I think it may be time to get some tuition. There seem to be no flute teachers around here that have heard of keyless flutes (both those that were recommended to me seemed to doubt my sanity for suggesting such a beast). Perhaps I should consider online tuition… so, does it work? Has it worked for you? How do I know whether a teacher is any good? Am I allowed to solicit recommendations here? (I live in the UK so I work best on GMT/BST).
Any help, suggestions, or pointers would be gratefully received.
I’ve subscribed to Blayne’s online course, and there are many advantages. He had made a ton of really high quality instructional videos, covering a lot of ground. He is an excellent teacher and the course has the advantage of allowing you to browse through it at your own pace and at whatever time suits you. Highly recommended.
One of my favourite players offers online classes. I always considered taking a lesson or two. Never did it so far. I’d be too star-struck, I think . https://www.conalograda.com/music-classes
Although it is not the same as a having a live teacher all to yourself, the online lessons available for flute on the Online Academy of Irish Music are both plentiful and outstanding. Tuition at all levels. Sample lessons are available on youtube. If it is private tuition you wish, I recommend Claire Mann. She is an superb Irish flute player based in Scotland and with considerable teaching experience. A friend studied with her and felt the instruction was very good. Chet
Thanks for the suggestion and comments so far - it may be a promising avenue for me to pursue, though I may be an unusual case in that all(?) that I want to learn is to improve my embouchure/reliability/tone/volume.
I know roughly what sort of tunes I want to play and how to get more, I do not feel the need to ‘learn ITM’ or accumulate a repertoire of dance music. I am not interested in sight-reading or musical theory. So my objectives are fairly targeted (I think…). Mostly I want to check that I have not developed bad habits before ‘practice makes permanent’ and learn to practice good habits. Does that make sense? Does it seem a reasonable objective for online tuition?
If it’s really about those things, wouldn’t most of the boehm folks have reasonable technique to draw from? They may not appreciate some of the preferred technique, but basic embouchure technique should be similar, I would think.
I bought Leslie’s first book which has given me some very useful info so far and while trying to decide if I would buy it, I stumbled onto her site and she gives online lessons. Maybe be worth an email to inquire about: https://www.leslieanneharrison.com/lessons
Excellent point… I had not thought of it that way. Thanks. I may even be able (COVID willing) to make use of one of the local recommends. I am sure that they know enough about teaching embouchure regardless of the hole-closing mechanism, and I would feel more confident talking to a person directly rather than via electrickery.
Thanks guys and gals - you are giving me plenty to think about and plenty of options… keep them coming.
When I was in college, I took a semester of flute lessons from my university (humiliating experience, since I thought I was much better on my little bamboo flute than I was…). One of the requirements was a little concert at the end of the year and some of the more advanced students were allowed to check out wooden flutes (not sure if they were boehm or not) to rehearse and later perform some early music. So, maybe the keyless stuff might sound weird to them, but if they trained at a university, they may have some experience with wooden flutes.
HI Phill, if your main interest is in improving overall technique, tone, embouchure etc and with a set of practice routines to strengthen these I would recommend Brendan Mulholland. That’s very much his focus - building up and developing your fluting toolkit which you can then apply to whichever tunes you wish to play. Very nice lad and, as mentioned, fantastic flute player.
Hi!! This is my first post and I’m very excited (I even read all the rules!).
I’m so new to the Irish flute that mine’s actually still in the post. But I’ve taken music lessons all my life (clarinet, French horn and singing in different styles), and I know two things about myself:
After getting the first sounds from any instrument, it’s very tempting to mess around with tunes instead of properly practising technique
Getting rid of bad habits takes a good deal longer than learning proper ones from scratch
So I’ve been looking around for a tutor. Thanks for this thread, I’ve contacted a couple of people mentioned here already. But I also came across Sean Cunningham and Philippe Barnes on Patreon. Patreon, in case you don’t know, is a platform for creators to share (extra) content with their fans, locked behind a paywall, usually involving tiered memberships.
Sean’s content seems catered to the beginner and it’s very affordable too! His offer is to review a video or audio fragment of your playing once a month, so it’s not “live feedback”, but with my schedule that might be a benefit rather than a drawback.
I’d love to read your thoughts! Lovely to meet all of you,
.