Greetings everyone,
Happy holidays to you all. I was posting to get some feedback and advice regarding an idea i have. I live in chicago and have had the unbelievably good fortune of being able take lessons for many years now on whistle/flute with Larry Nugent. As you know, Larry is a great player who has put his own spin on northern ireland flute and whistle playing. In any case, we have been chatting lately about putting together a tutorial or tune book featuring Larry’s playing. Being a stundent and adept with the technical and organizational side of things, I could help Larry pull this together sort of in the role of producer.
So may question is: what do you think of this idea? Is there a market for such a thing. Or are there already too many “tutorials” out there? Also, assuming the answer to the previous question is yes (i.e., there is a market), I’d like your thoughts one what you’d like to have in such a tutorial. My thought is that it should consist of something like 40 tunes, 20 on whistle and 20 on flute, including written music and a CD with each track featuring Larry playing the tune slow then up to speed. Finally, any thoughts you might have about getting such a beast published would be greatly appreciated too.
Although i despise chicago winters, it does provide some down time with which to do such a project.
Thanks so much for your thoughts on this matter!
Cheers,
Brendan
[ This Message was edited by: feadog39 on 2002-12-19 21:36 ]
I think the tutorial idea is a great one. I would love to see a dedicated flute tutorial, however, since there are already a number of good ones for whistle. I’ll bet you could move a couple hundred of the things right here on the C&F page to all of us flute-obsessives.
A tutorial by players like Nugent is always welcome. In spite of the many tutorials out there, not many are by great players. I learned an awful lot from John Skelton’s “A Few Tunes”, in which he plays 45 tunes at a moderate clip, and has a booklet along with it. I don’t use the booklet much, as he plays slowly enough to learn from the CD (for me), and it’s not 100% what he plays, so you have to listen to learn, anyway. But just hearing an unaccompanied tune in a nice setting a few times around is a great thing.
Personally, I’d love it to be strictly flute (Skelton’s is half and half), but that’s just me.
Grey Larsen has a very comprehensive (definitive?) flute tutorial that has been about 6 years in the making and is soon to be published by Mel Bay. The manuscript/galley proofs have been around for awhile and the published book will be outstanding. The amount of time and energy put into an undertaking like this is unbelievable. It is no small task to get a book published and into the stores, let alone written. We’re talking a major long haul here, so be prepared.
Hi Brendan,
I for one would love to see it. There seems to be a scarcity of books on Irish flutes so I think there would definately be room for one more. Luckily I’m in an area that I can take lessons but many people who want to play are not so tutorials are a good thing. Make sure to include a CD or tape with it. I know I find it tough to learn a tune without hearing it and being familiar with it before I try it. I have the tutorial “Timber: The Flute Tutor” by Fintan Vallely and it has spots for a tape to be played with examples but I haven’t been able to find the tape anywhere. I’m thinking it doesn’t really exist which is annoying. Just my .02 worth on it.
Okay, this is all very helpful. I’m starting to come to the conclusion that the easiest thing to do would be to put out something on the order of John Skelton’s “A Few Tunes.” I don’t think larry or i have it in us at this point to do something more involved at this point, although the idea of a video and a CD-ROM are cool (they were mentioned on the whistle forum). In any case, i’ll present your ideas to larry when i see him next week and see if we can’t get something cooking. Thanks again and i’ll keep you posted.
Cheers,
Brendan