I haven't been on here in a while, so an update. Thanks for the help with dd's sonata solo. She came home with three #1's at solo/ensemble contest with the solo and two ensembles! Her solo judge said she needed a private tutor immediately.

The problem is we live in the boonies and the nearest city is nearly 2 hours away. Another concern is the $$$. I can't afford a private teacher and then the gas for weekly trips that far especially if she's not going to pursue a music career. Does anyone have any suggestions? Where does one find a really good teacher? Friends travel to the city weekly to a private teacher recommended by the "best" music store (or is it the "only" one now?) in the city and they got 2's and 3's at solo/ensemble contest so that's obviously not where I want to go. There's a couple retired folks around here who teach but let's face it, she'd be better off on her own. There's a couple of colleges which I thought about asking, but didn't know.

Another option would be have a "qualified" person listen to her a couple times before contest or is that frowned upon?

It is possible, even in the boonies, (I live just West of the Boonies) that there would be a talented musician that could help your daughter. Now, perhaps their instrument is violin, or bassoon, or something, but some help from a gifted musician and teacher would be better than none. Listening for phrasing, intonation, rhythm, interpretation all can be taught without having to play the same instrument.
I think your daughter would benefit from having a flute-specific teacher, though. Possibly she could do a monthly trip, with some sort of summer camp when school is out. Your two-hours-away city might not be the place to go based on what you said, but possibly there is another really good flutist who takes on only one or two students at a time, and not just everyone who comes along. I would talk to any nearby University music department, they should be able to help you with this.

<Added>

Oh, hey, and ask the solo/ensemble judges how you could go about finding your daughter a teacher!

Before the contest, I would not ask for help/listening directly from the judges, but afterwards should be fine.

"There's a couple of colleges which I thought about asking, but didn't know."

Why not ask the flute teacher at a college about it if it is your only option? They may be able to teach this student or they may have a good lead.

<Added>

"There's a couple retired folks around here who teach but let's face it, she'd be better off on her own."

Why? Are they bad because they are retired or old? In music, one keeps learning in spite of age. I would not necessarily recommend a retired band director unless they are a flutist first. Just because they can get some notes out does not mean they know the flute. If I coud have taken lessons from the likes of a Marcel Moyse after he "retired" I guarantee that I would have done so in a flash.

"Another option would be have a "qualified" person listen to her a couple times before contest or is that frowned upon?'

Not at all. But wouldn't that constitute a lesson? That qualified person would be teaching and they should probably get paid for listening unless they just listen and don't coach.

If a contestant gets a 2 or a 3 at contest, you have to determine if it's the student's fault or the teacher's fault. As an example, does a teacher's students generally get 1's, 2's or 3's or is that student one of their less musical ones?

I have a flute student that also takes piano lessons from another teacher. This year she performed a flute, piccolo and piano solo. The Flute (Class A=1) the Piccolo (Class A-1) the Piano (Class B=4) The 4 in the Piano was an odd fluke because this piano teacher is very good. I would say that the 4 was because the student only could practice every other week at home. -broken home and only one house has a piano in it. It was not the teacher's fault.

I think that under normal circumstances, your college profs are a good source to find a good teacher.

I don't recall ever stating I was looking for a poor fool I could rip off their time and knowlege. None of the local music teachers haven't the slightest idea what e/s competition is and as far as I know there's no working or retired concert flutist within reasonable driving distance.

Looking at the scores from last weekend, the few kids with private teachers scored worse than those who learned the music on their own. It could be the kids who learned on their own wanted it more whereas the ones with teachers were being force to play by their parents. Then again, it might also be the poor quality of the teacher and/or that two (yes, two) didn't even bother showing up to be their students' accompanist and another called to say they'd be late which flustered the student and messed her schedule. Sorry, I can't give you an answer to why that was.

I'll check with the university and see if they have someone. Thanks.

I'll tell you have I had to go through to get private lessons.

I live about, 45 minutes away from my private teacher (she teaches from home) so I get her latest time which is 8:00PM every tuesday. From what I told, she's one of the best in Florida, so It's worth the trip.

What I did was that I started to play at my church because I really wanted to, and I wanted to get used to preforming. So every Thursday I'd go to the youth choir practice and every sunday I'd play flute with them. After about two months, around christmas, I was in desperate need for a flute teacher (and the only one I knew around the area was the one far away) and I couldn't afford it, neither could my dad. So, I asked the preist who was just in love with the fact that there were was a flute playing, and he asked one of the organizations that are part of the church to sponser me for the lessons and the gas money.

So, the very first tuesday of 2007, I started lessons and have taken them ever since.

So, getting a sponser could be a way to get the money for the trip. As for finding the teacher, see if your daughter could ask anyone in her band class if they are taking private lessons or ask the band director. That's what I did.

Hi,
I would check either with the colleges or orchestras in the closest town. It would certainly be worth a try. I know that my daughter's teacher offered to work with a friend of my daughter just for a couple of lessons to help them get ready for solo & ensemble.
Kim

what the heck is solo and ensemble???

It's a festival/competition where small ensembles (quartets, quintets, octets...That kind of thing) and soloists perform for scores as given by anywhere from 1-3 judges. In many of them, if you get a high enough score, you're able to go to a higher level of competition and try again. They're a great way to gain performance experience without all the pressure associated with a full on recital or major competition.

1-3?

Poor, Fair, Good, Excellent, And Superior. That's 1-5

Unless it's different from where you're from, or you just didn't count Poor and Fair.

"
1-3?
Poor, Fair, Good, Excellent, And Superior. That's 1-5
Unless it's different from where you're from, or you just didn't count Poor and Fair.
"

That's 1-3 judges giving out scores.
Solos and Ensembles are generally judged by one person here.
I believe that the band contests are judged by more than one judge.

In my state it's Poor=5, Fair=4, Good=3, Excellent=2, And Superior=1
These ratings are clarified with a description and the player gets comments on their specific issues, good or bad.

Technically in Ohio it's called an adjudicated event. Meaning only that the players are being judged. It isn't really a competition because the students are not generally playing the same pieces.

this is like auditioning for the all new england festival on voice...you can have quartets and if the entire quartet meets the solo bass cut off then the bass gets in...if the entire quartet meets the solo tenor cut off then the tenor and the bass get in...so on and sooo foorrtth. sooo what is the final goal? participation in an ensemble? im pretty sure we dont have this here...only regionals, all states,all new england and all eastern. unless im missing something haha.

but to stick to the topic of the thread...my teacher is a clarinet player. even though he doesnt play flute mainly he has been a valuable source of musical knowledge and i owe the possible reality of going to indiana university as a flute performance major (i find out in a couple weeks) to him (and my hard work because what good is a teacher if the student doesnt work?) so if there are no flute players specifically around...still see what you have to work with in the way of a more general woodwind specialist.

also i find it odd that the kids who didnt have teachers scored better than the kids who did...here you dont have any sort of chance of getting into regionals if you dont study privately. again...i might be missing something

In regards to learning a solo without a teacher.
There may be situations where this could work as described.

It would be my guess that sometimes in certain areas where good private teachers are hard to find, the kids can get hold of a solo and learn it up to a standard that can pass off as acceptable to a judge. They may be teaching each other on this one piece or they may be getting some coaching from a band director. A band director can select the same solo (or a small number of easily maneageable solos) for the kids without teachers, give them a recording (or Smart Music) and send them off to "learn it".

This reminds me of a situation that I had once wheer a mother wanted her daughter to learn "the Flute" so that the girl could have a talent for winning beauty contests. What the mother wanted was the student to learn one solo. Nothing else. After the mother realized that I was going to teach the flute and not one solo, the mother said that they were going to have to find another talent.

I have heard of teachers who only teach one solo to all of the students in one grade. In Ohio this would mean that the teacher stagnates their expertice into 6 solos. (7th grade through 12th grade)

Any of the above scenarios "Could Work" to get a student a decent review at Solo and Ensemble but they promote a musical education which is less than acceptable in my mind as a educator because it leaves the student thinking that they have learned music well. Kind of like me saying that because I 've learned that 2+2=4 then I'm a math wizz.

On the other hand, bad private teachers abound because there really isn't a universal standard (in the U.S. at least) where a private teacher needs to meet certain requirements to be able to teach anything. Some adults and some kids teach music that don't have much experience or skill.

wow. that's ridiculous about the pageant thing.

and to people who audition for marks assuming that a high mark is automatically an indication of your level of musicianship...it's not. it doesnt matter what your score is if that is that is the only piece you can play well or if you don't apply the concepts tackled using it to other pieces. that is what a teacher is necessary for...to teach the musical concepts. if a lesson teacher is teaching piece by piece ...get a new lesson teacher. yes, in my lessons we worked on a piece and another piece as repetoire building, but i learned so much about playing music in general in the process...we didn't just go through the mechanics of each piece and when we were finished with it...move on to a completely new set of mechanics. i'd taken what i learned in the past month or so and applied it to this new piece while ever gaining new knowledge. if my teahcer tells me how to shape a phrase in one piece and i set it aside and am lost as to shaping phrases in another...what has been accomplished in my lessons?

in part lessons are for learning the specifics of a piece to audition with, but if you are not gaining anything else...why are you wasting your time? you wont be able to go any further with it. the purpose of studying privately is to become a better musician. to be able to interpret music and start thinking about all the concepts to be able to apply them in whatever music you are playing. if you become a better musician you will automatically get the better marks along with a greater appreciation and body of knowledge instead of having only the high mark and nothing else.

and i totally agree with that being less than acceptable for an educator to do. it frustrates me when people dont really knokw what they want to do with their life and so choose to become a music teacher ...because really it is an extremely difficult job to be good at. ive seen a ridiculous amount of mediocre to terrible band directors who just became band directors because they didnt know what else to do with their life and the kids suffer for it. or they wanted to be performers and "failed" and are "settling" for a teaching job. i could go on and on about this...but since this thread is unrelated to that issue i wont.