Secondarily, it is very inexpensive at the yearly subscription rate of $36.
I have provided a button on our "Salient Websites" page.
Bill
the Larsen Flute Studio |
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Last spring, one of my students used Smart Music as a device to help him learn his Solo & Ensemble piece. After working with it a bit, I was impressed with its features. The user can prepare breath marks, ritardando, accelerando, and rubato. Although I would hesitate to advocate using pre-recorded accompaniments in performance or contest, I do believe that it helps students in their individual practice and as preparation to work with a real pianist.
Secondarily, it is very inexpensive at the yearly subscription rate of $36. I have provided a button on our "Salient Websites" page. Bill
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My Approach
My teaching philosophy is an amalgam of my experiences with a few wonderful teachers and colleagues, and my own extensive empirical methods. The former Music Director of the Southwest Florida Symphony Orchestra, Paul Nadler, placed the most stringent demands upon tone, intonation, and inflection before me. Through his direction, I have altered my approach to rubato, vibrato and legato. Lessons and master classes with Peter Lloyd changed my flute playing simply by altering the balance of breathing and resistance. I now teach breathing extensively, with less emphasis on embouchure, with the exception of eliminating obvious problems. A single statement from my former Youth Orchestra confederate, Music Director James Palmer steeled my efforts to accept “nothing less than musical”. These three influences have aided me in formulating a more flexible, humane and results oriented method of teaching. A student that has a spark of musical engagement, has a proper attitude and an appropriate amount of aptitude has the potential to succeed. Once accepted into our studio, with some deference to a prescribed regimen, I teach the individual. Strengths are recognized but attention is given to fundamental weaknesses in order to bring them to the surface and address them. Obviously, students should be introduced to the materials necessary for success in their own performance and for their own teaching experiences. These are the basics of their education, but hopefully become stepping-stones towards further exploration. By learning to control a musical instrument, and finding a voice through that endeavor, the student has learned the primary discipline of learning perhaps not found in other educational pursuits. To that end, my intentions are to teach my students how to teach themselves. Bill PS: This will be posted on our "Flute Related Downloads" under the media menu. Thanks to Beth, the 2013 All-State Piccolo etudes are recorded and available to listen to on our website. Please visit "All-State Help" in the Media menu.
We hope that these recordings are a good reference. There is always some danger of students learning their etudes by rote. Rote gets you close, but a good musician/teacher/adjudicator can hear if someone has not taken the time to understand the music. Be sure to take these etudes apart. Know the scales involved. Understand the basic pulse of the meter and the rhythms that fit in between. Find the phrases and you will have a good start on where to breathe. There's a lot more to being a good musician than understanding the fundamentals. A good teacher can set you on the right track to use those fundamentals as building blocks to creating wonderful phrases. Bill One stop shopping! Our blogs are now connected to our FaceBook page: The Larsen Flute Studio.
The blog/facebook page will keep you updated about our performance schedules, new techniques, videos and audios that we have made available to you. We welcome feedback. Bill Hello middle and high school flutists, and their band directors,
We have posted audio recordings of the 2013 All-State audition etudes for flute on a page called "All-State Help" located under the "Media" menu. Hopefully these will give you a head start on your audition, although you should have been working on the materials all summer long! Beth and I have judged All-State audition recordings in years past. We would agree that it is not enough to know the etudes well. The top forty or so flutists will all play the etudes well. Scales count to a larger degree than you might expect or hope! The top flutists can play their scales from memory, at tempo, in the FBA format, musically and without mistakes. The good news about really learning your scales is that it sticks with you. Take the time to understand the intervals, the key signatures AND the arpeggios. Record yourself. Listen to the articulation. Did you connect the top note of the scale to the next note in the descent? Does the scale flow logically and easily? In theory, if you spent one week on each scale and truly understood it, you could play all twelve majors in three months. Not done yet. There are three types of minor scales. And whole tone scales, diminished scales, blues scales, and lets not forget modes. Scales are music. They are an essential tool to become a better, more proficient musician. That is the very reason that they are required for All-State, All-County, Youth Orchestra Auditions, your own band audition, and college entrance exams. Take the time to learn them well. Bill PS: Piccolo etudes for All-State to be posted soon. This summer has been about reorganizing. My music files, although in fairly good shape, needed to be examined for duplicates, and misfiled scores. While combing through the files on my computer, I found some amazing articles that I have gleaned from many sources over many years. I have posted these to our download page.
The most fascinating document is the doctoral dissertation written by Horng-Jiun Lin. This is entitled "AN ILLUSTRATED BASIC FLUTE REPAIR MANUAL FOR PROFESSIONALS". Students of the Larsen studio, listen up! The emphasis here should be the last word (professionals). Although I may do the occasional adjustment on student flutes, I NEVER work on my own flute. That should tell you something. Bill Okay, I may be a little obsessive about our website. I can't seem to stop building pages.
In the course of sharing with our colleagues and students, Beth and I have gathered a few favorite YouTube Videos. Our new page, "Recommended Video" is a repository for those inspirational and creative videos that find their way to the top of the infinite amount of uploaded (and mostly mediocre at best) material. Please enjoy. AND if you happen to have a favorite video of a performance or something instructional, please email us the link. B See that button over on the right entitled "Wood is Good"? Click on it to find pictures of my colleagues who perform on wood flutes. Please email me with any images, websites or contact information regarding wood flutes and flutists who play upon them.
Many thanks! B A couple of years ago, Beth introduced to me a new concept that she found on the internet. I pooh-poohed it at first glance, but then, being Bill, I had to at least turn over the rock and found out what it was all about.
The exercise involves putting a chopstick in between your teeth and attempting to play the flute. It takes a couple of minutes to redevelop a sound, but for some players, it is the answer to their embouchure issues. The destruction of the natural or formed opening by the offending piece of wood allows, and demands rethinking of how we form our embouchures. The chopstick holds your teeth apart. The corners of your embouchure must be reformed in front of the chopstick. All focusing of the airstream done in the throat and mouth is undone by the disruption. The airstream must be refocused in front of the chopstick, which is less than 1/2 inch. The end result is that the quantity of airstream necessary to form an acceptable tone is greater. Solid corners are formed to focus this airstream. These are all good things, especially for those individual flutists who have unfocused sounds. However it also helps those with closed throats and teeth by forcing them to use more unimpended air to produce an acceptable tone. This exercise can be applied to any piece, but works best with more lyric music. Articulation is possible, but because of the interference of the stick, seems to be ineffective as a remedy for problems. My suggestion is that flutists give this a try, but not to do it more than 3 to 5 minutes per day. The chopstick exercise is certainly is not an end all! If you find me performing with a chopstick in my mouth, please call a paramedic. I will need to be observed! Please email me if you have any questions regarding this exercise. I have been contemplating recent setbacks in my life over the last couple of weeks. Although I have been able to bring some rational thoughts to the situation and bring about action, it still haunts me.
Students come to music lessons for various reasons. Some are more self-actualized than others. As a teacher, I find that one of the first orders of business is helping students to deal with their self doubts. The flute and lessons becomes a vehicle for some to learn to work out their issues. As performers, we need to be at least a step or two ahead of our self doubts. It can be as simple as opening the case. It can be as difficult as deconstructing one's self and then beginning the long task of reassembly. And, the job is never done. It is a life fact that we need to assess upon occasion and bring ourselves upright. So learning the flute, be it at a student, amateur or professional level, is about problem solving. Showing up on time, with right equipment and a good attitude is a great start. Opening up our minds to develop deeper thoughts about the physics of flute playing, the depth and beauty of music, and our own inner workings may take time. I tell my students that problem solving is about understanding how the small bits fit into the larger whole. So, its about "baby steps", such as learning how to connect two notes beautifully. Much of this learning takes place outside the flute lesson in individual practice routines. A good teacher helps the student find their pathway to understanding themselves through developing their skills. So, it seems necessary to address the mental and emotional stumbling blocks that we place before ourselves. For instance, I have never been bowling. Although I have heard that it is great fun, I am afraid of looking foolish. If it becomes necessary to learn how to bowl, I will set aside my pride and learn the sport. Problem solving in music can be broken down into smaller bits: 1. Identify the issue. If it doesn't feel right, most likely it is not. Additionally, one can not assume that anything is right. Constant assessment is imperative. 2. Isolate and repair the issue. (Go bowling!) Boil it down to two notes. Play it MUCH slower. Add a few notes on either end until the whole phrase is done. Did you inflect it the way you wanted? If not, look at how you want to develop the phrase. 3. Reinsert the phrase. Does it work with what is on either side? Does it fit into the bigger architecture? Problem solving in real life may be more abstract. Try to eliminate the emotional aspects to see what is the true issue. Take the proper time to analyze all the perspectives. Find a way to move past the problem and then take the necessary steps to progress in the future. Standing still is not an option. |
AuthorHere it is! Your opportunity to ask a question about the flute or any music related topic. Archives
August 2014
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