- International Clarinet Association (Di Xiaoyan and Zhai Xingxing): International Spotlight: How to Play “Pitch Bending Tones” on the Clarinet (English Version)
- Jennet Ingle | Oboist: Adding Punctuation
- The Flute Examiner (Jessica Dunnavant): Tune In, Tune Out
- Rachel Taylor Geier (flute): Earning Your Keep – 100 Ways to Make Money as a Flutist
- The Flute View (Morgan Pappas): The Importance of Having an Electronic Press Kit
Jessica Dunnavant
Favorite blog posts, May 2022
- The Flute Examiner (Jessica Dunnavant): I Can Hear Clearly Now
- Northwoods Oboe (“Kaitlyn”): Oboe Reed Care and Maintenance
Favorite blog posts, February 2022
- Steve Neff Music Blog (saxophone): Do Mouthpiece Patches and Beak Height Make a Difference to the Sound of a Saxophone?
- LearnTinWhistle.com: Best Tin Whistle Books
- The Flute Examiner (Jessica Dunnavant): Career Day
- Jenny Maclay (clarinet): Repertoire Research Checklist for Students
- Rachel Taylor Geier (flute): Fixing a Faulty Trill – Dr. G’s Top Five Trill Etude Recommendations
Favorite blog posts, November 2021
- Jennet Ingle | Oboist: Authenticity or Integrity
- Flute Journal (Aleisha Ward): Pioneers of Jazz Flute
- The Flute Examiner (Keith Hanlon): Pieces And Parts – A Piccolo COA
- The Flute Examiner (Jessica Dunnavant): Watch Your Speed!
- The Flute View (Betty Bang Mather): Qigong Standing Meditations for Healthy Flute Posture
Favorite blog posts, October 2021
- Jennifer Cluff (flute): Top Ten Secrets of Great Flute Playing pdf
- Aaron Lakota (oboe): Reed Knife Sharpening, A Guide For Reed Makers
- The Flute Examiner (Jessica Dunnavant): Lights, Camera, Flute, Action!
- Everything Saxophone (Ben Britton): Learning Altissimo: From Low B♭ to Over Four Octaves Up
- Northwoods Oboe: Avoid My Reedmaking Mistakes: Not Adjusting With the Seasons
- The Flute View (Alan Medak): The ABCs of Music Stand Lighting
Favorite blog posts, February 2021
- Steve Neff Music Blog (saxophone): An Inside Look into the Joe Allard Approach of Saxophone Playing: Memories of the First Three Lessons
- The Flute View (Paul Edmund-Davies): Why I Left the London Symphony Orchestra
- Joffe Woodwinds: Pedagogical “Doubling”
- The Flute Examiner (Jessica Dunnavant): Silver Linings and a Daily Routine
- Bill Plake Music (saxophone): An Important Thing To Notice The Instant You Prepare To Play
- Jennet Ingle | Oboist: Why Do We Practice?
- oboeinsight (Patty Mitchell): Teaching
Favorite blog posts, November 2019
- How To Make Oboe Reeds (Courtney Miller): The Joy of Scraping
- Just Flutes Blog (Roderick Seed): Tonguing tips
- International Clarinet Association: James Gillespie Library Weekly Roundup – Diverse Repertoire, Part I
- Peter Spitzer Music Blog (clarinet/saxophone): A Tufts University Study of Cryogenic Treatment of Brass Instruments
- International Clarinet Association (Heather Mogielnicki): The Clarinet [Online]: Healthy Habits for Musicians
- The Flute Examiner (Jessica Dunnavant): “The Holly and the Ivy” for Flute and Piano
Favorite blog posts, September 2018
- Heather Roche shares a list of easy/reliable clarinet multiphonics. Useful information here for composers and performers.
- Eric Schultz examines the history of multiple tonguing on single reed instruments.
- Jenny Maclay explores clarinet orchestral excerpts. (Also consider enlisting for the October Uhl Boot Camp.)
- Flutist Kelly Wilson explains the anatomy and function of the arms.
- Jennet Ingle discusses producing a resonant sound on the oboe.
- Oboist Nuria Cabezas demonstrates some stretches for musicians.
- Flutist Jessica Dunnavant deals with performance nerves.
- Ariel Detwiler shares thoughts on fitting into a band or orchestra bassoon section.
- Patty Mitchell spends some time away from her oboe.
- Hannah Haefele offers some suggestions for warming up on the flute on a tight schedule.
Favorite blog posts, February 2018
- Flutist Nicole Riner assigns her students repertoire that reinforces skill development (a re-“print” from the 2012 A Flutist’s Handbook: Pedagogy Anthology Vol. 2).
- Oboist Stephen Caplan reconsiders concentration in performance.
- Bassoonist Barry Stees shares a simple but revealing way to test reeds.
- Flutist Jessica Dunnavant discusses her complicated relationship with university teaching.
- David Pierce considers a pedagogical order for the Vivaldi bassoon concertos (a re-“print” from a 1987 article in the Journal of the International Double Reed Society) [update: link dead].
- Oboist Jennet Ingle figures out how to give a good tuning A every time.
- Saxophonist Helen Kahlke avoids germs on the gig.
Favorite blog posts, February 2014
Here are some of my picks for some excellent woodwind-related blog posts from last month.
- Bass clarinetist Michael Lowenstern gives excellent advice on some topics (such as “biting”) that I think are not often taught well.
- Mark Catoe gives a workshop on teaching beginning clarinetists to cross the break. (Those are some mighty handsome fingering diagrams.)
- Chris Dunning takes us on a historical video tour of the saxophone in jazz [update: link dead].
- Clarinetist Adam Berkowitz manages the logistical details of a performance. Also: two habits worth having.
- Jennet Ingle bemoans the oboe’s caprices. “It’s not that playing the oboe is physically more difficult than any other instrument, it’s that the oboe doesn’t want you to get it.”
- Bassoonist Betsy Sturdevant chases the elusive high F.
- Oboist Patty Mitchell explains what it means to “know” a piece of music.
- Trent Jacobs gives a primer on amplifiers for woodwind players interested in going electric.
- Over at Music Collective, flutist Jessica Dunnavant discovers life beyond the university-teaching-job search.
- Timothy Owen offers some observations and advice on playing multiple sizes of saxophone.
- Clarinetist Heather Roche gives composers some insights on glissandi and air sounds, with extensive audio clips.
- Vanessa Breault Mulvey of the “Flying Flutistas” avoids “muscling up” on the flute. Also on the trapeze. Really [update: link dead].
- Cooper Wright gives his oboe a good cleaning.
- Woodwind player Ted Nash tells the story of how he nearly got adopted by Quincy Jones. “Part II to follow,” he promises.
- Meri Dolevski-Lewis gives some good common-sense tips to those working with a pianist for the first time.
Enjoy!