From One Mini Maestro To Another

So You've Chosen An Instrument!

So, you've chosen an instrument recently! Congrats, you're on your first step to a world full of great memories and new friends in the music world. Here's some advice that I'm sure your band director has already told you: practice. If you have just chosen an instrument or you're just starting to sing, practice! I can't say much for vocalists in this chapter since I myself am an instrumentalist, but everyone should practice. However it's not about how much or long you practice as much as how you practice. You should be practicing good techniques only! It's okay to make mistakes but remember: practicing 30 minutes of good techniques will get you farther than practicing an hour of bad techniques.

Making sound on your new instrument:

I can't really give specific tips for instruments other than flutes, but I can offer some comfort. When my band director made me try all the instruments two years ago to see which one I'd be good at, I couldn't make a single sound on any. But, I was determined to play flute because it had interested me for years and now I'm a great student flutist. It did take me about a week to actually make a sound on my flute but I did eventually and you can too, no matter what you play. You just have to be determined and practice, practice, and practice.

I asked my friend who plays trumpet and is a vocalist gave me some tips to share for beginning vocalists and trumpeters:

Tips For Trumpeters:

- Use Fast Air

- Relax(This works for any instrument really)

- Good Posture (Also for any instrument)

- Raise eyebrows for any notes you're having trouble with (This sometimes works for other instruments)

Tips For Vocalists:

- Be Confident

- Use Faster Air

- No Tense Shoulders!

- Arms Down

My main Tips For Flutists:

- Use a steady and focused stream of air

- say "we" and then "too" and keep your mouth in that position to play

- Aim your airstream lower for low notes and more across the flute for high notes (that works for me at least"

- Make sure your bottom lip is relaxed

- Relax

- Practice properly breathing and breathing exercises (after all the flute does take more air than the tuba!)

- Gemeinhardt flutes (I have a Gemeinhardt 2SP flute) are great for beginners and they also sell piccolos

Tips for pianists (from my friend who's a pianist):

- Good posture

- Don't buy a really cheap keyboard, you should put in the effort to find an efficient keyboard but obviously don't buy a $10 million dollar piano in case you decide that piano isn't for you

Tips For Ukulele Players (From my girlfriend):

- You can use a pick but she said she personally thinks finger tips are just more efficient

- don't strum too hard

- practice even if it's hard at first (true for every instrument)

Tips for Saxophone Players (from my Saxophone friend):

- Practice breathing exercises

- Choose high quality reeds with the appropriate hardness

- Always bring a backup reed

- Don't accidentally press the octave key when you aren't playing in higher octaves

- Don't hesitate when playing notes you're uncomfortable with it makes it worse(true for all instruments to be honest)

Tips for Clarinetists :

- Again, choose high quality reeds (my friend always goes on and on about how much she loves Vandoren Reeds)

- Use a lot of air for a clearer tones

- Hold Your Clarinet At The Right Angle

- Moisten your reed before you play

- Bring extra reeds

Other tips can be found online.

Tips for making noise on the flute:

If you know you want to play flute but don't have an actual flute yet, just do what I did and blow across an empty soda bottle or water bottle and try making noise with that. You're essentially doing the same thing with your embouchure (the use of the lips, facial muscles, tongue, and teeth in playing a wind instrument) as you would with your flute. When you get your flute you should start by making sure the hole in the head joint in which you're blowing across to make noise is parallel to the ground. Then, say the words 'we' and then 'too' and keep your mouth in that position. That's the position you'll need to play flute. Then, blow a steady and focused stream of air across the hole in the head joint. You can practice focusing your air stream in different directions (which you will need to do to play higher and lower notes) by putting a straw in your mouth and practicing using your mouth to direct it up and down while you blow. It also helps to do all this in front of a mirror! Don't worry if you can't make noise right away, you'll get it eventually if you keep trying.

The tips like the 'we' 'too' trick and the straw trick we're taught to me by my band director along with some other things in this chapter. I will not put my director's name on the internet without consent so I'll call him 'Mr. Maestro' throughout this book. Thank you for teaching me these tricks, Mr. Maestro.

And thank you to my friends who helped me provide tips for other instruments!

Until next time my mini maestros!