December 2021
Now we have reached the end of the year. This time the review is worthy of its name.
The new flute has been my best companion for some time now. And I continue to be in love with her. I like her so much and I am not a bit ashamed of my childish enthusiasm for the instrument. She enriches my life and I probably annoy quite a few people because I'm always raving about her.
I like to practise regularly. There are days when it quickly becomes clear after a few minutes that fluting is not going to work well today. Only airy notes come out. Then I quickly put the flute back in her case and stop practicing. In such moments, I feel like a diva who is indisposed. Maybe I could try again hours later, but I prefer to sit down at the piano and practise a bit more. It doesn't do me any harm at all.
My flute teacher is a mother of two, still small, children. She has been doing postgraduate studies at the L.M.Z in Augsburg for some time now, which is quite a demanding programme besides her giving lessons and everyday life with children. It only works because her husband, a pianist, has her back when she has to complete the study blocks. (He is also my piano teacher).
Also because of her limited time, we only have lessons every second/third week.
But that's enough for me. I also try to bundle a lot of free time because of the classical piano lessons and the piano lessons at the jazz school, so this interval of lessons suits us both quite well.
I now practise from these three music schools: Weinzirl and Wächter, Trevor Wye, Klaus Dapper. The Folk for flutes is for afterwards, a kind of dessert. And I've put my daughter's first music book aside, I don't really like it at the moment.
I'm well occupied with the three schools. And above all, I can carry on independently. Sometimes I get bored with the familiar pieces, then I work something forward. It usually doesn't sound that good, but I try it again the next day and then again the day after that and at some point the piece sounds a bit more rounded and melodious.
Of course I can tell that my notes are not always cleanly intonated. The opening note is often unrefined. Also the high notes that appear in the middle of the piece are blown out with some effort. I don't yet have the technique to integrate them harmonically. Anyway, I'm a flute rookie. I allow myself to accept this deficiency without self-doubt. Maybe I can develop this relaxed attitude while playing the piano. I think it would do me good.
I can create a positive review of my learning progress with this blog post. It continues in a relaxed way and the flute still gives me a lot of pleasure. I'm looking forward to 2022. It would be nice if things continue this well with us.
Finally, something clever from Plutarch. The author of numerous philosophical writings. This time from the Table Talks, Volume 7: "The flute soothes the spirits and enters the ear with such a sweet tone that it carries the peace and tranquillity of all movements into the soul. And should any sorrow still remain in the mind, a worry that wine could not erase, it puts it to sleep and soothes it by virtue of its lovely grace. Provided that she keeps to modest playing and does not excite and inflame the soul with too many notes and passages, whereby it would be weakened and might easily fall because of the wine."