10 Things We Can Do Better as Fluties

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Goooood morning Fluties!

Today we’re going to revisit and FINISH our list of ten things we can do better as fluties. This is good. Stick around!

 

Well hello there, I’m Rebecca your host and flute expert, and Oh my goodness. 

I have a confession to make today first thing because I have had a few of you going back through all of the podcasts here from Learn Flute Online, and you’ve written to me about something I guess I didn’t know at the time. 

 

Let me explain: A couple of years ago, well, actually it was at the beginning of the year 2020. Remember that year? Yah, that was a good January, and then.. Ya know…. Stuff. 

And then blurb, zip, boop,… suddenly, here we are today. 

Well, back during that January I had held a really great class for the members here in Learn Flute Online, and then I put it out as a podcast here. Or at least, I thought I did! 

So here’s the dealio: apparently, the podcast recording wasn’t actually complete. Oops!

The reason we know, is that it was reported to me that the recording just stops mid-word, after making it just over halfway through the list we were working on.

Oh, dear! I’m so sorry! I had no idea – I don’t really go back and re-listen to my own episodes, but apparently, I should because there was some sort of technical error on this one that made it cut off before it finished.

 

So, I’m sorry about that, and I’ve received emails over the past couple of years that you’d like me to finish the list. So, today we’re going to do just that! We’re going to finish out the list of ten things you can do this year that will really make a difference in your life as a musician and specifically, as a flute player.

 

Now, I know it’s not the first of the year still right now, but it is near enough that we can jump on this wagon and really learn a few things that will improve ourselves.

 

So, first of all, I encourage you to go back to past episodes of this Learn Flute Podcast and listen to them because when I created them, my intention was to have them be evergreen, you know, timeless. They are ALL pertinent and very relevant to what you are doing today, and they’re a really good source of motivation and inspiration.

 

So yes, get your tennie-runners on and go for a walk each day with me in your ear helping you inch yourself towards full enjoyment in music and learning. 

Each episode is short, and pretty to the point. Most of the episodes are organized so that if you take notes, you’ll have a nice little action list that you can work on implementing as you continue on your journey here.

 

So, listen to them all! I made them for you! We’re not against binge-listening at all. Just do it.. And then let me know what you’ve learned, what inspires you, and if you have any ideas for upcoming episodes for me. 

I welcome your feedback, and that reminds me, if you’re listening to this podcast on a platform other than the learnfluteonline.com website, for example, if you’re listening on apple podcasts, then go ahead and hit the five star button and leave a comment: Letting us all know how the Learn Flute Podcast has helped you in your life. 

You can support this show and inspire other fluties on this planet by doing so. 

 

So, howsabout we get started by doing a quick review of what happened in that last episode that we’re talking about here. It was all about making some little micro-goals for our New Year, and I had a nice list of ten for you. Not only will these things help you in your flute playing, but by doing these things, you’ll find that your journey as a musician is enhanced also.

 

So, let’s get to the list now, and lets go backward from ten down to number one, are you ready? We’re just going to take a quick review, until we get to the point where the last one left off. 

So Number ten is:

 

Let’s declare to learn what it takes to keep our instrument in better shape. Basically, let’s take care of our flute even better this year.

 

You know, I have recently held a basic instrument and repair class. Perhaps you were part of it. No worries if not, members of the Learn Flute Online levels are able to rewatch much of the information inside the member’s area.

We cover things like: why it’s so important to keep our flutes in their cases, and what happens when we don’t. 

Also, I demonstrate and show how to identify little mechanical issues that are common to flutes, and what to do about them ourselves, in our own homes. 

You know, there are quite a few things we can do to avoid having a visit to flute technician. I’d like to help you as you learn to take care of your instrument. You know, with some proper education in this area, you can save yourself thousands of dollars over time, and you can keep your beautiful flute in really good playing condition also – which makes it way more fun to play on a daily basis anyway. Yep! 

 

So number ten is to learn more about what it takes to keep our instrument in great shape, which then swings us into number nine- which has to do with our actual playing of the flute and something we can do to help ourselves self-diagnose on a more regular basis. 

You know, music is all about sound, right? So, recording and listening to ourselves should be something that we can put on this list for ourselves, because we have the technology nowadays to take care of it right from our own homes.

If you’re shy to record yourself in front of anyone, no worries- you probably practice on your own anyways. Get yourself into a private room and use that smart phone you have to record yourself. Then, listen back to it.

If you’ve recorded on video, watch with an eagle eye and see what you can notice.

The more advanced you get as a musician, hopefully the more your eye, and your ear, will notice skills that need tweaking. 

 

So, what do you look like as you play? What do you sound like? 

Now, be kind to yourself as you work on giving yourself feedback. In fact, get a notebook out and just write a little list of things you notice as you watch and listen back to yourself. It’s just feedback. And remember that these things are just ‘things’ – they are items you can thank yourself for noticing, and then you can make plans to work on them one at a time. 

It’ll be awesome! 

Quick progress right there – that’s what this will be.

Also, learning how to record yourself will teach you other things as well, and I’m already pre-proud of you! Use this idea as a teaching and learning tool. 

And, there’s no need to even ever share these recordings with anyone else. It’s by you, for you!

 

Okay, great, so let’s just move right on here with now number eight- which is one of my favorites that we talk about occasionally here at Learn Flute Online. It’s a great idea for you to seek out some opportunities this year especially, to attend a live concert or other musical-type production this year. 

And no, it doesn’t need to be a classical flute concert.. I mean, you can, if that’s what you’ve found and you want to see, but don’t rule out any other type of musical production because you’ll find the spirit of music will reach into your heart, and grab you as you watch someone else display what they’ve spent years, and even decades crafting.

I personally, love musical plays, I like musical comedies, I like big symphonies, I like good bands, I like Irish music, I like street musicians, and I like broadway. Basically, I like to see creativity and talent on display. It’s super fun and inspiring to me, and I encourage you to put yourself into a position where you can also enjoy the product of music, live music, on display.

I have been able to see and enjoy so much in my life already, and there’s even more to come!

I’ve been to Pahud and Galway as well as Tim McGraw and the Lion King on Broadway. You know, just get yourself to something soon – and marvel at what they have accomplished. You know what it takes to become a musician. It’s not something that happens by itself, and you’ve figured that out. These people have spent many years, and usually, their entire lives, crafting their skill, and doing what it takes to rise above the rest. Kudos to them, for sure!

 

Let’s move on now to number seven, which is a really good one that I think some people just gloss over- and that’s to keep yourself a musical journal. You know, document this. 

You know, allowing your teacher to help you with your organization in learning is a basic necessity to education. I have every single lesson here inside Learn Flute Online ready and organized for you. 

There’s a checklist on every single page. There’s also a progress sheet that you can keep filled out as you move through the modules, and I’ve made another amazing resource for you, in case you haven’t heard of it, it’s called the Ultimate Practice Guide for Flute. This practice guide is how you can keep your entire musical life organized week after week, and month after month, year after year.

If you haven’t been using these guides, please allow me to point you to it. If you’re a member on one of the Learn Flute Online levels, the gold level, intermediate or advanced, you’ll have a link to this Ultimate Guide in your ToolBox on the member website. So go get it today and start your organization right! 

 

Okay, let’s swing into an entirely different subject really quickly here, by saying that number six is to work on making, and having a music friend this year. 

You do already have me, no worries. I’m here for you, and of course, participating in our Open Mic group is a huge and very convenient way to feel like you are not alone on this journey. There are hundreds of us in there celebrating and enjoying each other’s company as we all continue our musicianship. It’s more fun than you think, but it’s up to you to decide how you want to participate.

Have any neighbors that play the piano? Or any old friends? Well, help them continue, and use their skills by asking them if they’d like to have a day once a month when you get together to play some music together. 
A pianist is a perfect, and a very complimentary friend to a flute player. They can accompany you, while you play the melody. How fun! You’ll find yourselves laughing and having a good time. It’ll also help you make a few new goals in your learning, and your ability to play, which will be very beneficial all-around. Wahoo!

 

Okay, let’s move on to number five, which will be quick because it goes right along with number six which we just talked about in making a music friend. 

Your conversations will naturally swing into telling them something about music and flute – share what you’ve learned, and enjoy having a musical conversation, and that’s what number five is all about- just having a musical conversation, or a conversation about music in general. 

No need to sound fancy, just bring up a subject and talk about it. You can learn a lot in a short conversation with someone else about music. 

Perhaps you’ll learn something from them as well.. Especially if they’ve been on a similar journey as you. You’ll be surprised at how many people have spent some time in their life in a musical pursuit. It’s very much more common than you think. Find out about it and share your experiences as well. Fun!

 

So, now here we are at number four on our list, and I have to tell you that this is the precise area in the recording of the last podcast from the year 2020- this is where it just cut off – so I’m glad we get to finish our list this time. It’ll be great – we’ll sail right through this.

 

So number four is that I’m going to encourage you to work on memorizing this year. Learn to memorize even in a short and small capacity and not necessarily just music- we’re going to use our brains and learn to memorize. Now, there’s no need to memorize a concerto if you haven’t mastered memorizing a scale, or a short folk tune. Go back to the days when we had to remember phone numbers. It’s just really common for some people to focus so much on what’s on the page that they forget to learn to play .. like really play. 

The word play, is not the same as the word ‘perform’. Right? We’re just playing around with our instrument. Play with it and find out what you can do. Then, as part of your practice time, put the sheet away and just play. Find out where the notes are and what they sound like. Pay attention to the pitches as they rise and fall. And work through finding the ones that you’re looking for. At first it’s slow, but you’ll get better and better at it. 

And then work on remembering an order to the notes, that creates a song or melody you’ve learned. It’ll enhance your musical life and your brain. You know, we’re not getting any younger here! We need to use our minds in many different ways, and this is one giant one that will exercise our brains and keep us nimble and smart.

 

Number three now is to take some time each week or month to encourage or support someone else who is working on a musical journey, especially within our own community, our flute community here. We have a perfect place all set up for this called Open Mic, and there are easy-to-leave comment slots for you to tell someone else that you notice their effort. It can make a really big difference in someone’s life to have some encouragement. And of course, you can use it yourself on this type of journey. I know,  you know it!

 

So, we’ll do a recap of this full list in a bit, but let’s finish it first – number two is to take some time to listen to a great player of the past. 

You know, we all know what we do here on this earth because of someone who has forged the way for us. There are many great greats who have documented their playing and now it’s free and extremely convenient for us to watch and listen to them. We have youtube and many other music streaming platforms at our fingertips and with just the touch of a button, we can flood our ears and our soul with their music. You know, in my last podcast on these subjects, I mentioned Jean-Pierre Rampal, and how he was always one of my favorites because I had seen him on Sesame Street as a kid. He, and Miss Piggy really had some good interludes. 

I think I now have an idea to point out and show you a list of those you should seek to find recordings of and listen to. Such great examples I tell you! Enjoy them, and don’t let them be forgotten. It’s how we know what we know.

 

So let’s take a quick recap of this whole list now and then we’ll end off with the last item on our list of ten things we can do better as fluties this year.

 

So number ten was to vow to keep our instruments in better shape this year and learn how to do that. 

Number nine was to take advantage of technology and record ourselves often in our learning. 

Number eight, attend live concerts – as many as you can, and 

Number seven was to keep a musical journal to help you in your learning and education. 

Number six is to find and make a music friend this year which swings us into 

Number five of striving to have some musical conversations also. 

Number four- which is where we left off in our 2020 episode- this is to work on knowing how to play without the sheet music this year, in some capacity, as we learn to memorize and keep our minds strong. 

Number three is to encourage and support someone else on their musical journey. There are many ways to do this. 

And number two is to seek out and watch and listen to the great flute players and musicians of the past.

So here we are now at number one – numero uno on our list which is to make fun our number one priority in music- Fun! 

You know, some people will get really bent out of shape in thinking that they have to be so, super, serious in their education. Smiling is actually supposed to be part of playing music, did you know this? 

It’s true, we don’t need to take things so seriously, of course, we can always do our best. But just using a smile is really very helpful, and smiling also releases endorphins that enhance our well-being like crazy! 

So find the joy in this journey – it really is so much fun! And of course, it’s best to not delay your fun also. Some people think that they have to wait until they’ve become a certain level of proficiency before they can enjoy what you’re doing. Well, definitely not true. Find the joy in this journey – it’s so great!.. And so are you!

 

Well, wow that was actually a fun and quick little walk back in time. I like this list, and I hope you’ve enjoyed it as well. Did you take some notes? What I want you to do now, is to take that list and create an action item around every single one. Something that you can do to accomplish each and every single one of these. Don’t just listen to me talk about it. Actually DO IT. 

Make a plan.

And do it.

 

I’m here as your head cheerleader, and your teacher to help you along, and my number one goal in this is to make sure that you progress and feel really good about it.

 

Well I’m Rebecca Fuller, your instructor and expert of all things flute, and I cannot wait until we meet again. This was a fun list of Ten things we can do better as fluties. Keep it up- we’ll see you next time!

Thank you for Tuning In!

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I hope you’ve enjoyed learning about ten things we can do better as fluties. See you in the next episode! 

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Have any questions? Comment below and I will help you out.

Rebecca FullerRebecca Fuller
Get Flutie with us! Learn and enjoy every musical minute.

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