Hello from the brand new Indy Flute Shop! As you have probably heard by now, there have been some major changes happening at Paige’s Music, and we’re so excited to finally share the first peek (well, unless you’ve already been to see us) inside the new showroom! Isn’t it lovely? More space (including a separate office!) and more flute storage and display options are just a couple of the things you’ll notice right away. Here are a few of the exciting things that are still to come: -LED cabinet lighting to really make those flutes sparkle! -acoustical panels and ceiling tiles–these were specially designed to be flute-specific, so playing in the shop will sound SO amazing! -headjoint and piccolo storage in our fancy wall cabinets–meaning I’ll also be able to carry a wider variety of headjoints. Have you stopped in to see the shop yet? Be sure to come by or make an appointment soon!

Do you have a beginning flute student who is just getting started with lessons or a summer band program while school is out? Paige’s Music teamed up with Creekside Middle School a few years ago to create a comprehensive and super helpful web page for every beginning band instrument, including the flute! For helpful information on posture, breathing, and daily maintenance, click on the link below. http://www.paigesmusic.com/paiges/run?id=6&_tid=30&lvid=485

Well, this isn’t exactly flute related, but it is something that is near and dear to my heart: my high school band director, Mr. Tom Barker, announced his retirement from Lafayette Jefferson High School last week. I’m sure that many of you have a teacher (or a few!) from your school days who helped to shape you into the person you are today, and Mr. Barker has without a doubt been that person for me. I have been lucky enough to count him and many others as a part of how I got to be where I am today–and I love it! About a year and a half ago, the Director Services department here at Paige’s Music sat down with Mr. Barker to talk about his teaching career and his insights as an educator and an administrator. Please enjoy this video and learn a little bit more about my high school band director!  

Performance anxiety is one of the most common complaints of musicians, from amateur performers to top professionals. While it is completely normal for a musician to get nervous before a performance, some find that the manifestation of their symptoms is enough to keep them from performing at their best. Luckily, this subject has had lots of light shed on it in the past few years. Although a bout of nerves may spur a performer to do well, some people find that they “believe they have to suffer to perform well,” says Helen Spielman, a performance anxiety coach, in her wonderful article “Conquering Performance Anxiety from Inside Out.” This suffering can be more than just butterflies in the stomach, and can suck the joy out of performing, or in the worst cases, end a career. Musicians can find it difficult to breathe because of constricted airways, nausea or dizziness, shaking limbs, or debilitating general anxiety. Many of these symptoms come about through a cycle of negative self-talk, especially before a performance. Personally, I hype myself up to the point of expecting perfection from every performance, and I convince myself that anything less will be a failure. Thankfully, there have been many

This week, I was nominated to participate in the #100daystoNFA challenge. In the 100 days leading up to the annual National Flute Association convention, held this year in sunny San Diego, flute players all over the world are sharing their music with each other and the world. Today is day 22, and I am playing an excerpt from George Bizet’s Menuet No. 2 de L’arlesiénne. Enjoy!  

You have probably at some point heard your student’s teacher, a Paige’s Music or IFS sales rep, or even your student mention taking private lessons. There are many factors to consider when deciding upon private lessons and a private lessons teacher. The goal of this article is to help you make an educated decision when it comes to private lessons. First, you might be wondering, who are private lessons instructors? Private lessons teachers are typically professionally trained musicians who are proficient at one or more instruments. Anyone who is skillful, has a good knowledge of music theory as well as basic teaching methods can become a private instructor. These individuals often teach students ranging from beginner to advanced skill levels. Next, what do private instructors do? As you can almost certainly assume private instructors provide a one-on-one teaching environment for a student. More specifically, they can focus on playing technique, tonal quality, precise excerpts or music the student might be playing in class or even individual solo pieces for contest. They are able to provide direct and immediate feedback to the student helping them implement the best overall performance standards. There are a few places where you can inquire about

If you follow our parent company, Paige’s Music, on any social media network, you know that we have been sending out daily truths about the importance of music education in children’s lives. Most of us have heard the studies about how music makes you a smarter, more adjusted, better performing (no pun intended) individual, but how many of you have stopped to really wonder why? This is a question that I am always interested in, since my Bachelors degree is in Psychology, and the amount of information out there is fascinating. Whenever a human is performing a certain activity–anything from reading to sleeping to performing a musical piece–different parts of the brain are more active than others. Scientists can use imaging to see which areas are more active. And guess what?! They have discovered that when playing or listening to music, practically EVERY area of the brain is exploding with activity! Watch this incredible video to see this in action: http://blog.theliteracysite.com/this-is-your-brain-on-music/#FKeyLVF2iP6AQkUI.01 Not only does the brain literally light up at the response to music, but it has also been shown that music helps train the brain to become better at certain processes, such as understanding and interpreting different sounds that

Of all the stylistic options available to us as flute players, few are as popular–and as mysterious and hard to describe–as vibrato. Vibrato is a wonderful technique for flutists to use, especially since flute is known, as I have mentioned before, as the instrument that is the closest to the human voice. But how do we develop it, and what is the best way to use it? Sir James Galway once said, “Vibrato is another subject on which experts violently disagree, and all of them are right. If one thing rather than another expresses the individual, it is vibrato. […] There is no last word on what vibrato should be used, or how it should be varied to suit the musicality and individuality.” So then, if there are no right or wrong answers, where do we begin? First of all, before tackling the concept of vibrato–or any other stylistic modality–it is absolutely essential that a student have a good mastery of basic tone, intonation, and breath support. The sound and the air must be controlled, and the lung capacity must be quite good. Vibrato also needs to be well-controlled, whether it is coming from the stomach/diaphragm, the throat, or a

Here at the Indy Flute Shop, I have the distinct pleasure of working with flute players of virtually all skill levels–from beginners to college hopefuls to true professionals. One subject that I think is beneficial for players of all backgrounds is becoming familiar with some of the most common and recognizable excerpts for flute from the great orchestral works. Aside from the obvious benefit of helping to prepare for auditions for those who are interested in pursuing that route, it is really a lot of fun to learn to play some of the famous works that we all have heard performed by the best of the best for years! Rather than breaking down and discussing the most popular of these excerpts, I wanted to give you, our loyal readers, some resources for exploring them on your own. One of the best books covering the most common flute excerpts is Jeanne Baxtresser’s “Orchestral Excerpts for Flute,” a mainstay since its publication in 1995. Baxtresser has been the principal flautist in the New York Philharmonic for 15 years and studied at Juilliard with Julius Baker. Her Excerpts book contains helpful tips and performance notes, errata, new and alternate fingerings, suggested tempi for

Today’s post was written by Jeremy McQueary, the Retail Sales Director at Paige’s Music.  Erin is on vacation this week but will be back next week! As we are closing in on the end of another school year, we have a tendency to want to take the summer off from anything school related. When it comes to playing flute, or any instrument for that matter, you have to resist the urge to do that.   You should make a plan to practice and stick with it so that you don’t lose any of the skills that you have taken the whole school year to learn. The great thing about doing this is that you, as the player, get to decide what you want to practice and play. If there is a popular song you have wanted to learn, get the music for it and teach yourself. If there are scales that you need to know, you can learn them at your own pace. The beauty of setting your own practice schedule in the summer is that it is all about what you want to do and learn. If practicing by yourself is not your thing, then take the opportunity to take