11 october

So, in this post I'm actually going to talk about flutey things instead of my daily activities.

Yesterday's class was the toughest yet, but I know it's only going to get more demanding as the weeks pass. After yesterday's class, I'm more motivated than ever to get to work, which is a great feeling. Jhen Wei, Adrian and I were all up late last night playing our arpeggios. (Someone got kicked for not knowing their arpeggios, so we're all afraid now.)

Today, I've already practiced for about 3 hours and I've never paid so much attention to little details. I spent almost an hour just doing Taffanel & Gaubert and D.S. Wood #1, listening for completely even notes. If some fingers are lagging, it helps to play a short passage over and over again while "popping" (or slamming) your fingers on the keys. It trains them to move faster. It really helps. Of course, you don't want to slam your fingers on the keys all the time, so only do it until you feel you have good control over your fingers. (From TW: Don't keep your fingers close to the keys. It affects intonation. Move the fingers quickly. Practice for 2 weeks banging your fingers on keys.)

I also had a bit of a revelation about my embouchure. I haven't liked my tone lately, and I could not figure out what I was doing differently or doing wrong. In class, Trevor mentioned moving the lip plate lower on the chin, so I tried it last night, and sure enough, my sound is much better. Much bigger, more in tune, and it makes for a more flexible embouchure for better control of diminuendos, pitch, etc.

Trevor gave us each a small notebook for our listening projects and I've been taking notes from class in the notebook. Already 20 pages in. Here's some things you might find interesting:

On Tone Color...

- Size of your sound is directly related to amount of tone hole covered

- Large sounds travel a greater distance (so do lower notes), so when the harmonics in your tone are larger, your sound is actually "bigger" when it is heard our in the hall. This means, it is best to uncover as much as the embouchure hole as possible while still maintaining a good tone. Do not cover to much of the embouchure hole by rolling in too much or having the lip plate too high on your lip. When you roll in or cover more of the emb. hole, your tone may sound more focused and "big" to your own ear, but it will sound thin to listeners. Also, if you are too covered, it will be impossible to play with different tone colors and diminuendos will be very difficult. And pitch will suffer. So just don't do it.

- "Can't avoid a 'wooly' sound if you want a truly beautiful tone," meaning that it may sound a bit wooly to your own ear, but not to listeners.

- How to make a bigger sound without compromising tone:
1. Mouth cavity -- make it bigger! Put teeth apart, but not too much because you will lose control of lips.
2. Throat -- you need to change your throat for every note you play (see Robert Dick's book on Throat Tuning)
3. Posture -- head in correct position. Stand up tall.

- Good tone color exercise: Saint-Saens exercise in TW Practice Book 1. Be sure the first 2 notes are equal in color and quality.

** To find best position, bend C up and down as much as possible -- what may sound the best to you probably isn't the best place. You want a little less resistance than you think (aka, roll out a little more than you think you should.) Do this several times a day and try to make your best sound each time. Notice your head, mouth cavity, and throat position. Do this slowly and thoughtfully.

- Avoid getting edgier as you get louder.

- Yellow tone the most important color to develop. Once that is good, practice the purple, darker tone color.

Other stuff...

- Use a mirror when you practice articulation. You must be able to see the tip of your tongue when articulating.

Ok, I have a lot more I could share with you (Moyse 24 Little Studies, Andersen Op. 15, Reinecke Ballade, Debussy excerpt), but that's probably enough flutey stuff for now. I'm reading Trevor's book, "Marcel Moyse: An Extraordinary Man". Flutists, I recommend that you read it. I've chosen Marcel Moyse as my listening project this week, so I've been listening to lots of old recordings of him playing. Very inspiring.

Anways, I made chili in the slow cooker tonight so I think I'm going to go back to my dairy and eat some chili! Yum :) Bye!