flute studio

Private Flute Lessons in Austin, Texas

My students come to my home for private lessons. Most of them take an hour or 45 minute lesson once a week, which I prefer because we have so much to cover! Some take a half hour lesson each week.

Although most of my students are children and teens, some are adults who have never played, while others used to play when they were younger and want to brush up their playing ability.

I have taught students from age 8 to 75 (yes, quite the story!). Boys and girls, each one with strengths and challenges, including developmental disability challenges. My flexibility in teaching styles and methods reaches all kinds of students. I believe that one should teach with a method that works for the student and be ready to create a new approach to a problem in a half second.

My students range from beginner to advanced levels.

What A Student Can Achieve with Lessons

My students have made As in school band/orchestra, won chair challenges, advanced in band/orchestra groups, competed in solo competitions, submitted successful college auditions and won music scholarships.

I teach my students to enjoy what they do at all levels of development and encourage them to focus on being their best while working towards being the best.

Beginners

Beginners have to master the fundamentals like:

The parts of the flute How to assemble it correctly How to take care of it How to sound is made How to tune - How to listen Posture when seated or standing So important - correct hand and foot positions Smart practicing Breath control Simple articulations

Major and minor scales, arpeggios, and chromatic scales (by memory and with the music and with beautiful tone and various articulations) Phrasing, style, always making music, not just playing notes Tempi and rhythm patterns Music Notation All key signatures Dynamics, tempo markings and descriptive words Sight reading

Intermediates

Learning is a process that never ends. There's always something new, exciting, or useful to learn.

An intermediate student works on:

A solid warm up and practice routine Tuning the flute by themselves Breath control and phrasing Letting go of notes gently when needed Playing "between" the written notes Double, triple tonguing Vibrato development More velocity on scale playing, with extended octaves

Beginning transposition Becoming familiar with the highs and lows of the flute—the extremes of the range Musical terminology Memory work on intermediate solo literature More advanced sight reading Duet playing

Advanced

Advanced studies include such things as:

Knowledge of basic repertoire Playing music the length of a concerto or sonata by memory Knowledge about composers for the flute and other instruments Etudes and Solo study Orchestral excerpts—learning how the flute fits in to a band or orchestra Trill fingerings

Breath control with playing stamina Add whole tone scales to other scale work Phrasing should be expressive, creative, with control, accuracy, and beautiful tone Challenging rhythms, notation and sight reading studies