- Saxophonist Steve Neff shares a Joe Allard overtone exercise. (Read the comments section, too.)
- Clarinetist Diana Haskell shares some results of asking colleagues what are the most important things about orchestral playing.
- Helen Bledsoe shares some flute intonation exercises (could be adapted to other instruments).
- Clarinetist Jenny Maclay offers advice on dealing with the mental baggage of being a musician. (Reminder: blog posts are not a substitute for professional counseling.)
- Woodwind doubler Kelsey Mire makes a case for fair pay for doublers.
- Saxophonist Bill Plake digs into reasons inefficient practice techniques get perpetuated.
- Bassoonist Nadina Mackie Jackson answers questions about gender in the classical music world.
- Oboist Jennet Ingle seeks balance between expression and technique.
- Woodwind doubler David Freeman shares a funny pit experience. There are possibly teachable moments there if you care to draw them out.
- Cate Hummel discusses solutions to third-octave problems, as well as when to introduce dynamics and vibrato to students.
Woodwinds: Flute
Favorite blog posts, March 2016
Hand-picked high-quality woodwind-related blog posts from around the web, March 2016 edition.
Woodwind doubling for flutists
Here is a cleaned-up version of my lecture notes from a presentation on woodwind doubling I gave last week at the Mid-South Flute Festival: Woodwind doubling for flutists What is doubling? Primary-to-secondary doubling: Playing multiple instruments within a family, such as flute (primary), piccolo (secondary), and alto flute (secondary) Primary-to-primary doubling: Playing instruments from different families, … Read more
Favorite blog posts, February 2016
Hand-picked high-quality woodwind-related blog posts from around the web, February 2016 edition.
Trevor Wye’s “Flexibility I” flute exercise
One of my favorite flute warmups is “Flexibility–I (after Sousseman)” from Trevor Wye’s Tone book. This exercise is value-packed and meticulously thought out, and leads inevitably to some fundamental truths about flute playing.
Favorite blog posts, December 2015
Hand-picked high-quality woodwind-related blog posts from around the web, December 2015 edition.
Student-selected online woodwind pedagogy articles
To be clear, I’m a lover of libraries, and for me there’s no question that there are tremendously valuable resources there that are not available online (yet?). But it seemed like time to experiment with embracing an online approach to the assignment.
Favorite blog posts, November 2015
Hand-picked high-quality woodwind-related blog posts from around the web, November 2015 edition.
Favorite blog posts, October 2015
Hand-picked high-quality woodwind-related blog posts from around the web, October 2015 edition.
Favorite blog posts, September 2015
Hand-picked high-quality woodwind-related blog posts from around the web, September 2015 edition.