My "Internal Brace"

Nothing is new under the sun, and so neither is this, but that doesn't make it any the less exciting to discover. After years of effort to build my air control and sustain it, I have finally discovered what my singer friend always talked about as "support" ... And which never made sense, and looked ugly as her belly pooched out when she sang.

My internal brace supports not only my air control, but my spine and internal organs. I learned it from my physical therapist whose goal was to strengthen my posture to protect my "new" knees and my hips from the deterioration of arthritis. (Check out my blog on Partial Knee Replacement - an awesome surgery that has restored my life!)

This brace is the area below the diaphragm, starting just below the waist, downward to just above the crease where your legs begin, and into the lower back. It is hard to describe, but I'll try, because maybe it will help. 

1. Lying flat on a firm surface, place your thumbs on the top of the hipbone, fingers pointing down. Now slide your hands toward the center of your body, about 1 1/2-2 inches.
2. Push inward with your thumb and index finger. Push pretty hard so that you are poking yourself. (It should hurt a little.)
3. Now take a breath and try to expand into your fingers and thumbs without allowing the belly to push out. Try to create the sensation of a balloon within your body that pushes against the muscle walls, both front and back. It pushes on your backbone and supports it.
4. Try to hold this balloon solid and breathe in and out. You will feel like you can't exhale without letting go.
5. As you practice and get better at it, you will not need to poke yourself so hard. Eventually you don't need the fingers at all.
6. This is an exhausting exercise! Easy does it!  Only do it for a maximum of 5 minutes each day. These muscles exhaust very quickly, and once fatigued it is counter-productive to keep working them.

It takes quite a bit of practice to master this technique. But it's worth the work, and eventually you should be able to hold the bace without a lot of conscious effort. As you feel more confident in the lying down position, try it sitting, standing, and even while walking about the room. For ladies, make sure you are lifting the pelvic floor before you brace so that you will not be pressing downward. This is an expansion out to the sides, not up or down. (An upward thrust will just push the belly out and give you that ugly look.)

I have been working at this for just a few weeks, and the other day when I was practicing,  it occurred to me to "put on my brace" at the same time I took a big breath for a long passage, and all of a sudden I could play it all the way through without losing the note! 

Give it a try and good luck!

Do, Re, Mi...

It is a whole different world to study music on your own as opposed to taking a prescribed course of study in a college setting. It is easy to simply focus on the art of performing the music and never go beyond that. 

Lucky for me my teacher loves music theory! Once I was finally ready to explore it, we have worked together. Sometimes I would like to put my flute away and focus entirely on theory for a while. 

This year the opportunity to participate in the Certificate of Merit program as an adult student has pushed me to a more focused study. When I realized an element of it is testing on ear training, I began to freak out a bit. This brought about a discussion of focusing on scales as "Do-Re-Mi" -- I was resistant. I didn't see a need to apply silly names instead of note names, (C-D-E..).

Enter a new app called EarBeater. As soon as I discovered this app, I was thrilled. Here was a way to work on ear training, anywhere, anytime I have a few minutes. Here I can create tests that narrow in on exactly the things I need to work on. And here is where I changed my mind about "Do-Re-Mi."

I started working scale identification: Major (Dorian),  Natural minor (Aolian), Melodic Minor and Harmonic Minor. I quickly realized I needed to focus on the intervals between the notes, or rather, the whole and half steps and where they are in the scale. 

This led me to make a little card which gives me a visual representation. With the focus on the relationships of the notes, hearing all different keys of scales...the only answer was "Do-Re-Mi"... And now I see why my teacher advised me to explore it. 

Here's my card: 

The vertical lines are the space of a note. 
Two note names within a space indicate half steps.
Above the lines are "W" and "h" - indicating the scale degrees. For example, a Major scale is W, W, h, W, W, W, h

By looking at the card it is easy to see that Major and Melodic minor will sound the same except for the half step between Re and Mi. Also, Melodic minor and Natural minor are the same except for the half step between So and La, and the whole step between Ti and Do.

A friend of mine just showed me another trick for learning to use Do-Re-Mi.. Curwen hand signs...cool. The senses you can involve in learning, the better!

Air, more air, more air!!

Flutists are an airy bunch: we lose more of the air we put out than other wind instruments. Other wind players blow into their instruments, but we create our notes by bouncing the air across an into the instrument. In fact, part of the skill of playing flute is to direct the air into it as well as across the hole.

As a flutist air capacity has been one of my problems from the very beginning. My teacher would stand there and say "more air, out more air into it!" and I would push,but there was nothing to work with. I have improved, but putting enough air behind a note is still an issue. I am forever running out of air in the middle of a phrase.

My teacher has a new exercise for me: pick an easy note, play it very softly, for as long as you can, until the air is fully exhausted from your lungs...goal: 1 minute. Sounded easy until I tried it. I thought I was blowing for at least 30 seconds....nope. Only 17. Sigh. 

I just had a partial knee replacement (second knee, now both are fixed!), and part of my time in the hospital was breathing into a bottle. The bottle is called an "incentive spirometer." It's purpose is to expand and oxygenate your lungs. Your goal with this little tool is to breathe in through the tube and keep the markers in the right place. It is surprising how difficult it is! I thought I had good deep breathing technique, but not so good as I thought. As I used this tool, I also focused on making a flute embouchure and blowing the air out as long as possible. 

I haven't picked up the flute since my surgery, and all my breathing in the bottle (10 breaths very hour!) but I am eager to see if it is any better.

There are other ways to work on air, so check back to see what I come up with!

Body mapping and balance.

I just spent 90 minutes learning about arm and shoulder pain. It was an excellent webinar presented by Lea Pearson. Lea gave me a whole new way to look at my shoulders, neck and arms. I am eager to try out what I have learned, and hope to come back here and share some helpful insights.

During the seminar I found myself remembering a principle I learned a long time ago. It's so simple to apply, and I have found that many people will automatically experience an immediate benefit when directed correctly. So try this on yourself. It is (in my personal opinion) the foundation of the Alexander Technique. (Learn much more about this from others more experienced than I!)

So, don't try to DO anything, but rather ALLOW your body to follow through. Here's the guideline: "Let your neck be free, with your head floating softly and gently upward, and your shoulders lengthen and broaden".

As a fitness instructor, I have watched literally hundreds of students release tension out of their necks while lifting weights, simply because I said this words to them. Cool, huh?

As a flutist, this principle is just as important! Let your neck be free and balanced on your spine!!!

This is JUST THE TINIEST PART OF THE WHOLE CONCEPT! My intention here is to inspire you to look for more detailed information. I know a great deal about the body, but Lea (and others) know more. Go to the link and start learning!!!

The "other" side of performance: your accompanist

There is nothing new under the sun. Most likely everything I will say in this post has been said before. However, I feel it is something that isn't put forward enough for amateur and new performers.

YOU are not the ONLY one on stage! Your pianist is your team mate. She has worked just as hard as you have to learn your music. She also much be constantly aware of what nuances you bring to a piece of music. There is a real art to being an accompanist, and not all pianists can do it.

There is also an art to knowing how to rehearse with your accompanist. As the soloist, you need to be ready to communicate various details to you accompanist:

• You must set the tempo.
• You are not a metronome, and shouldn't play like one. Music ebbs and flows, and you need to know where you want to speed up or slow down.
• Are there places where you just need a fraction more time to get through the notes? This must be addressed, too.
• You need a clear idea of where you are going to take a breath in passages without rests.
• Dynamics! How loud, how soft, when do you start your crescendo? Are there places where it changes suddenly?

In addition to all of this, there is one more step you need to take: familiarize yourself with the piano part. Don't just listen to it, but sit down with the score and read it through. I wish I could take credit for this final thought, but I can't. I have a recital in 2 days, and my accompanist just said this:

"Music is a conversation between the flute and the piano. Analyze the score so you can understand when each instrument is talking."

Ever heard of "Body Mapping?"

If you have been around in the music or fitness world very much, you have probably heard about "body mapping." I have heard of this tool many times and in different ways for years. It is similar to other disciplines like Physio Synthesis, Pilates, Alexander Technique, Feldencrais in the sense that it is a way to align the body and get things working well.

The thing about body mapping is that every article I have read doesn't really give me an understanding of what it is or how it can help me….until now. I got lucky enough to listen in to a webinar on arm and shoulder pain for flutists and violinists presented by Lea Pearson. I learned sooooo much!

I won't try to share what I learned, because that would not be a service to you. Instead I offer a link to Lea's website and hope you will go there and learn something valuable.

So here it is, check it out:

Click HERE for Lea's website.

Click HERE to share your discoveries on my facebook page.

When a note doesn't speak well.

A common problem for flutists is the note that wheezes or doesn't speak at all. Our lowest and highest notes are usually the ones that challenge us, but others can, too. 

Today I had an experience that reminded me of a very important point: the note that doesn't speak isn't always the culprit! The problem may be the note before or after it, or even several notes away! 

Consider today's challenge: first octave, middle C. The preceding notes were moving donward: A-G-E flat; then the C began a scale moving upward, C-D-E flat-F-G-A ....

When the E flat was wheezing, and the C not speaking at all. Of course my first thought was to focus on C, which is always a challenge. But upon slowing down and playing the preceding notes, I discovered that my left hand fingers were not covering the holes well, and although the G sounded, it wasn't a good note, and as soon as I fixed the G, I no longer had problems with either the E flat or the C. 

So, the next time a note is giving you trouble...take a good look at several ones leading to it and following it. Good luck!