October Update

It has been a ridiculous amount of time since I last posted, and a lot has happened! This semester at NSU brought a very strong start to the Pro Musica Ensemble, which I'm glad to be co-directing (check out the Upcoming Events page). I got married in September, and just last week finally bought a new (to me) clarinet. The end of this week (October 10th) is also my one year anniversary at ASM, where I teach piano. Good times!

 

Summer Plans

Originally, I had this grand idea that after my recital I would hit the ground running and would plow through at least one more technique book plus etudes and new repertoire, but as the dust settled I realized that I want to use this "down time" to refocus my efforts as a performer and teacher. I want to approach my practice in a more holistic manner. This will help reduce muscle tension and pain. Instead of seeing how much ground I can cover this summer, I want to take this time to reevaluate how I've been achieving my goals. While I am proud of the work I've put in this academic year, and of the progress I've made, I want to make efforts to tweak my habits toward a more healthy approach.

The longer I've been teaching keyboard the better my playing has gotten, but I'd like to spend some time this summer working on really becoming a more well-equipped pianist. Part of this will require me to just squeeze in a little extra practice time here and there, but I'll also be doing a lot of reading. I've currently been working my way through two texts that a colleague at the university loaned me (A Symposium for Pianists and Teachers: Strategies to Develop the Mind and Body for Optimal Performance edited by Kris Kopff, and The Well-Tempered Keyboard Teacher by Marienne Uszler). It's great to be able to say that I've recognized some of those pedagogical approaches or encountered the same issues as I've been teaching, but it's strangely even more exciting to see how much of this field I'm just not familiar with as I keep investigating.

I'm also working on a couple side projects, including a scale book geared towards woodwind doublers and general woodwind teachers like myself (but more on that later).

New Job

I haven't talked about it much here, but I've been working part-time at a restaurant since we moved down to Florida. It's worked out pretty well, because it allowed me to make a liveable wage and still gave me flexibility to pursue gigs and other opportunities as they became available to me. Over the past few weeks though, my schedule kept getting cut back further and further, so I had to start looking for a new job. After looking for about a week and finding that there were no music jobs that didn't require me to have a childcare license I was starting to give up on finding a music job. Then I found a listing for a keyboard instructor. I called on a Tuesday, had my interview on Wednesday, and started training on Thursday!
My first official day was Saturday, and I am loving this job. It's an after school program, and they only offer piano/keyboard, guitar, and drum lessons. I only teach private lessons, and while most of my students are under 10, I have a couple who are 15-18. So far they're all good kids and we're having a great time! My coworkers are all very friendly and helpful, and I don't have to deal with any of the scheduling, they have a two people on staff who handle all of that for the teachers.
All students use the same book system for their basics - the Alfred Basic Piano Library. There are around eight levels I think, and each one has a theory book, technic book, lesson book, and recital book. I'm really glad that these kids are getting exposed to good basics, especially in the realm of theory. Maybe my perception is a little screwy because I didn't start taking lessons until my senior year of high school and no music theory until college for me. If a student starts getting bored with their books, we can bring in outside music like their favorite song from the radio to keep them engaged and learning.
I've never taught piano before, and I haven't taught students this young before. It's very humbling to think that for some of these kids I am at the beginning of their exposure to music as an engaging activity. While it's easy to get lost in their antsy-ness and all the stickers we hand out, it's quite a responsibility to think that what I do and say might have a major influence on whether a child might continue on with music for a lifetime.
Over the last few days I've been cleaning/reorganizing my little room. Hopefully today I'll remember to post some pictures, be sure to check my twitter to see them: @balancedflutist
I'm so incredibly thankful for this job, and I can certainly say that having this job relieves so much stress. Happy Wednesday, everyone!

I'm back!

In case anyone was wondering, I did not fall off the face of the Earth - I swear! Truthfully, I just haven't been focusing my attentions like I should have...

Classes started today - my first "first day of school" NOT being the student! I'm definitely excited and looking forward to turning over a new leaf. I spent a fair amount of time wrestling with the Blackboard system and there is a glitch in the school email at the moment, but I did manage to get everything I need up for my online class.

I've missed 4 days of playing this quarter, which is not the perfect record I was aiming for, but I'm glad that I got myself back going again. I think the first day I missed was an honest mistake. It had been a really busy day and by the time I realized I hadn't played it was after 11:30 and I was already in bed. Lame excuse, but hey, it happened. I've definitely gotten back in the saddle and have been chugging along!

I am still preparing for the recital, and it has been going very well. I have to pick a date and find a pianist, which I'm going to try and do in the next week or two. I have someone in mind to ask about collaborating with me, and I'll be seeing them on Wednesday. I think I'm going to aim for mid-February, maybe the week after Valentine's day.

It was so great to be able to spend today working in music and it NOT feel like I needed to be doing other stuff. I just feel so much less stressed about my life. I have high hopes for 2013.

Goals for Quarter 2, First rehearsal tomorrow!

Tomorrow is the first rehearsal of Wild Party, and I'm definitely looking forward to it! Turns out I won't have a soprano sax, but I think I'm okay with only playing 4 instruments for now.

One major goal for me is to play (flute) every day. Even if I only get to play for a couple minutes or so, I really don't want to find myself slipping into one, two, or three days in a row without playing. 
I'm working out of Geoffrey Gilbert's Technical Flexibility, Boehm's 12 Etudes, and I'm going to try my hand at the Karg-Elert 31 Etudes.
As far as repertoire goes, I know I'm going to do Debussy Syrinx and Varese Density 21.5, probably the Taktakishvili Sonata, and from there I'm not too sure.

I've sent out more resumes to schools and universities to see if I can get a little more adjunct work, and I'm really going to push for getting some students this quarter.

I've got a busy day tomorrow, can't wait!

Goodbye Quarter 1, Helloooo Quarter 2!

Welp, the first quarter of the year ended yesterday. This post *would* have been up yesterday, but apparently the "Schedule" feature on this website doesn't actually do anything.

 It feels like August 1st was such a long time ago. In the past week or two while the quarter has been coming to a close, I've been thinking a lot about the progress I have (or haven't) made.

I set out with grand ideas of playing every day, revolutionizing my practice routine, doubling and tripling my technical abilities, and conquering new rep and excerpts. That's not how it went down. It would be possible for me to list here every one of my failures, my missed marks, all of it, but why? It doesn't help my cause at all. Actually, when I think about where I am as a player today as compared to where I was on August 1, I'm incredibly proud of myself.

In August, playing the flute was a terrifying experience. I was always afraid for whatever sounds might come out of the instrument. I could barely play in the second and third octaves. I quit my job, packed up my cat and my car, moved over a thousand miles from the beautiful hills of West Virginia that had been my home for the past three years. I arrived in Florida, homeless, damn near broke, no job for (certainly no gigs or teaching positions!). While I've been trying to keep practicing, sometimes it worked better than others. Thankfully, I've managed to land on my feet, and things are looking up!

So, what's in store for this "Balanced Flutist" now?

Well, for starters, it's time to change my technique books, etudes, and repertoire. It's safe to say that in this category, Quarter 1 was a BUST. I've got a couple things picked out, but I'll be sharing more about my selections in the days to come.I intend to get together enough repertoire for one recital (using mostly pieces I've played before, but some new stuff too!). I also hope to record another video for my YouTube channel, maybe one of the etudes I'm working on.

As far as work goes, rehearsals for Wild Party are going to be starting in the next week or so, and I'm going to contact some other theaters as well to try and get some more doubling gigs. I'm also going to start advertising for lessons.

I have some big news to share though....

Starting in January 2013, I will be adjunct faculty at Nova Southeastern University! I've been offered (and have accepted!) my very first college teaching position, and I couldn't be more exciting! I don't know exactly what my course load is just yet, but all in due time. 

:)

I got a gig!

I've been contacting all sorts of people from a wide variety of places and ensembles looking for some sort of work in music, and I'm happy to say that I have been hired for a gig with a brand-new musical theatre company!
I'll be playing the Reed 1 book of the show "Wild Party," which includes piccolo, flute, clarinet, alto sax AND soprano sax (which I have never touched before). Should be fun. I've ordered new reeds and a triple stand that will hold the clarinet and saxes. I'm waiting to set up a time to sign the contract and get the book!

Rest assured that I will be sharing the dates, times, ticket prices with you. I trust that you will all be in attendance for at least three of the shows. ;)

Next Week vs. Next Year

For a while now I've wanted to start getting serious about practicing, but there's always been something major in the way. Thankfully, I have *finally* finished my Master’s thesis and can now really get moving forward with my life. Now that I've gotten to this point where I actually have time to practice, I have had to figure out what my next step should be.

Certainly music is a large part of what I want to focus my life around, you could even consider it a centerpiece for me. However, my life is not single-faceted (as I’m sure you could say about your own life), so I have other things to think about and try and balance as well. Finances are a major concern of mine. Having just completed graduate school, I now have quite the mound of debts to repay. Not to mention savings to build up, emergency funds, maybe a vacation every once and a while, and - Lord willing – even retirement to think about. I want to build a career in music that’s my own. I’m also not single, so I have another person to work with and try and create a life and home that’s our own.

One quote that has at time both inspired and haunted me is by the British flutist Geoffrey Gilbert: "Remember, you're not practicing for next week, you're practicing for next year." There have been so many times when I have thought "Oh if only I'd been practicing this more/all along/etc.!"

Why not take this quote one step further:  “In everything you do, don’t prepare for next week, prepare for next year!” Musically, professionally, personally, we should always be looking ahead, planning ahead. I plan to spend the next year trying to balance all of these pieces. So, this leaves me with one question:

Where do I want to be one year from now?

What a loaded question. I can honestly say that so many ideas have popped into my head – a career as a woodwind doubler, starting a chamber group, planning recitals out the wazoo, maybe I should take a second job, etc. I’ve been thinking about all of these options (some harder than others – really, Phil? You want to prepare four recitals in a single year?!), and I’ve been trying to sift through them. The ones that are more readily available to me or more important are moving to the top of the list, while the loftier or more challenging ones are drifting to the bottom. It’s starting to become clear which avenues I can really see myself pursuing.

As I'm actually not going to officially kick this one year of dedicated practice off until August 1, the month of July will serve as my planning month. This will allow me ample time to plan effectively, and get geared up.  I won’t be writing it all out in today’s post, but I’ve done some work already, gotten ideas written out, and some rough plans going.

I hope to be back soon with exciting news and at least a few clear goals!

Anything but balanced

Of course I'd love to say that I've got it figured out. I'd love to say that I have great plans for my future. I'd love to say that I feel confident in everything I'm doing and that I know it will all turn out okay.

But I don't.

I have no stable income from music, save for my one private student. My current job will end when I *hopefully* graduate in December. My current plan is to just find some way of paying the bills until I can figure out what to do next.

Which, I suppose, sounds pretty depressing, doesn't it? Maybe it is, but maybe it's the reality of today that will become the backdrop for future successes - things that I will truly be happy for, especially in light of my current worries.

Perhaps I should provide a bit more insight into myself at this point:
I'm 24, a flutist (in case you missed the title of the blog). I have an unfortunately large amount of student loan debts to pay off, and am in a long-term relationship that is unfortunately long-distance for the time being. I enjoy cooking, and reading up on personal finance and music, practicing, frugality, etc.

I've noticed that there aren't really any good online sources for people with irregular incomes (i.e. - no regular paychecks!) or for musicians who maybe aren't reveling in their successes as a working musician, or aren't overcome with joy at the start of each day. I'm hoping that this blog will help me find my way to making some sort of decent living in music, and maybe it will inspire or at least provide some hope for someone else who may be in a similar position.

More to come, after I force myself to change out of my pajamas... :)