Dreaming of playing the flute?
Did you miss out on learning to play the flute as a youngster? Think it's too late?
It's never too late to follow your passion. Flutists definitely have a passion for their instrument.
A popular misconception is that adults can't learn to play the flute and that only children have the ability to pursue musical studies.
A variety of reasons are given...
- Lack of time
- Lack of motivation
- Inability to learn as fast as young people
- Too old, thus not worth the bother
To all of the above, I would like to say, poppycock!
OK, adults are busy earning a living, performing their jobs, and fulfilling all the mundane tasks of daily life.
However, a real passion has a way of making its own time. A few minutes here, a few minutes there, and over the course of months and years, a flutist is born!
Lack of motivation? Please!
Adults are highly motivated. Adults know what they missed, and they feel the time crunch and the clock that is ticking. While children fritter away time chatting on the phone and wandering in the malls, adults carve out blocks of time whenever and wherever they can.
Next is that "old dog not being able to learn new tricks" nonsense. Many adults feel self-conscious about learning in a situation typically reserved for children. That contributes to their lack of progress or even their discontinuing studies altogether. Who wants to feel bad about themselves?
However, that can be overcome, too. Traditional lessons now can be replaced with videos, DVDs, on-line lessons, and flexible teachers. An adult has many options for learning to play the flute that just didn't exist a few years back.
Lastly, as an adult, a lot of the opportunities that exist for students aren't there. No solo contests, honor bands, or Young Artist Competitions. Lots of snooty college professors would probably turn up their noses at an adult student as well.
Well, who needs it! Contests and competitions are vastly overrated. Sure, it's fun, but you can have plenty of fun playing the flute without that stuff.
So what's an adult flutist to do? Try these tips...
- Check with your church and ask if they have an orchestra or if there are opportunities to play your flute, such as with a praise band or as an addition to the pianist with hymn descants, for example.
- Find a flute choir in the area that is accepting new members.
- If you can't find a flute choir, form your own!
- Form your own small ensemble with friends, including other flutists, pianists, guitars, a harp, or any combination you want. Find opportunities to play your music at church, civic events, private functions, etc. Use your imagination.
- Form a flute society that gets together regularly and plays ensembles. Double the parts of duets and trios, and just have fun playing at home!
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Kathy Ferneau has been a passionate flutist for 40 years! Her web site contains the most extensive collection of flute figurines on the Internet. Check them out! http://www.cyberflute.com/
Source: www.a1articles.com
