods to polish a pre-prepared solo flute work.
The student prepares to perform the entire work (with piano), and may be stopped at any point to work on improvements to their playing.
The visiting master, such as McGhee in this case with her INCREDIBLE TONE COLOURS, assists the student as much as possible in the time alloted.
Usually 4-6 flutists perform in a masterclass each receiving 15-30 minutes of expert help with their prepared pieces.

More flute articles to help incoming highschool flute majors are here, on all topics that you'll need to know about before performing at the University level.

Best and comments welcome (especially about Lorna McGhee's wonderful tone colours and teaching!)

Jen

L'Apres Midi with Lorna McGhee & London Symphony

2009-05-14T18:17:00.000-07:00

Oh happy days! A chance to watch one of my favourite flutists, Lorna McGhee, playing the opening solo of Debussy's L'Apres Midi d'une Faune on video:

Enjoy! Best, Jen

How soon to introduce singing while playing?

2009-05-12T13:13:00.000-07:00

Dear Blog readers,
Here's an interesting conversation which all the flute teachers out there might want to give their input on. In my own teaching, I introduce singing while playing in private lessons, not in band class sectionals or large group learning situations, but I'd like to hear from others on this. My feeling is that in a group setting there are other more profitable topics to be covered such as seating, posture, breathing, tuning, fingerings, and general basic techniques of flute playing. But read on....

Hi, Jen
I love your website and had a question for you. At what age would you introduce singing and playing? I will be working with a group of 7th and 8th grade flutists and don’t know if this would be an appropriate age group to introduce this concept to for the purpose of tone development.
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Jen replies:
I have a colleague in Norway who introduces extended techniques (in easy-to-manage small amounts) as early as 2 years of playing.
Personally, I only teach singing and playing in the 3rd year of private lessons to those who are at least 14.
It depends, of course, on the student.
Go ahead and see what results you get for tone and throat openness etc.
Best,
Jen
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Thank you. I would also like to list your website as a great flute resource for them to check out. I just didn’t know if there were any health-related issues with singing and playing at a young age.
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Jen replies:
Sure, you can list my website.

As for "health related" issues.

The only thing that Robert Dick warns against in his book "Tone Development through Interpretation" is that if people try and sing too loudly, or forcingly, they hurt their throats, and don't get the desired tone improvements, or open-throat improvements.

Personally, I would myself think that grade 7 and 8 students are too young for this to be that effective, especially in a group setting.

I would use Robert Dick's book with them if I were going to attempt it.

There are so many other things that they don't yet know that you could teach them instead:

- cork placement - how to check, how to leave the crown alone (don't keep twirling it)

- headjoint placement - how to know where to line up your headjoint for your own ergonomics

- playing in tune; how to know if you're flat or sharp, and which way to pull out or push in the headjoint to get octaves in tune by overblowing etc. etc.

Many of these things are covered in my teacher's handouts.

http://www.jennifercluff.com/teach.htm

http://www.jennifercluff.com/secretsbw.pdf

http://www.jennifercluff.com/misfingering.pdf

The Norway teacher's ex-tech stuff for beginners is here:

http://www.fluteped.com/Dean/articles.htm

http://www.fluteped.com/Dean/Music/music.htm

Best,
Jen

Slashes through note stems?

2009-05-10T18:38:00.001-07:00

There are many abbreviations in printed music which have been used over the past 1-3 centuries to make hand-written music faster to copy out, use less ink, and allow some music to be abbreviated for ease of page turns and the like.

One of the abbreviations that often confuses the student, when it pops up unexpectedly in older printed music, is the symbol that looks like slashes through the note stems.
These slashes represent a short-hand method of indicating dividing the written pitch into repeated eighth notes, sixteenths or even 32nd notes; all played on the same pitch.

One slash through a stem means for you to divide that note value into two. Two slashes through a note stem mean to divide that note value into four. Three slashes mean to divide that note value into eight.
This picture is taken from the excellent flute method book by Alfred Brooke:

A full page pdf version of the above page from the Brooke Method for flute is here in PDF, and shows further practise samples of these note division abbreviations. The PDF version is easier to view and read.

As you will see slashes through note stems and/or dots shown above the note head indicate the same principle: Divide the note into as many repetitions as there are dots (two dots = divide in two; four dots = divide in four.)

It's interesting to note that this slash-through-stem abbreviation was a little difficult to locate in this otherwise very complete music symbol page from Dolmetsch music history, theory and music dictionary online, which is otherwise an excellent resource.
I finally located the same slash-stems explanations as found in the Brooke Flute Method on the Dolmetsch site here.

Hope this helps,

Best,
Jen

Best right thumb position on the flute?

2009-05-08T10:37:00.001-07:00

Question:
What is the best possible right thumb position on the flute?

Answer:
After teaching for over twenty years, I firmly believe there is no single "best place" for the thumb, as every flute player has completely different hand shapes and finger/palm lengths.
There is the possibility of having different lengths of :
- fingers
- thumb
- palm
- distance of placement of thumb joint on palm.

Therefore, there are multiple possible placements for the right thumb depending on the above factors. Indeed, some players play on the tip of the thumb, side of the thumb, with thumb pointing up the body toward the headjoint, with thumb bent backwards into a J-shape, etc. etc. All thumb positions in players who play for more than four hours a day are in fact reached by the hand adapting over time to faster and faster technique. So be willing to accept that the thumb position will adapt over time as well.

To start out: the easiest way to find your natural hand position is to follow Patricia George's advice about placing the three fingers of the Right Hand PRIOR to placing the thumb.:

1. Place slightly curved fingers on the right hand (F, E, and D) keys, but leave the thumb *off* the flute. Notice where the thumb might meet the body of the tube if these three fingers are comfortable, natural, and in the best position for rapid movement.

2. Place flute into playing position ( continue to leave thumb off the flute)

3. Observe the right wrist to be sure it is not cocked backward (see www.jennifercluff.com/lineup.htm for more details). You need the right arm to be as natural as possible; as if picking up a book on a mantlepiece or lying sideways on a shelf at shoulder-height.

4. Now lightly place the thumb where it naturally lands on the flute body given 1-3 above. (those with large hands may place it on the back of the flute, those with small hands may find they place it under the flute. However short fingers on large hands, or long fingers on small hands will alter these outcomes.)

5. Lastly move footjoint to a position so Eb key is under a slightly curved pinky.
See footjoint article: http://www.jennifercluff.com/footturn.pdf

Again, hands vary tremendously between flute players. The spectrum is enormous.

Watch this video at minute 4:30 for a visual demonstration:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7j1lY8rjeHc

Ideally the thumb should be placed so that the fulcrum of the finger motion in the right hand is easy and natural as shown in the attached illustration from Michel Debost's book "The Simple Flute".

For a short time this Debost picture (a very good one indeed) is viewable here:

But owning the Debost book "The Simple Flute from A to Z" is a good investment, and will help solve countless problems, and answer many many questions.

Best, and happy experimenting.

Jen Cluff

Memorization, Metronome Tricks & Practice Tips

2009-04-07T13:27:00.001-07:00

Dear Flutists,

Memorizing music, using the metronome and practice tips, all very good.
See: Zara Lawlor's new blog:

www.thepracticenotebook.com

Great tips for students!

Two Stages of Practice

How I Memorize

Metronome Trick No. 1

Best,
Jen

Prokofiev Classical re-write for flute & piccolo

2009-04-03T17:40:00.000-07:00

Do any of our flutists have advice about playing the fourth movement of the Classical Symphony by Prokofiev?
I'm an amateur flute player, doctor by trade, and have only a few weeks to master the difficult passage work in the fourth mvmt. for a concert given by our Community Orchestra.
The tempo is about half=200 and I find the runs to high D very tricky as well as the famous eighth note passages traded with second flute.
Not having a great deal of time to practise is a problem.
Are there any fingerings or last minute "tricks" anyone can suggest?
Thanks so much.

Jen replies:

Here you go for free! Happy Spring!
4th mvmt re-written flute parts with practise sheet:
4thprokflute.pdf

Both piccolo flute-switching 4th mvmt parts and score:
4thprokofievpicc.pdf

The passages you're describing from Classical Symphony by Prokofiev have been some of the WORST and least playable
ever written for flute in my humble opinion. Normal amounts of practising alone seems to be never enough for these tangled cross-fingered behemoths. :>)
I've asked around and flute professionals usually advise that
they only play them after months of work, Alternate fingerings *do* play a large role too.

The gnarlier passages have fingerings of all sorts, and those that work best for me are in the Baxtresser Orchestral
Excerpts book. Some of the best alternate Prokofiev fingerings are here on my webpage.
If you have less than three weeks, you'll likely need "tricks" and"fake outs" for sure. :>)

There has also been much discussion over the years on the flute discussion groups about playing piccolo on the flute parts, in order to "for once and for all" get the passage up to high D4 audibly clean rather than a living nightmare for every flutist
who must play it. (ha ha! :>)
I'm an advocate for both players to play picc throughout the fourth mvmt. wherever possible.
I believe that if Prokofiev would have heard piccolos on this while he lived he would have approved.
Using flute means even excellent orchestras sound as if the flutists are screaming for help, rather than playing pianissimo and piano as indicated by Prokofiev.

Also, much discussed in the past, the eighth note patterns that are exchanged between flute 1 and 2 (high Es and Gs at high speeds) have been the subject of debate whether they can be tactically re-written to make both flute parts easier.
I've tried several re-writes myself and you may have them for free.
They sound just as the composer intended.
But without the pain of practising them for sixteen weeks and then having them become an inaudible blur of nighmarish bizarrity. :>)

It is my hope that all flutists will start to use these rewrites, which will mean that these Prokofiev Classical Symphony flute excerpts will no longer be required in orchestral auditions simply because they're well nigh impossible. (We secretly suspect they are on auditions to eliminate 95% of less qualified applicants....eeek!) and instead other excerpts will take their place that show musicality and sensibility.

So cheers to all, and send feedback.

Here are the piccolo doubling parts written out for the fourth movement in PDF.

Here are the flute parts re-written to make the eighth note patterns much much much easier (if you're using flute and not piccolo).

If anyone needs the original flute parts and/or score in pdf, they are free online here.

Best,
Jen

Bouriakov plays Mendelssohn Violin Concerto E Minor

2009-03-23T15:32:00.001-07:00

Dear Flutey dudes,

Oh my tiny gosh.
Please witness this: Bouriakov playing Mendelssohn, 3rd mvmt.

Doesn't this just inspire you to get practising??
Here's the sheetmusic for violin.
Just feel free to transpose octaves like the pan-like Denis does....hahahhaa...no problemo! :>P Eeek.
Best, and enjoy,
Jen

Stagefright Cures - reimaging the outcome

2009-03-12T14:50:00.000-07:00

Dear Musicians,
It's not often that I post on science topics, but the mind-expanding ideas available at Ted Talks are too good to miss!

I think all musicians and artists can really benefit from combining ideas from other sciences and arts. Today I'm combining the idea of stagefright with the idea of using your neurotransmitters well.
Read on:

As music teachers and performers, we're often asked about dealing with stagefright.

One of the simplest methods of overcoming natural stagefright is by imaging a performance as a "happy" one, instead of one of "I'm being judged on my entire life and talent and I'm probably going to only display my weaknesses." If you image your performance as a chance to unite the emotions and optimism of every listener, and to fill the hall with light and love, your mission is less about being judged, and more about sharing the joy.

That's why in answering questions about stagefright, I always recommend the book The Performer Prepares by Caldwell, as he leads you to discover your own creative visualizations of an enriching and happy performance, and then to project them during that upcoming performance.

Well this topic is approached by people who are studying "Happiness design" and even human-brain-science and is aptly explained by Don Norman on a recent Ted Talks video.

Norman says that when you are fearful and anxious the brain focuses intensely,in order to accurately complete a project on time. But when you're happy and optimistic, you're very much more sensitive, creative and enchanted about the outcome, and you come up with new ways of creating solutions.
So as performers, I would think, we need just a little fear to keep us organized and on target, but we also need a whole lot MORE of the happiness dopamine chemicals to allow us to be open to change and to allow fresh creative bursts of insight.

This fine balance ties in very much with some of the issues that face orchestral musicians in a work environment that may make them fearful, that I discussed with Michael Goode on Fluteloops Radio Show.
What Goode and I spoke about has to do with allowing optimism and safety in creativity for performers, so that there is no antiquated system of domination (like cruel critical colleagues playing the one-up-manship game) over the creative spark that keeps us loving and giving onstage.

So do please go ahead and listen to the great ideas at Ted Talks, and feel free to generate your own, and use the comment button (below) to add your own insights.

Also, while I was there at Ted.com I really enjoyed the optimism of the latest Al Gore climate change video as well.

I think that if we ever break free of the limitations that musicians have perhaps bought into through the old competition system, we could finally begin to help.
Musicians and artists could help by uniting the vision and emotions of the people who vote for changing our world.
By spreading our creativity and sense of unity, perhaps we could actually help the scientific community to integrate their discoveries into the present world. The audience just has to know to VOTE for it. :>)

Here's for optimism and happiness,
Jen :>)

Paula Robison Vivaldi & Godard films from 1978

2009-03-09T22:28:00.001-07:00

A wonderful rendition of the slow mvmt. from Vivaldi's "Goldfinch" or "Il Gardellino".
Recorded in 1978 with Paula Robison solo flute:

The Godard Valse is also quite amazing (good breath marks):

Shoulder motions a bit tense, but lovely full sound and incredible fleetness. Love the Vivaldi especially for the ornaments and tenderness. Enjoy!

Best,
Jen

over-working your practising? Try Underwood....

2009-03-01T23:39:00.001-08:00

Today in my blog search box I found the following search terms that someone was looking for answers to on March 1st.
Mind you I don't know who it was who was searching, so I have to guess what exactly they might be looking for.
The words were:
fatigue,split registers, over practice, tired (Sun. Mar 01 2009)

So a few quick words on what I presume is the topic:

If you are generally over-tired, because of stress, or sleep-depriving brutal self-scheduling, then you may just have to make some priority changes in your life. I can't advise you in that.

Proper sleep, good food, fresh air, vitamins, good attitude, healthy goals, these are all topics I cover in articles about avoiding musician's injuries.

However,on the other hand, if you are simply over-tired because you practise the flute at night, after a long day at your regular job, all instrumentalists will commisserate.
Perhaps a refreshing walk, exercise, shower/bath, or meditation may help. Good luck. Working and practising together in one day are a tricky combo.

If you are over-tired or fatigued because you're killing yourself practising 8 or 9 hours a day, slow down. You won't necessarily HELP your musical self by over-doing it. You may wish to read:
"The Inner Game of Tennis" by Gallwey or
"To Hear Ourselves as Others Hear Us" by Boyk or
"Practicing for Artistic Success" by Kaplan.
Each of these books (linked from this page on my site) is about how to do less hours but allow a much higher quality of music to take place in the time spent.
You might also be interested in the books of Abby Whiteside who invented the brilliant practise method called "outlining".
Every musician should know about these time-saving methods of improving in the least amount of time.

If the fatigue or over-practising is being caused, you think, by some flute related problem such as "flabby embouchure", "splitting octaves", "lack of breath", or "poor tone", "poor articulation" or other sound production difficulty, then I also have a truly nifty solution to offer:

The teachings of Keith Underwood.

Please check these brilliant methods out and trust me, they work instantly. You simply must try them!!

Watch the Keith Underwood (brilliant!) videos at these links:

Benefits of Buzzing:

Buzzing 101: "how to buzz"

Tongue controlled embouchure and support.

You will achieve so much more than you ever dreamed possible with these techniques. And there are even more "free classes with Underwood" in these interview videos.

Fatigue be gone!! :>)
Ease of play becomes fabulouso!!

Hope this helps.

Best,
Jen

How to repair a flute

2009-02-27T12:02:00.000-08:00

Dear Flutists and teachers,

From time to time on our flute discussion groups we receive requests from well-meaning do-it-yourselfers about repairing old "found in closet" flutes.

Well, finally, there's a resource online which shows exactly how this is done.

By looking at this 6.5 MB pdf manual, you can clearly see.....

...er....um......(ahem)

.....that there's no way in fluteland that you'd ever want to try and repair your own flute!!!

It takes so many years of experience, so much training, and so many specialized tools that only a crazy person would even attempt to take a tiny screwdriver to one of the tiny screws.

You would seriously have to have a tiny screw loose.
I'm serious!!

ahhahahaha! :>D
(I'm laughing but I'm serious!)

So help yourself to a free download of this manual with its incredible pictures of everything, and just say NO to trying it at home. :>)

Then pick up a phone and find the most experienced flute technician in your area, and let them do the work for you.
It will take mere minutes instead of horrible decades, and you will actually be able to play the flute very very easily when you get it back from the repair shop.

Enjoy the pictures in the manual though.
I don't know how much longer the manual will be online for free.

Best,
Jen

Can you buy a good quality pink flute?

2009-02-25T22:41:00.000-08:00

Dear Readers,
This email came today:

I am interested in purchasing a good quality flute that will last me a long time, however, I would also like it to be pink. The flutes I am finding on the internet so far seem to be lower quality. Do you know of a place I can get a high qualilty pink flute, or is there a way I can have a regular silver flute lacquered to that colour?
I'm sorry to bother you with such a silly question, but I am very interested in this, and the internet has not been very helpful thus-far! Thanks for your time.

You may wonder, dear flutey reader, how you might respond if you received this email. If you're the kind of flute teacher who tries to help everyone, you might even have tried to say something like this:

Dear....
As a flute teacher and performer who has played for 35 years, I firmly believe that playing the flute is about the SOUND of the flute, and the quality of its workmanship, so that it lasts and works well.
What the flute looks like is way down on my list.
The idea of colouring or laquering a flute for aesthetic purposes is the opposite of almost everything I know about the instrument.
That's perhaps why no proper manufacturer ever does so.

I wonder if you're asking about a pink flute because you have a young person in your life who loves everything to be pink?

If this is the case, you can buy a pink case cover or make a pink flute case cover and/or simply tie a pink bow on the crown of the flute.

I recommend these brands of flutes as durable and decent quality.
Let me know if this helps.

hahhahaa!!
By venting and yet solving the query creatively in this way on my blog, I have created a google-able pink flute hit that will save the next mom shopping for her child's eighth birthday. :>)

Best, Jen

Thumbport left hand index finger support

2009-02-21T19:59:00.001-08:00

Dear fluters,
This is *so* interesting. The "Thumbport" people have created a new kind of left hand index finger support.

This looks like a different version of a left hand "bo-pep".
If anyone reading this blog has tried one, send your reviews.
Are there improvements over the standard LH Bo-pep?

I'm still using pencil grips stuck on with blue-tac.
hahhahaaa!

Send feedback on this new LH support dudes.

Best, Jen :>)

Can flute scales be more interesting to work on?

2009-02-21T12:33:00.001-08:00

Dear Flutists,

I have several VERY creative flute students in my studio, and inevitably the kind of questions these very smart and orginal people ask are:

"Can you tell me how to make my flute scale practice (or learning of scales) more interesting? I'm not particularly good at discipline, but I know I have to improve my technique."

Well for these fabulous students, who like me perhaps, are not into discipline, but are into improving while remaining open-minded, creative, free and fascinated, I have updated my scale "how to" scale page for flutists. Do have a look.

The new and improved flute scale collection of links and ideas is here.

I'd love it if other students and teachers would comment on what tricks and creative ideas they have for flute scales too. Use the comment button, and send feedback. :>)

Best,
Jen