Big flute sheetmusic news for flute teachers

(click on jpeg to enlarge or use links below.)

Dear Flute teachers and students,

If you haven't yet heard about it, here is HUGE summer-of-2010 flute publishing news: yes, I must say....RUN don't WALK to buy this set of sheetmusic if you're a teacher or a flute student. Great repertoire! Great comprehensiveness! And no, I'm not related to the company in any way. Have a quick look:

The Overtones Series for flute grades prepatory to 8 at Frederick Harris Music Publishers. Click on FLUTE when you arrive at their site, and then to the complete Overtone series.

The Overtones series includes:

9 progressive volumes of essential Flute Repertoire (Preparatory to Level 8)
2 comprehensive volumes of engaging Flute Studies (Preparatory to Level 8)
11 quality Recordings packaged with each of the Repertoire and Studies books (Preparatory to Level 8)
1 cumulative volume of Flute Technique (Preparatory to Level 8)
1 indispensable compilation of Orchestral Excerpts (Level 2-ARCT)
Royal Conservatory 2010 Flute Syllabus for Examinations

Full index of Overtones Series: (page samples, complete descriptions.)

Full piano parts are included, and all the pieces in the sheetmusic volumes are recorded with flute and piano, then piano only on a separate track for playalong.
Plus, two of my teachers, plus one of my old friends from highschool, and other of my favourite flutists are ALL performing on the CDs in this series.
They are: Dianne Aitken, Susan Hoeppner, Nora Shulman, Douglas Stewart, and Jamie Thompson. Many more details can be found here at the RCM online newsletter.

Could this be any more exciting?

Did I mention "Run don't Walk"? What a terrific set of pieces, and so well performed.
Teachers will find years of valuable repertoire pieces here for their students, and students will find each book to be full of inspiring and beautiful music in all styles from Baroque, Classical, Romantic, to Contemporary.

Breathless with excitement over this brilliant sheetmusic publishing idea, and playing through them book by book.

Jen :>)

Christmas Carols for Flute Trio

Jen's Christmas Trios:
For students & teachers for that holly jolly time of year.
Very flutey writing... and they flow, almost by themselves!
Christmas Music for Flute Trio. Books 1, 2 & 3 for $25 in pdf.

Flute Trios for Christmas by Jen:

Please have a listen (live recording taken from a student-teacher trio last Christmas). Just press the little play button on the little player below and let it play as you read on.



These three volumes each create a 10 minute "set", totalling almost 30 minutes, for public performance or for holiday background music.

The three c-flute parts are equal in difficulty (novice to intermediate) and they are in concert order already. The movements are slow-fast-slow-fast, to keep the audience dancing and singing along, and there are several unusually beautiful minor carols that bewitch and cause everyone to be slightly awe-struck. Just what you want in a flute concert!
These magical trios are also sight-readable for professional concerts and quick to put together. Printed in score form, everyone can watch the other flute parts as the countermelodies weave. Dynamics and phrasing are clearly marked. All parts are equal in quality. Solos appear in each part in turn. Practice mp3s are available.

The three books contain the following Christmas Carols in concert sets.

Book I
1. The Holly & the Ivy
2. The Huron Carol
3. Sussex Carol
4. The Little Drummer Boy
5. Hark the Herald Angels Sing

Book II
6. Good King Wencesles
7. O Little Town of Bethlehem
8. Coventry Carol
9. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen

Book III
10. Pat a Pan
11. Lo How a Rose E'er Blooming
12a. Angels we have heard on High
12b. Adeste Fideles

The above Christmas Trio books are $25 for all three together sent as pdf sheetmusic. Just send me an email to let me know what you're ordering, then send $25 using the orange/yellow donate button on any of my webpages, or click here to paypal and write a message in your paypal form: http://www.jennifercluff.com/donate.htm.

Make the Paypal payable to jen(at)jennifercluff (dot) com

And do you need practice tracks?

If you and your trio need practice mp3s let me know. It's possible for flute teachers to email to your students mp3s of these carols for preparation, just add $3 (total: $28 for sheetmusic and mp3s) and I'll send you all the trios in mp3. They are played by midi using Sibelius at A-440. They're great for prep beforehand for students; they can practice their parts in advance of rehearsal.

Have a listen to excerpts from Books II & III practice tracks; they pre-tune your trio members! :>)



The Sheetmusic:

Here are some page samples of the pdf sheetmusic. You can click on each one to enlarge it, then use back button to return here.

Send me an email at jen(at)jennifercluff (dot) com with your order, pay with paypal, and then I'll send the pdf sheetmusic for your flute trio as soon as possible.

Enjoy!

Best, Jen
P.S.

Oh yes!

My favourite published flute trio is Christensen's arrangement of "Carol of the Bells" which will should be orderable at places like Fluteworld although I don't find it there right now.

A great duet and solo version of Carol of the Bells is in Howard Vance's Christmas Duet book which is super useful in lessons too, because it has so many duets that are "novice-intermediate". Vance also has other ethnic holiday books for flute duet with enchanting Jewsih melodies. Just great for lessons in deep Folk flute!

My favourite free online Christmas music trios are the Boismortier Flute Trios No. 1 and 5. Of the five trios, these two are the brightest and most festive for use as background music or concert material for teachers and students.

Kummer Trios and standard Nutcracker arrangements can also good for background or showpiece music for a holiday gig for a professional trio; we usually interspersed classical trios with the above well-loved Christmas Carols. (we had to play in a castle once for three hours worth of 40 minute sets. Imagine!) But all these are good for long sets at Christmas time! Enjoy!

Do comment, those with titles of other good quality flute trios and quartets that they highly recommend. I'm interested in the "good stuff" as well. :>)
P.P.S.
Please do give the Celtic Trios a listen too when you're planning holiday trio concerts.
Trios for C-flutes, the Celtic "Flutzalad" Suites arranged by Jen are also available (which also work well for Christmas concerts; lively and fun): Here they are to listen to and to see the parts.
Scarborough Fair, Mari's Wedding, Dream of Arren, Mirielle by Gounod, The Morris Dance, Road to Listovaria. All these jigs and folk tunes are great for festive performances.

Lesson over-lapping Trios:

Another use is forming trio groups from students who are overlapping their lessons by ten minutes. A teacher plus two students can play easy-to-read music or pre-prepare using mp3s of the trios. All these trios come with mp3s for pre-practicing. The individual flute parts then weave together beautifully on the first read for teachers/pro-players, but there is endless possibility to play them with even greater musicianship.

So, thanks everyone who's ordering these, and let's make MUSIC !

Best, Jen

Part 3 - 10 Things I wish I'd Known

Continued from part 2 with boxed text by Charles Noble, additional text and illustrations by Jen Cluff.

Charles Noble, Associate Principal Viola in the Oregon Symphony, has a very interesting blog about local musical life called The Noble Viola.
A few months ago he was asked by the Portland Youth Orchestra to write something for their on-line newsletter that he wanted to pass on to young musicians.
He put out a call on his blog for musicians to send in their suggestions of Things They Wished They Had Known as a Young Musicians. He consolidated, edited, and reworded them for 10 Things I wish I'd known as a Young Musican.

Part 3 - 10 Things I wish I'd known as a Young Musician.

7. Choose aspiration over competition. It’s easy to be competitive - sometimes it’s even fun - but it can go too far. It’s easy to let it go to the dark side. Resist that temptation. You want to play more notes faster than the other guy. Louder. Higher. Whatever. Instead trying to tear someone down, look at what it is that they do that you like, and try to figure out how to integrate it into your own playing. Listen to recordings of the great players or singers and try to figure out what they do that makes them unique. YouTube is a boon, because there are all sorts of videos of artists new and old, and it is very possible to learn a lot from viewing them. Good teachers take the time to point out great players that can be learned from, and often will loan a student recordings or videos, or even have their studio watch or listen to them as a group. The main point is, make your quest to be better a positive thing. There will always be someone better than you, and always someone less good, and it’s something you should always keep in mind.

Jen adds: If you research the nature of humans and animals, competition is hard-wired into our biology. You can only put it to creative use and redirect the urge to compete and win so that you foster good relations with your teachers, peers, and fellow musicians. Good relationships are 50% of the "luck" that you need to do well in the music world. The other 50% is hard work on honing your skills. So only compete against yourself, and give a sunny smile to all fellow musicians. You're much smarter this way. If you're really revved up to compete, you can do so in the privacy of your own practice space: record yourself practicing and performing and compare these recordings to professional recordings, if you really want to hone in on your skills quickly. Youtube, a free recording program called Audacity, and a mini-disc or mp3 recorder are all you need to cut and splice together your home recordings and professional recordings. This is a very intelligent way to work, and so fun to get the competitive urge and do something CREATIVE with it!

8. Diversify: learn about other art forms. When I was in high school and college I was always interested in lots of stuff other than music. I built models, took photographs, rode my bike, read tons of books. Aside from the outside activities, it’s also very valuable to learn about the other fine arts from the time periods of the music that you’re working on. When I was in undergrad at the University of Puget Sound, there was a lot of coursework outside of the music program, and writing was stressed through the entire curriculum. My final senior paper was about Schoenberg and the Blaue Reiter Almanach, which took an entire semester to research and write, and coincided with a chamber group of mine doing Schoenberg’s Transfigured Night. I found that being exposed to the entirety of what Schoenberg’s great artistic school was up to at that time very helpful in trying to figure out how to present the piece. When listening to lieder, for example, you might want to read more of the poetry by the poet whose words are set by the composer. Or you might want to take in a play related to a work you’re performing, or that’s contemporaneous to the work you’re studying. Music doesn’t exist in a vacuum, it’s part of a greater artistic and social movement, and so too should you.

Jen adds: If you live a little, if you travel, if you get out of your home town and learn about the big world that's out there, you bring the life-stories and accompaning deepening of your world view back to your music making. If you dance, if you sing, if you act, if you sculpt, paint or write, you bring the depth of character and your own ability to express your stories to an audience back to your music. I once heard of a little turn-of-the-century book by a Singer named Yvette Gilbert who'd written a manual on how to convey a profound message and all human emotion through singing. Gilbert wrote a five page RANT of the most beautiful quality about how singers need to "get out there and live life; visit museums, art galleries, gather in groups along the Seine; drink coffee in cafes, listen to poetry, dance, hike, run, sleep, and fall in love with the landscapes by rivers and mountains...." ...all incredibly healthy advice.
It cracked me up (seriously up) that even in 1898 Gilbert is "tired of wan-faced singing students who only lurk in practice rooms, and coddle their voices, and never live life, as when they do finally sing, they have nothing to say!"
This is still true today.
You have to live life richly in order to convey a life's riches to an audience.
Getting involved in all the arts is one of the best ways to do this when you're at school and beyond. (Note: I'll try and dig up those Gilbert quotes. Hilarious and rich! I typed them out at the time, because the little hardcover book had to go back to interlibrary loan, and it was rare and fragile).

9. Learn the business of music. This can never begin too early. If you do wedding or occasional gigs, learn to draft a contract to cover the eventualities of things going awry. The musical portion of an event is often the last to be hired, and there is almost never time to get things staked out much in advance. In addition, learn how to write a good, attractive resume. Make sure that you know how to use online social media to your advantage: put up videos of your playing on YouTube (but only if it’s really good), set up a fan page on Facebook with photos and audio files, and set up a Twitter account related to your performing activities. The possibilities are virtually limitless, and as the generation that is the first to be fully immersed in these new media formats, you have the power to make them work for you. This is such an important arena that such formerly conservative institutions as Juilliard, Curtis and Eastman are adding curricula that address self-promotion and survival in this new media landscape.

Jen adds: I'm not much of a business person, but I've learned one thing:

David Cutler's book "The Savvy Musician" is the one book you absolutely MUST read if you're going to do anything in the music business in 2010.
Fabulous, outstanding, brilliant. The Savvy Musican Blog is great to.
Run don't walk, and get ahold of this book!

10. Love what you do - and remember to nurture that love. When you’re young and just finding your way, your relationship with music is passionate and full of zest and ardor. Over time, setbacks and the less positive side of the business (and it is, ultimately, a business built on an art form) can make one become lazy, jaded, and cynical. It’s easy to forget that you used to love the Beethoven Fifth Symphony after you’ve played it a dozen times or more. That’s why it’s so important to nurture the basic love for music and performing that you have right now. Spend time regularly investing in that initial stock of love that you have for music, and it will sustain you over the long haul.

Written by: Charles Noble, Oregon Symphony Assistant Principal viola. Charles Noble keeps his own blog rolling at: www.nobleviola.com. Check there for interesting insights into the Oregon Symphony, the orchestral world at large and the life of a professional musician.

Jen adds: Luckily, I cannot stop loving music making. So this last one is just a reminder to talk to other optimistic, kind and loving musicians if ever you feel the need to re-discover your love of music.
Loneliness in the practice room (for decades at a time----dear me.....oh doh!) is common, and all you have to do is reach out; form a chamber group, a duo, and play with friends.
Keep exploring, keep the love alive.
Music is our souls singing to eachother. Let them sing on!!

I hope you enjoyed these items and the pictures.
If so, just comment using the comment button below, and add your own stories.
I love this topic!!

Best,
Jen

Return to read Part 1 and 2 of 10 Things I wish I'd Known as a Young Musician:

part 1

part 2

Part 2 - 10 Things I wish I'd Known

Continued from part 1 boxed text by Charles Noble, additional text and illustrations by Jen Cluff.

Charles Noble, Associate Principal Viola in the Oregon Symphony, has a very interesting blog about local musical life called The Noble Viola.
A few months ago he was asked by the Portland Youth Orchestra to write something for their on-line newsletter that he wanted to pass on to young musicians.
He put out a call on his blog for musicians to send in their suggestions of Things They Wished They Had Known as a Young Musicians. He consolidated, edited, and reworded them for 10 Things I wish I'd known as a Young Musican.

Part 2 - 10 Things I wish I'd known as a Young Musician.

4. Keep busy, and do a variety of things.

CN: This was a hard one for me to learn. When I joined the Oregon Symphony I was consumed by the demands of my first full-time professional job, but I also played chamber music, filled in with Third Angle New Music Ensemble, played recitals and concertos with various orchestras, and in general stayed busy and kept my workload varied. Variety is the spice of life, they say, and it’s very true in the musical world. The main advantage of variety is that each different sort of music-making that you do will reinforce the other. Playing in orchestra demands ensemble skills, which are reinforced by playing chamber music. Solo playing demands the height of preparation and rigorous performance standards, which benefit all of your other playing, and so on. In addition, do things outside of music. I cycle, read, blog, and cook regularly, and this makes my life more balanced and enjoyable. Sure, I still live for my music, but music is just a part of my life, not my entire life.

Jen adds: I too got caught up in round-the-clock-practicing and fretting when involved in both a heavy orchestral schedule with difficult repertoire, and two teaching jobs at the same time. The mind needs to rest and have other hobbies, or else it can become neurotic. Choose mental health over fretting and fatigue, that's my motto now. You only have ONE mental health so feed it with lots of fresh air, sunshine and delightful diversions within your demanding schedule.

5. Respect your elders and those who have more experience than you do.

CN: In music school there are various classes of musicians, but most often it boils down to two: those who can really play, and everyone else. This is all well and good in school, where there is often an unhealthy obsession with competition. In the real world, however, it’s not always about who plays the most accurately. That old guy in the back of the violins might not shred like you do, but he might have played under Copland or Stravinsky, and would have some great stories to tell. He also, chances are, knows pretty much every standard work that an orchestra plays, and would have a wealth of information about bowings and fingerings to share should you hit it off. Plus, it’s just a matter of manners. Be respectful to those who have gone before you. This is a relatively rare thing to encounter these days, and if you adopt these manners, you will distinguish yourself from the crowd.

Jen adds: I recall that conductor Benjamin Zanders makes a point about this this, regarding the respect we should cultivate for those more experienced than ourselves in the wide world of music. Zanders mentioned that he puts a blank piece of paper on every member of his orchestra's music stand at every rehearsal and invites feedback, comments, and points of interest and improvement. He says, who knows? I could be conducting Bach when there is a Bach specialist right in front of me sitting at the back of the violas; I'd love to get their expertise and help.

I wish all conductors and music edcuators welcomed input. Very often there is indeed an older more experienced expert in our midst, or even a very wise, perspicacious young student. They simply need to be invited and welcomed to share their experience with us. We're constantly learning if we stay open to everyone's expertise at all times.


6. Be a sponge, not a faucet.

CN: Most of the great musicians, artists, and people in the world have one thing in common: they are constantly learning from the world around them. This is especially important for a young musician. Every new concert, rehearsal, or gig is an opportunity to learn something. You might have played the Dvorák cello concerto several times, but did you ever really pay attention to that second oboe part at the beginning of the second movement? It’s cool, and wicked hard to pull off. Listen to how good wind players phrase - try to emulate that if you’re a string player or pianist. Listen to how great singers phrase - everyone should try to aspire to that kind of phrasing. As you learn more, resist the temptation to spew your advanced state of knowledge all over your colleagues. You will quickly earn a reputation as a blow-hard, and no one will every take you seriously again. Seriously.

More to come in Part 3.

Best,
Jen

Part 1 - 10 Things I wish I'd known

Charles Noble, Associate Principal Viola in the Oregon Symphony, has a very interesting blog about local musical life called The Noble Viola.
A few months ago he was asked by the Portland Youth Orchestra to write something for their on-line newsletter that he wanted to pass on to young musicians.
He put out a call on his blog for musicians to send in their suggestions of Things They Wished They Had Known as a Young Musicians. He consolidated, edited, and reworded them for 10 Things I wish I'd known as a Young Musican.

With Mr. Noble's permission, I'm excerpting the article below, and adding illustrations and comments from my own musical life.

Ten Things I Wish I'd Known as a Young Musician

CN: When it comes to most things in life, there isn’t much of an advantage of being older except for one thing: experience. When you live longer, you have more experiences, both good and bad. When I was in high school, and even college, there were many things that I know now that I wish I’d known back then. Here’s my top ten list of things that I wish I’d known when I was a young musician.

1. Quality Practicing is far better than mindless practicing.


(Illustrations copyright Jennifer Cluff 2010)

CN:Practicing isn’t a matter of how many hours you put in, but how many good hours you put in. It’s quality, not quantity. Practicing intelligently is something that my best teachers instilled in me, and it’s vital if you’re going to survive in the professional world. You don’t always have months to prepare your repertoire, and after school is over other demands will fill in the open spaces, and being able to be efficient in your practicing will pay for itself many times over. Trust me on this one.

Jen adds: I remember Trevor Wye commenting on the net that one of the reasons he wrote his TONE book was because as a student himself on a night before a flute masterclass he heard a fellow student playing longtones on the hotel balcony that were blasty, airy and dispairy. ;>) Could it be possible that a flutist would do longtones every day that actually taught them to play with the WORST possible tone?

Hopefully we all have heard the phrase "It's better to play a single note with beautiful tone and musical direction than to cover pages of exercises with poor tone and dubious fingers", and it is true. The longer you play music, the more true it becomes. After 30 or more years practicing, you'll know for sure that it's true. So trust us all on this one. Practice only the most beautiful notes in the world. Make every second count; make every moment full quality.

2. Balanced posture and instrument holding are very important to your development as a musician.

CN: Your body is also your instrument - learn how it works and take care of it. I cannot stress this enough. Every year I see high school aged musicians who are suffering from overuse injuries (see #1 above) that might have been avoided with some basic knowledge of how the mechanics of playing their instrument affect their physical well-being. A book of stretches is essential: daily stretching before practice and rehearsals can absolutely save your future career. I recommend the classic book Stretching by Bob Anderson. There are also such disciplines as the Feldenkrais Method or Alexander Technique that can help you become aware of your body and its motions that can be extremely helpful both before and after an injury happens.

Jen adds: I've had some very intelligent teenage students who don't really believe that injury can happen to them (especially those that play both piano and flute). Finally I came up with an explanation that seemed to get through to them. I said: "Teachers don't just make up posture and instrument holding advice to be rigourous and drill-sargent-like, you know. :>) The advice comes because we have hurt ourselves, and we want you to avoid the injuries that wasted years for us!"

3. Slag not, yest ye be slagged.

CN: Being professional is a 24 hour job. When I was in school, we used to have a phrase that described this: The Conservatory Curse. If you were talking trash about someone else’s performance, chances are they were standing right behind you - no matter where you were. What to do? Don’t talk trash about or to other musicians. You never know when or where you’ll run into them again - they might be in a position to help your career later on when you least expect it, and chances are they won’t be in a charitable mood if you’ve been rude to them. I had a teacher who was at the very pinnacle of his profession who I never, ever heard utter an unkind word about anyone, either personally or professionally. It’s a standard that I strive to attain myself, and the old saw that one catches more flies with honey than vinegar is absolutely true.

Jen adds: I had a flambuoyant theory professor once who used to get pretty excited about the lastest opera, cast, costumes, voices and interps. He'd colourfully act out the singers, and discredit the costumers for allowing molting ostrick feather boas on opening night, and quite enjoyed himself on the topic.

One day, on the way to his class, walking up to the music school, I did what I thought was a perfect imitation of him, with fellow students laughing along. I said: "And GUESS what she was WEARING??!!" and suddenly a voice came from beside me all breathless: "WHAT was she wearing?"...and, you guessed it, it was the theory professor. And I might add he didn't even know who I was talking about, because I'd only been imitating his voice on a randomly chosen sentence. I said: "Oh sorry, I was doing an imitation of YOU!"
We laughed it off, but the person who you're slagging may in fact be standing behind you, or may be in your future, so hold onto your mirth and your condemnation when with colleagues...yes indeed.
Also avoid the constant slagger who does so from a competitive and disrespecting place; they'll slag others in front of you, and then turn around and slag you in front of others. With a constant musician slagger no one is safe, including them.
Be happy; be giving; be generous; keep slagging power plays from prolificating.

More to come in next post Part 2. And huge thanks to Charles Noble for his permission to reprint here. Well done!

Best,
Jen