Throat Tuning on the Flute

  Singing and playing together helps open and resonate the sound, place the embouchure, and control the air quantity. It can be used as a warm up or extended technique as in Ian Clarke's The Great Train Race or in Jazz, as in Roland Kirk! 

If you want to beatbox flute like Greg Patillo, this will help. I can't teach you how to beatbox, but this will help you combine your beatbox with the flute!

This technique is also discussed on the second embouchure flexibility video of fluteloophost and in Robert Dick's Tone Development through Extended Techniques. See Robert Dick’s new videos on this technique below! He is the master.

Recognize great art when you hear it?

Violinist Joshua Bell participates in a social experiment. Read the full article here.

I received the information below in an email and I had to share it with you!

-Nina

A  Violinist in the Metro

A  man sat at a Metro station in Washington, D.C. and started to play the  violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it  was calculated that thousands of people went through the station,  most of them on their way to work.

Three  minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was musician  playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried on to meet his schedule.

A  minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman  threw the money in the till and without stopping, continued to  walk.

A  few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to  him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again.  Clearly he was late for work.

The  one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother  tagged him along, hurried but the kid stopped to look at the  violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued  to walk turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by  several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced  them to move on.

In  the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and  stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk  their normal pace. When he finished playing and  silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was  there any recognition.

No  one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best  musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces  ever written with a violin worth 3.5 million  dollars.

Two  days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a  theater in Boston and the seats averaged  $100.

This  is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the Metro  station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social  experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people.   The  outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate  hour. Do  we perceive beauty? Do  we stop to appreciate it? Do  we recognize the talent in an unexpected  context?

One  of the possible conclusions from this experience could  be:

If  we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best  musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how  many other things are we  missing?

What makes a true artist?

Watch the video to hear my thoughts on this issue, and then click the links below to hear what these great flutists...I mean, ARTISTS have to say, and learn from their pearls of wisdom. Then feel free to leave your comments below.

Christine Beard

Leone Buyse

Bradley Garner

Greg Pattillo

Ali Ryerson

Horace Alexander Young

Click here for some interesting additional thoughts by Leone Buyse.

Trio Sonatas for Two Flutes / Julius Baker / Bradley Garner

For Roland Lietzenmayer

For Roland

April 13, 1961-March 21, 2008

Roland was one of the first flutists I met through my REAL FLUTE project on youtube. He was a regular contributor the Galway Flute Chat and often posted youtube video performances of flute duets with his lovely young daughter.  His positive energy and enthusiasm made him a cherished friend to flutists worldwide.   To read a message from Roland’s sister following his death, click here. I performed the Astor Piazzolla Tango Etude No. 4 in Roland's memory as a tribute to his sprit and to thank him for the support he gave me as I began my REAL FLUTE project.

Following Roland’s death, flutist Catherine LeGrand commissioned composer Rick Arnest to write a flute quartet to be played at Roland’s memorial service. Le Tombeau de Roland: per aspera ad astra is a lovely piece and I recently had the pleasure to give the work’s North American premiere at Trinity Episcopal Church in Covington, Kentucky. You can hear a recording of the performance by Dr. Nina Perlove, Ashley Steffen, JoAnne Loftus, and Dr. Rodney Hill by clicking here.

You can get the score by clicking here.

You can get composer’s notes by clicking here.

My new flute!

I have a new flute!!!

And it makes me want to practice everything!

It is a Sankyo K14-3 ST

14K Gold head, body and foot

sterling silver keys and mechanism

RT1 headjoint cut

C# trill

offset G

open hole

B foot

d# roller

NEL mechanism

Watch the video to hear me practicing it.

In case you are wondering, here is what I am practicing:

Excerpts from:

JS Bach                         Partita in a minor

Taffanel and Gaubert     Daily Exercises #4

James Galway               LongtonesReichert                         Scales

Telemann                       Fantasy in Bb

Berbiguier                     Study No. 1

Taffanel and Gaubert     Daily Exercises #4

Telemann                       Fantasy in Bb

Koehler                         Op. 33 Etude No. 1

Donjon                          Etudes de Salon No. 1

Hindemith                      Eight Pieces No. 1

Dvorak                          Symphony No. 8

Hindemith                      Eight Pieces No. 2

Prokofiev                       Peter and the Wolf

Jolivet                           Chant de Linos

Traditional                     Twinkle Twinkle (Ah je dirai vous maman)

Jolivet                           Chant de Linos

Mendelssohn                 Midsummer Night’s Dream

Jolivet                           Chant de Linos

CPE Bach                      Sonata in a minor

How do I articulate this passage with pickup sixteenths?

I received this question by email today from Luciano Cassia:

dear Ms Perlove,

I follow with great interest your lessons on Youtube. I have a doubt about staccato in a piece of Moyse (25 Melodious Studies with variations Moderately difficult) NR 16 first variation,. I scan the page and I put three different solutions. Would you please tell me the right one ?

Thank you for your help

Luciano

Nina’s Answer

The second choice is the best because you will always have a T (tongue) stroke landing ON the beat, and the K stroke for the pickup, while maintaining a nice double tongue for clarity (never having two tongue strokes next to each other). I hope that helps, Luciano!

Upon Listening to the Flute: Korean Impressions for Flute and Orchestra

                              

On May 5, 2008 at 7:30 pm I will be playing  the world Premiere of Philip Koplow’s “Upon Listening to the Flute: Korean Impressions for Flute and Orchestra” with the Greater Miami Youth Orchestra, Director Paul Stanbery.  Phil approached me in the summer of 2007 with the interest of writing a work for me with orchestra, and I was intrigued by his desire to incorporate Korean poetry and lullabyes into the work.  I hope you will join me for the concert at Garfield Middle School, 250 Fair Ave., in Hamilton, Ohio.  Free to the Public.

Here is an excerpt from Linked Verse by Five Poets (1442) which inspired the composer:

Where does it come from, the sound of a flute,

At midnight on a blue-green peak

        Song Sammun

Shaking the moonlight, it rings high,

Borne by the wind, it carries afar

        Yi Kae

Clear and smooth like a warbler’s song,

The floating melody rolls downhill.

        Sin Sukuchu

I listen - a sad melody stirs my heart,

I concentrate - it dispels my gloom.

        Pak P’aengnyon

Always, ever, a lover looks in the mirror,

And, amid vibrant silence, night deepens in the hills.

        Yi Sokhyong

Above: Here is a wonderful example of Korean flute.    
Left: Nina and Phil Koplow after the concert