April 2021
A whole month without a Sunday morning walk to the oak tree. Either the weather is not suitable, it often rains or it's windy. Then again the compensatory time falls victim to the staff shortage in care work. The days off are cancelled. But I still like going outside with my flute and practise open air.
The flute ticks occasionally. The "F" or the "F#" comes out more breathy than all the other notes. I have to blow much harder and more forcefully to compensate.
It's wonderful, the flute lessons are now allowed again. I suggest the plan to my teacher that the lessons are held in her garden. She refuses, saying she doesn't want to disturb the neighbours. And says she feels a bit uncomfortable and shy playing open air. I find that hard to believe, because unlike me, she can really play the flute, and even playing scales would sound pretty with her.
We are now standing diagonally in her living room, I am facing south, she is facing north. Both foot joints point in the opposite direction. The lesson is extended from half an hour to three quarters of an hour. The time flies so fast, so fast.
In the beginning, we try to be atunned to one another with the tone "A". I pull the headpiece out a little, she pushes it in a little until it sounds alike.
My auditory sense is not so well developed yet, it always takes me longer to estimate the right tone pitch.
Well, and I found out that I learned to finger the "D" in a wrong way. I played the low "D" with the normal fingering, overblowed it and didn't notice that the high "D" wanted another finger detached. Good thing that there are teachers to correct a flute rookie!
My teacher plays on a Sankyo transverse flute. Her instrument is made out of solid silver and has a warm sound in the lower notes. She blows it very softly, without edges or shrill outliers. It sounds beautiful.
When I practise in her lessons, she counts in for me or along with me. She too is now confronted with my unpredictable sense of rhythm. Oh my God!!! But with the easy pieces we've been practising so far, it's not that hard for me yet. I'll have it played for me and can often copy it correctly. It may be that it will become more difficult as my knowledge increases, but so far it is easier for me on the flute to observe the correct note durations.
I am rediscovering Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull. I didn't like the band so much when I was young, I always thought he had something of a wood gnome about him. But this particular blowing in, which always sounds a bit dirty, I like now. I spotted a great Video on Youtube. He plays a "Bouree" by Bach in England at the same time with an astronaut on the ISS for the 50th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin, who was the first man in space.
I like that very much. And I want to be able to play the pretty tune. I can already play it on the piano with my right hand. However, I can't improvise and I can't do this talking and fluttering on the flute yet either. Maybe I'll just learn to play it "beautifully" for a start.
Okay, but I do have to admit, "Locomotive breath" was a bit cool back then.