My pity party

Greg The Pianotuner · Post by **Greg The Pianotuner** » Sat Sep 22, 2007 7:46 am

Diane,

I'm a middle school music teacher and many adults I meet who begin studies on an instrument bring "kids' expectations" into the mix- they think about forced practice, weekly lessons, recitals, pressure to perform in a group, etc.

Few of us on this site will ever earn a nickel playing the flute.

So, what's left is the best- go sit under a tree on a nice day and play your flute for your dog. That's what I do. (and your clips sound fine to me)

matahari_1946 · Post by **matahari_1946** » Sat Sep 22, 2007 8:18 am

I often feel like this. I'm glad to read it's not just me!

Sometimes it will take me a good 30 minutes of playing just to get my embouchure going to get a decent sound out of the thing. Someone said earlier that sometimes it's better to play for 30 minutes a day than trying to cram a long practice session into one day. I think it's true! If I'm having a hard time and getting too frustrated I'll just put the flute down, go do something else and then come back to it later, maybe not until the next day or a couple days later.

Don't be discouraged and keep plugging along, you'll come out of it!

~Tiff

sbfluter · Post by **sbfluter** » Sat Sep 22, 2007 8:24 am

Thank you for pitying me. I know if I keep at it I will improve. I was just having a bad day. You know how it is. You are doing so well and then all of a sudden it's like, "how do you play this thing again?"

I have such a hard time going from A or B to C and every tune has a little section that if I ever flubbed it up in the past and learned to master it, if I don't play the tune for a while and come back to it, it's the flubbed up part I remember, not the mastery.

I should record new clips as those are getting old. I know I am better than that now. Most of those are within a couple of months of starting. I'm a couple more months down the line now. I guess I've had my flute since May. (I use Garage Band and record into my laptop directly, then use iTunes to convert them to mp3.)

I use Fliuit and a Fiddle book by Matt Cranitch to learn. The Fliuit book has been invaluable for seeing where to breathe and how to do ornaments. Matt's book has a lot of good, fun, bouncy tunes in it, but fiddlers never take a breath!

eilam · Post by **eilam** » Sat Sep 22, 2007 8:32 am

I've heard both, Tiff' and Diane play, both really impressed me - so there !!!!!

now......... lets drop the hair talk, please

matahari_1946 · Post by **matahari_1946** » Sat Sep 22, 2007 9:29 am

eilam wrote:I've heard both, Tiff' and Diane play, both really impressed me - so there !!!!!

now......... lets drop the hair talk, please

Awwww, Eilam . . . . . .

I didn't write one word about hair.

eilam · Post by **eilam** » Sat Sep 22, 2007 9:45 am

yahh Tiff', but i know what goes on in your head, so stop thinking hair

hey ! i was at a session in Denver, and started playing Tam-lin in D, and everyone just shook their heads, it was so funny, i should have told them i learned it from you

pipersgrip · Post by **pipersgrip** » Sat Sep 22, 2007 9:53 am

how did your flute crack?

sbfluter · Post by **sbfluter** » Sat Sep 22, 2007 1:24 pm

The Whistle Collector wrote:how did your flute crack?

I put my flute on a small table that's about 3.5 feet high and while I was admonishing my naughty cockatoo the flute rolled off and landed smack like a belly-flop onto our ceramic tile floor. Whack. Crack. It's been fixed, but it'll never again be a pristine perfect flute.

I should shave all my hair off. My hair is very long and fine and goes down to my waist.

I get hair in my food, hair in my eyes, hair tangled in my tooth brush. I can't go outside without a hat to keep it from flying all around. There are wads of it clogging the drain and winding around the brushes of the vacuum cleaner. All my wool socks attract the hair and it forms little pills that cling to them. It's nasty stuff.

You are better off bald. If only I could be bald and still be pretty I would. Long hair uses gravity to straighten out the dents of hat- and helmet-hair. So that's the closest I've been able to get to carefree hair.

Hair. Who needs it?

Aanvil · Post by **Aanvil** » Sat Sep 22, 2007 1:34 pm

Suck it up soldier and walk it off.

You've picked to challenge yourself and no challenge is without hardwork.

Pick that flute and play it and stop your crying.

Show that flute who is the boss.

Now drop and give me 20...

tunes.

Aanvil, pittyless flute gunny, Aanvil

sbfluter · Post by **sbfluter** » Sat Sep 22, 2007 2:09 pm

Yes, sir! But first I should put on my "nobody ever drowned in sweat" t-shirt.

Cork · Post by **Cork** » Sat Sep 22, 2007 2:48 pm

sbfluter wrote:...My hair is very long and fine and goes down to my waist...

Well, my hair is also very long, and straight, and, I can just tuck it into the back of my pants. Your comment about excess hair all over the place, moreover, is all too familiar.

During the day, I keep mine tied up, as it makes life easier.

;-)

Jon C. · Post by **Jon C.** » Sun Sep 23, 2007 8:15 pm

Hi Diane,
Maybe this would be a better flute to try?

Wormdiet · Post by **Wormdiet** » Sun Sep 23, 2007 8:22 pm

daiv wrote: the fun thing is when you listen to music you used to think was boring it can often be very thrilling (like mike rafferty or mary macnamara). i dont very much enjoy it when i listen to a recording i used to love and find that now my ear thinks its just a bunch of noise without any soul.

Too true!

Mike R. is the King of stealthy/amazing flute playing.

anniemcu · Post by **anniemcu** » Sun Sep 23, 2007 10:55 pm

"It is always darkest just before the dawn"... holds true for so many things... don't give up... keep practicing, it will get better.

That said, it is sometimes a good idea to take a short period off. Maybe give yourself a short break, then listen to the recordings that most make you want to play. You may find new inspiration and notice things you didn't before, and find that you really do play better than you did not so very long ago. If you family and friends are saying there is improvement, then there probably is.

Gabriel · Post by **Gabriel** » Mon Sep 24, 2007 8:50 am

anniemcu wrote:That said, it is sometimes a good idea to take a short period off. Maybe give yourself a short break, then listen to the recordings that most make you want to play. You may find new inspiration and notice things you didn't before, and find that you really do play better than you did not so very long ago.

That's a very good advice. I notice the same even after a weekend without my flute, and everytime it happens I say to myself "boy, you're not that bad at all".

Another important point which has been mentioned here already is the embouchure - first, it's not only made with your lips, but with your entire respiratory tract. And second, pressure kills tone. You have to keep relaxed and focused at the same time, which sounds stupid, but it can be done. I'm just learning it myself these days, and my tone and all that improve enormously, especially regarding volume and "hissing" noise. My recent topic about that contains some very valuable tips from various chiffers regarding all this. It helped me a lot.

Ah, and by the way, I once dropped a flute in an equal way like you did. But mine was made of crystal glass. So be happy that your flute only suffers from a small crack that has been repaired - my flute shattered into thousand pieces!

Regarding hair...beeing a long-haired lad myself I know all those problems you mentioned. But don't shave your head! It will weaken your tone.
Really.

I use those hair rubber bands to prevent my head from looking like a bale of straw. Works for me.