Intonation in Action Coming Up!

It has been forever since my last post, but I have been productive in the meantime and more will be appearing here. I’m conducting two flute choirs now and the orchestra I play in has started up again, so I’ve been trying to balance all that while not overextending myself TOO much. So, the FloridaContinue reading “Intonation in Action Coming Up!”

Intonation in Action at the Florida Flute Fair 2014

Yay! My proposal to present at the 2014 Florida Flute Fair has been accepted so I will be presenting a workshop on Intonation in Action. I will also conducting my flute choir, the Tampa Bay Flute Choir, at this year’s event, so I will be busy in January! The workshop will involve audience members inContinue reading “Intonation in Action at the Florida Flute Fair 2014”

Emmanuel Pahud plays Berio and some Bach

An excellent musician must be able to play music from many genres and styles. Emmanuel Pahud demonstrates his mastery of the flute and of one of the classics of the flute repertoire in this video of a performance of Luciano Berio’s Sequenza I for solo flute. To hear Pahud playing something more conventional, listen toContinue reading “Emmanuel Pahud plays Berio and some Bach”

Explanatory notes about Practice Diary

In the Practice Diary, I’ve made some references to exercise books that I use. In the posts I’ve referred to them using mostly commonly known abbreviations, at least for people who had experience with them, but not everyone may know what they mean, so this is a short post explaining what the are. In aContinue reading “Explanatory notes about Practice Diary”

Getting Back in Shape: Intro to My Practice Diary

It is time to get back in shape for the fall performance season! I want to maximize my results while minimizing the wear and tear on my body. Sounds like I’m getting ready to run a marathon, doesn’t it? Playing an instrument for life is like running a marathon, you practice now so you canContinue reading “Getting Back in Shape: Intro to My Practice Diary”

Music camp musings

I’m sitting in a camper near Fargo, ND listening to the sound of rain falling on the roof and on the field outside the window. I am attending my husband’s family reunion and the setting is a lot like most people’s images of summer camp. Except maybe for the whooping sounds of ‘Laughter Yoga’ driftingContinue reading “Music camp musings”

Don’t Practice Bad Tone, or Everything is a Tone Exercise

Everyone wants to play with a terrific tone, right? We spend hours on ‘tone exercises,’ contorting our embouchures, trying to wrap our heads around the concept of breath support and how to make it happen, and agonizing over whether what we are doing is having any effect. Then we finish the tone exercise portion ofContinue reading “Don’t Practice Bad Tone, or Everything is a Tone Exercise”

Practicing With Your Eyes Closed

With a title like “Practicing With Your Eyes Closed,” you may think this post is about memorization. Well it is, in a way. It’s not about memorizing pieces, it is about memorizing what you need to do to to make every note in a piece sound great. When I’m learning a piece, rather than playingContinue reading “Practicing With Your Eyes Closed”