Year: 2018

Merry Christmas! Have you finished your holiday shopping? At this time of year, parents and grandparents often ask me for ideas for useful gifts for musicians. This is a short

Always on the hunt for new ideas for creative music practice, here are some resources that I’ve recently discovered: Choose practice tasks instead of playing from the beginning to the

Flute Tone Spectral Analysis I came across a very interesting thesis project by Ron Yorita titled “Flute Tone Project.” Yorita designed a program to analyze the tone of flute players.

Rebound Breath: Technique for Singers and Wind Players For wind players and singers, finding places to breathe is a constant struggle. We must balance the demands of the phrase with

Lego Blocks Are a Tool for Learning Rhythms I’m always looking for new ways to teach rhythm to students of all levels. In a previous blog, I talked about using

Popcorn, Chopsticks, Flute? A recent research study at The Ohio State University (my alma mater) recently caught my attention. I knew from the title that this was going to be

The Musical Web A couple of weeks ago, my daughter took an audition for the youth orchestra. As she was warming up in the practice room, we talked about how

Do you hear “Yanny” or “Laurel?” This audio clip was the internet sensation for May 2018. In it, a voice is heard saying a word. Many people hear either “Yanny”

Competitions and Contests Another Solo and Ensemble Contest season has come and gone. All of my middle school and high school flute students participated this year. I feel that competitions

A Flute Mystery I love teaching because it always presents new challenges. This week, I had to put on my detective hat to solve a mystery, A high school student