FluteEnthusiast's Flute Playing Journal

FluteEnthusiast · Post by **FluteEnthusiast** » 17 Mar 2007, 22:10

Hello,

I am starting an online journal to log my flute playing progression. I have learned Carnatic vocal music for 8 years now, and I have given a few vocal concerts, but my throat has recently started giving me some problems. I recently heard a concert of the flute maestro K.S. Gopalakrishnan, and ever since then I have been thinking about taking up playing the flute. However, there are no good flute teachers in this area, and I don't believe in learning music over the telephone or learning over audio tapes, so I am going to try to teach myself how to play the flute.

I know there are many criticisms to learning an instrument without a Guru, but based on my understanding of the flute, it is possible to teach yourself provided you have a solid foundation established. I am quite knowledgable in Carnatic Music, and like I have stated earlier, I have been singing for quite a few years to know the instricacies involved in the music.

That being said, I have absolutely no experience with playing the flute other than being able to play all the notes individually, so obviously it will be long road ahead for me.

Here is how it is going to work
1)I will update the journal at least once daily
2)Each day's update will show the duration of that day's practice session(s), as well as what I practiced during that session
3)Every once in a while (maybe once a week or so), I will upload a recording from that practice session. Hopefully, some of the other members can critique me, tell me what to work on, so on.

What is the purpose of this journal?
1)Logging my practice sessions will help keep me motivated
2)With other members critiquing me, I can work on my problem areas
3)We can discuss flute musicians and their concerts (perhaps we can upload non-copyrighted concerts of theirs and have discussions)
4)And perhaps most importantly, it'll help keep it fun!!

Another question you might be asking is, do I plan on teaching myself forever? The answer to that question is, hopefully no. Eventually, I hope to be able to learn properly from an established Guru, maybe even Sri KSG himself, who knows, but since I do not have that opportunity right now, I want to make the most out of my time.

My first practice session and log will be tomorrow. I have two flutes with me at the moment, both bamboo. One is in 2.5 kattai (d#), and the other is in 4 kattai (F). At the moment, I am thinking of exclusively practicing with the D# flute since it requires more breath control (the flute is longer), and it builds your finger strength better since the holes are more spaced out.

Let the fun begin!

sankirnam · Post by **sankirnam** » 18 Mar 2007, 00:51

Where do you live? If you live in Southern California or thereabouts, there are a few flute players here as well...

FluteEnthusiast · Post by **FluteEnthusiast** » 19 Mar 2007, 05:00

Sunday, March 18, 2007

Practice Session 1 (10 minutes)
a) Sarili Varshai, 1 speed (slow), two breaths per note, ragam: Mayamalavagowlai, used metronome to keep rhythm, 10 minutes

Practice Session 2 (10 minutes)
a) Sarili Varshai, 1 speed (slow), two breaths per note, ragam: Shankarabharanam (with gamakas), used metronome to keep rhythm- 5 minutes
b) Practiced the Geetham "Raravenu Gopapala" in ragam Bilhari, 1 speed (slow), one breath per 2 aksharas (2 kalai) - 5 minutes

Overall Impression:
Today's practice sessions went fairly well. The hardest aspect of playing the flute as a beginner is maintaining breath control. It amazes me how professionals are able to hold their breaths for so long, and with so little effort. I'm sure it will come with time, I just have to keep practicing and making it a point to hold my breaths longer and longer each session.

For this first week, I will limit my sessions to 2 per day, each 10 minutes long. 10 minutes in itself is difficult for a newcomer. Depending on how this week goes, I will hopefully increase my practice times next week.

I have decided that, in order to spice things up a bit in this journal, I will try my very best to upload one song recording of a carnatic musician, and I will try my best to make as many of them as I can recording of carnatic flutists. To start things off, I will today upload a recording by the briliant flutist K.S. Gopalakrishnan (my favorite musician

) rendering Thyagaraja's piece "Dinamanivamsha" in the Raga HariKambhoji. I really feel that KSG does an excellent job in emulating the human voice, and you can see that in this recording. For example, in the Anupallavi, after the first sanghati of "manavini bAguga", it goes (8:21 into the song)
RSSNNDDPPM
Normally, when a singer sings this, they will tend to naturally sing it a little softer since it is difficult to sing this string of notes using a full throat. KSG replicates this perfectly, as he softens the volume of the notes just at the right time. It is the little things like this that show KSG's brilliance in full form.

Here's the link the rapidshare upload. Enjoy!!

http://rapidshare.com/files/21698077/04 ... amboji.mp3

FluteEnthusiast · Post by **FluteEnthusiast** » 19 Mar 2007, 05:01

sankirnam wrote:Where do you live? If you live in Southern California or thereabouts, there are a few flute players here as well...

unfortunately, I dont live in California, otherwise I would have definetely seeked out a teacher there!

rasam · Post by **rasam** » 19 Mar 2007, 08:30

FluteEnthusiast, I am sure your net-savvy and all but I dont think anyone has told you what a blog is. Its basically a personal space for you on the web where you record whims such as 'running 10 miles a week', 'reading 3 novels a month', 'learning to play the flute' and such. Basically you keep it updated for exactly a week after which you realize that you cant keep up and that nobody cares

Here's to your flute education not being in the above category! Good luck!

mohan · Post by **mohan** » 19 Mar 2007, 08:45

Rasam - I agree with your sentiments. FluteEnthusiast you can try www.wordpress.com or www.blogger.com and then let us know where it is for those who are interested to track your progress