Hah, okay...

Things went quite well with my new flute last weekend. Now it's in my mother's hands until Christmas.. With an agreement that I have to pay the store my payment next month, but because I didn't budget buying anything this month, and she did realize the money I have to pay out between next month's payment and the down payment was kind of silly with Christmas approaching and tuition due unusually early.. I don't have to pay my half of the down until January, when my budget can better absorb it. :D

That said.. I've got my trusty old 2SP to play on for the next month until I start up lessons again, also in January.

One thing that I experienced last week and over the weekend was I totally wore myself out. My fingers absolutely refused to play what I told them to by Sunday night.. Nor did they particularily want to type, either. And my lips were starting to wear out as well. (I still cannot, for the life of me, remember how to spell emobesure. Oy. I am dyslexic, and spelling is an achillies heel for me.)

So.. I have all my old lesson books. My old private teacher had me work through the Rubank series from elementary to advanced II, supplementary studies, etc. I also still have a large collection of random music.. Things from movies, Christmas music, Disney music, etc.

It's.. Been awhile since I took this seriously. My mother still doesn't believe me when I say part of it was frustration from my old flute and hearing all the time that I sounded beautiful but... Based on my skill level something was off about my tone.

Anyone have any advice for me? I've been trying to work through my old Rubank books again. It's all still there, as I'm picking the technical exercises back up rather quickly, but I'm not sure I'm going about this the "right" way, since I seem to be tiring out.

How long is a good length to practice while building back up my stamina? Is there a different series of books I should try other than the Rubank books? I've seen advice for beginners before, but not a whole lot for people who were at a decent level wanting to get back to the point they were when they stopped playing regularily. I really don't want to get into lessons in January where I am now, tripping up over things I used to be able to play.. But, I don't want to go about building back up again in a manner that could be detrimental.

Yeah, it's been far too many years since I took this seriously.

There's no set amount of time you should play to build back up. Personally, I prefer not to play until I suffer discomfort, as this is probably the body's way fo telling you that you've overdone it. Practicing for small amounts of time (maybe 1/2 an hour to an hour), but more often, may be more useful. As for books, I'm a big fan of the Trevor Wye books (I recommend the Omnibus edition). They cover a great deal of material, and have tons of exercises and information.

Grab a copy of Melodious and Progressive Studies for flute, book 1 and have fun.

Here's a graded flute etude list though if you want to start collecting:
http://www.jennifercluff.com/etude.htm

And a slew of flute articles:
http://www.jennifercluff.com/articles.htm

Hi Jessie!
It's probably a good thing that you don't have your new flute yet, because you could really hurt yourself! If you play until it hurts, you are going to have to wait until your body heals and it doesn't hurt to play anymore, before you play again.

Playing 'through the pain' is a really, really bad idea and can lead to a permanent problem. It is best to avoid such nasty problems by STOPPING when you begin to feel fatigue. This goes for the LIPS as well as the fingers, hands, arms, neck, (ears...). If your lips' proper embouchure muscles are sore, you will begin doing things with the wrong muscles, like over-tightening, and create a problem that you will have to un-learn.

If you MUST play while you are so sore, keep it to 10 or 15 minutes a day for a while, until nothing is sore. Then build up by 5 minutes a day, to be safe. Once you get there, 45 minutes to an hour a day should be plenty- provided that you learn HOW and WHAT to practice for maximum learning.

Often, we play what sounds good to us, which is fun and flattering. Unfortunately, it doesn't do us much good, we aren't spending time learning something new, or solidifying those new skills. Think of yourself as a "Flute Practice Spell-Checker" of sorts- as you play, take note of what isn't easy, or doesn't come out quite right, and work on that.

OK, so you will be taking lessons next January. Do NOT worry about what you can or can't play- you are taking lessons to learn, and if you have to re-learn something, your teacher will not think less of you, nor will you be wasting anyone's time.

I would also recommend Trevor Wye's Omnibus Edition of Practice Books For The Flute. It is a bit expensive (good Christmas present...) but if I had to have only ONE 'method' book, this would be it. To say that it is thorough would be a really big understatement.

I came back to flute playing (I played in high school) at age 33. Good luck!

Thanks for the suggestions. :D Very much appreciated.

That's the thing - I realized that okay.. I keep going at this pace and I'm going to develop bad habits that I didn't have or I'm going to hurt something.

It does seem that a purchase of a new set of books, or at least one new book, is in order. It's interesting, the only place I think I've ever seen the Rubank books in use is my old music store. Have any of you ever used that series?

It's not so much that I'm worried about someone thinking less of me for not being able to play something, it's more, well.. Two things I think. One of them being I'm frustrated a bit with myself for not keeping up with all the technical stuff.. And the other is simply I don't want to waste time relearning things if they're just a matter of being out of shape. Sure, some stuff is probably I've forgotten the correct way to handle a passage, and that's fine. Other things really are simply being out of proper practice.

I actually have no flute to play right now. My boyfriend decided he was going to learn to play and he's got my scrap metal flute. It's disgusting, really, that he can actually get a note out of it. Then again, he minored in music and his primary instrument is the tuba... So it's not as if he is lacking air or anything. :P

My old 2SP.. Still in the shop. And I am *not* amused. It's been over a week since they promised me it would be fixed, and I've not even recieved a call telling me that they're unusually busy or anything. My mom was in there last Saturday, which was the latest date they said they'd have it by..

Yet, funny thing. When I was in there looking at flutes, the very same evening after my dad and I stopped in they called us. They'd pulled our phone number out of their records from when I took active lessons... Yet, I take my flute in, they write the number down on the repair slip, and not even a phone call of "sorry, it's taking a bit longer." I have tried calling them, and one call yielded a busy signal and another no answer. I think the second call was likely they were all either busy or I called off hours not knowing what altered hours for Thanksgiving week were.

So, my hands are feeling fine now.

Thanks for the suggestions. :D Very much appreciated.

That's the thing - I realized that okay.. I keep going at this pace and I'm going to develop bad habits that I didn't have or I'm going to hurt something.

It does seem that a purchase of a new set of books, or at least one new book, is in order. It's interesting, the only place I think I've ever seen the Rubank books in use is my old music store. Have any of you ever used that series?

It's not so much that I'm worried about someone thinking less of me for not being able to play something, it's more, well.. Two things I think. One of them being I'm frustrated a bit with myself for not keeping up with all the technical stuff.. And the other is simply I don't want to waste time relearning things if they're just a matter of being out of shape. Sure, some stuff is probably I've forgotten the correct way to handle a passage, and that's fine. Other things really are simply being out of proper practice.

I actually have no flute to play right now. My boyfriend decided he was going to learn to play and he's got my scrap metal flute. It's disgusting, really, that he can actually get a note out of it. Then again, he minored in music and his primary instrument is the tuba... So it's not as if he is lacking air or anything. :P

My old 2SP.. Still in the shop. And I am *not* amused. It's been over a week since they promised me it would be fixed, and I've not even recieved a call telling me that they're unusually busy or anything. My mom was in there last Saturday, which was the latest date they said they'd have it by..

Yet, funny thing. When I was in there looking at flutes, the very same evening after my dad and I stopped in they called us. They'd pulled our phone number out of their records from when I took active lessons... Yet, I take my flute in, they write the number down on the repair slip, and not even a phone call of "sorry, it's taking a bit longer." I have tried calling them, and one call yielded a busy signal and another no answer. I think the second call was likely they were all either busy or I called off hours not knowing what altered hours for Thanksgiving week were.

So, my hands are feeling fine now.

<Added>

Disregard this copy of the post. For some bizzare reason it gave me a database error.. And then, viola, double post.

i am confused. why don't you have your new flute? why does your mother have it?

My parents paid half of the down payment as my "main" Christmas present.

So, my mom let me keep it for a weekend, and then she took it until Christmas. There really is no arguing with my mother in situations such as this. I've been trying for twenty five years. I've learned it's best, at times, to cut my losses and realize that it will all work out in the end.

Jessie,
I hope that you have your flute back by now.

A couple of ideas in terms of finding a new method book:
First, phone your new flute teacher and see what she will want you to be using. This way, you won't spend money on something that you won't use after January.

Second, sometimes the more advanced etude books, method books, and orchestral excerpts come up for sale on eBay. They're usually quite a lot cheaper than new- I paid $5, including shipping, for an orchestral excerpts book that was originally $45 or so.

Third, the Trevor Wye series comes two ways: as Practice Book #1 For The Flute, Practice Book #2, etc- as separate editions, or as the Omnibus edition, spiral bound and weighing a ton. I think that Book #1, Tone, is the most recommended 'remedy' I have seen on any and all of the flute websites I have been to. Very likely, your teacher will have you doing exercises from this book. (She can very easily describe the exercise for you, and you can then practice without having to have the music.) Many of these exercises are not original to Mr. Wye, but he compiled them in a good format.

Hi -
I just started playing again at the age of 28 (too long!) and I found that I needed to do some basic stuff to get back into shape and then I've been able to transition into some more difficult, more interesting things. It's remarkable to me how much I've been able to pick up in a quick period of time. Anyway - good luck, and have fun with your new flute!

Well, I meet my potentially new instructor in the morning. The store has given me two lessons free of charge this month.

I've had my old 2SP back since Monday evening. It's.. Wierd, to say the least, honestly. All the frustrations I had with it before are even more pronounced now after having played the new flute for three days. Heh.

My mom is letting me take the new flute to my lesson, though.. And the guy who owns the store said if she didn't, he'd let me borrow a similar instrument for the lesson since I'm still getting used to playing open holed, and he really wants me to work with the instructor on that for a bit.. He doesn't want me tweaking something wrong after I get the new flute on Christmas, and then go disappear on a 10 day trip up to a friend's house.

I really like the store I bought the new flute from.

I never even got an apology from my old store on why they didn't call me when my old flute was fixed and ready for me to pick it up.