This isn’t really “news”, but Engadget thought it was. I have written out over a hundred pop songs, a lot of which are on Rock Band. It makes practicing more fun.
Tag Archives: Practicing
James Galway – Embouchure Video Series
The Galway Network has three great videos of a Sir James Galway masterclass. I’ve seen these on YouTube, but the quality here is way better.
http://www.thegalwaynetwork-video.com/embouchure.html. There parts. Embouchure part 1, Embouchure part 2, Embouchure Flexibility and Touch of the Keys.
Check it out.
NFA Convention
There was a National Flute Association Convention (so I hear). A couple of people on the Flute list cross posted on the Galway List. Here are some interesting ones.
- NFA Convention 2007 Workshop: How to Practice with Immanual Davis
- NFA Convention Panel Discussion: Louis Lot, the Stradivarius of the Flute
- Lecture Presentation: Why good often beats best……with Robert Bigio
- NFA Convention: Old Wine in New Bottles and How to get Good Fast with Trevor Wye
- NFA Convention: The Memory Map
- NFA Convention Master Class with Jed Wentz
- NFA CONVENTION 2007: Sound and Phrasing with Peter Lloyd (I’ve seen a Peter Lloyd masterclass, and it was mind blowing)
- Pre-convention Master Class with Trevor Wye – Part 1
- Pre-convention class with Trevor Wye – addendum to PART 1
- Pre-convention Master Class with Trevor Wye – Part 2
- Pre-convention Master Class with Trevor Wye: PART 3
- Pre-convention master class with Trevor Wye – PART 4
- Master Class with Trevor Wye – Part 2//My thoughts on Trevor’s (Sir James Galways thoughts)
I haven’t seen the actual Trevor Wye class notes posted yet. Hopefully soon.
II-V-I Patterns
I have updated the II-V-I patterns yet again. I consolidated some of the other patterns I had (like the Ray Brown ones). There are now 286 pages (or 286 4 bar patterns) to enjoy. Also gone is the Jazz Font in favor of a more clean, professional look using Bill Duncan’s Fonts for Finale.
These patterns were designed to be used with Aebersold Vol. 3, Track 2. Also included is a 24 page reference of the patterns.
If you want some more patterns, I highly recommend Jerry Bergonzi’s Inside Improvisation Vol. 5. There are some really great patterns in there. Enjoy!
II-V-I Patterns Reference (600.9 KiB, 11,389 hits)
You do not have permission to download this file. Please either login or create an account first.- II-V-I Patterns in C (4.8 MiB, 11,136 hits)
You do not have permission to download this file. Please either login or create an account first. - II-V-I Patterns in C Pages 1 to 100 (1.7 MiB, 10,720 hits)
You do not have permission to download this file. Please either login or create an account first. - II-V-I Patterns in C Pages 101 to 200 (1.9 MiB, 10,541 hits)
You do not have permission to download this file. Please either login or create an account first. - II-V-I Patterns in C Pages 201 to 289 (1.6 MiB, 10,586 hits)
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The Flute Collection
&G. Schirmer has a new series of books out called The Flute Collection. There are three books in the series, a Easy-Intermediate, Intermediate, and Intermediate-Advanced. These are excellent books. They come with a Flute and a Piano part, the CD (or CDs) come with full performance and accompaniment tracks. Caen Thomason-Redus on Flute and Elena Abend on Piano.
Plus, if you use the CDs on a computer (Mac or PC), you can run the included Amazing Slowdowner program on the tracks.
Transcriptions of Harold McNair Jazz Flute Solos
John Devitt wrote “Hello all, for those of you interested in studying jazz flute improvisation I’ve uploaded two MIDI files of transcribed solos of the late great jazz flautist Harold McNair to my website. If you don’t have a sequencer or notation program which can print out the solo part you can download the accompanying PDF files and print them out. The files are strictly for private study and may not be used for commercial purposes. On my homepage just scroll down to the MIDI files area. Hope you enjoy,and, of course, feedback is welcome.
Regards,
John Devitt http://home.hetnet.nl/~johmar/index.html“
Long Tone Exercises for Young Students . . .
harry63 writes “I teach flute lessons in my community and I am having the hardest time getting my younger students (grades 7-9) to practice their long tones. Their finger technique is excellent, but their tone leaves a lot to be desired. When I ask them I get the “but it’s so BORING” response. I have tried explaining the importance, but they don’t think it is necessary. Are there any suggestions on ways to implement long practicing without giving them boring exercises?”
Software For Flute Practicing
In the latest issue of The Flutist which I receive as being a member of the National Flute Association, there was an article about software for use in practicing and teaching. Here is a brief summary of it and some additions of my own.
The article, written by Joseph Manupello, is interesting, but has a number of errors. Lets start where he starts, with software Metronomes.
He mentions a program called Metronome 2.5 by Nick Baciu. I haven’t been able to find that program, but I did find a great Metronome/Tuner called Enable Tune 2.6 for windows that, for $19.95, does a good job at tuning and keeping time. For Mac people, there are a couple of Metronome programs. And there are programs out there for the Palm as well. I however think if you are going to practice, get a real metronome. Like the Boss Doctor Beat 66 which is great because it’s LOUD, accents downbeats, and does odd meters.
Mr. Manupello’s next section is on tuners, mainly the AP Instrument Tuner 1.02. It’s an interesting product, and there are similar products available for Windows and Macintosh. Cool, but…..why? Pitch is important, but…..this is insane. He even mentions that one of the things he likes about AP Tuner is that you can run two instances of the program (assuming you have 2 sound cards). Why? Personally, I’m amazed at the $30 digital tuners you can get. The keep getting smaller, and faster. My recommendation, get a Seiko or similar tuner. Makes sense, especially if you plan to play somewhere, like a GIG, where you won’t have your computer around.
Finally, Joseph Manupello gets down to business with taking about Spectrogram. Now, this program is very interesting. You can see visualizations of what you sound like. Compare it with other peoples’. Neat, but….thats about it. I don’t think I’d really use it.
Finally, Joseph Manupello ends with talking about Cool Edit. Cool edit allows you to record, edit, etc, etc yourself and your music. There are other programs as well that can do this, such as Soundforge (which I highly recommend) for the PC, and for the Macintosh, I wholeheartly recommend Sound Studio and Amadeus. Both are inexpensive and excellent programs.
The computer is a great tool, but I’ve found that it is best for recording, and composing/edit/printing music. I’ve found that owning a metronome and a tuner is invaluable. You can take them with you, whereever your playing takes you.
Studio Lesson Policies
If you don’t subscribe to the Flute List, then you should. They had some interesting posts about lesson policies going on. Here are a couple to ponder…..
How to Get My Tone Back Fast?
Ashley writes “I just started playing flute again after a 2 year break without playing at all. I played in the Symphony in college and believe that my technique is still there (for the most part, at least), but I have completely lost my tone. Any suggestions on how to get it back fast?Thanks!Ashley”