![]() This plan can be adjusted as the semester progresses.Ī student may want to learn a piece that will challenge them in a new way. By the end of our meeting, we have a basis for our semester plan of flute-specific goals, improvements wanting to be made, exercises geared to making those improvements, etudes, and repertoire options. I have found that when a student is at least partly invested in their repertoire choice, they are more likely to complete it in a satisfactory way. I often display several scores, play samples of pieces, and, together, the student and I choose 3-4 works from several repertoire options presented. As they begin to open up, I start brainstorming ideas with them – using my own music collection, repertoire lists from my previous teachers and other flutists I admire, as well as some of the new repertoire guides, I mentioned previously. Is there a piece they really want to play? What aspect of their playing do they need to improve at this time? I ask many questions and listen intently. Additionally, I take the student's interests into consideration. I have also worked to diversify the repertoire my students learn and encourage them to choose works by underrepresented composers. Together, we go over the list and begin to identify any major gaps, trying to fill those in first with regard to historical periods (generally starting with the Baroque era and then working through more modern repertoire over the course of study). ![]() “May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears.”Īt the beginning of each semester, I often require a repertoire list from each student showing exercises, etudes and pieces already studied. So, in order to get them started, and progressing, on their college flute journeys, I have found the most success in a flexible and collaborative approach to helping students select repertoire. These students come to college with equally wide-ranging flute backgrounds and experiences. Olaf College for the past ten years, I have had the privilege of working with a wide range of flute students - from non-music majors to flute performance majors. But - due to the reality that both teachers and students are ever-evolving, individual human beings - finding a one-size-fits-all guide to advancing students through the flute canon may be an impossible task. Sometimes I wish there was an ideal, methodically structured repertoire guide suitable for every student throughout the duration of their flute study! There are definitely many wonderful repertoire guides and resources which I have studied or learned about recently (included at the end of this article).
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