If you're thinking about a music career...
The first thing to do is to talk to your teacher. Tell him or her that you
are considering pursuing music professionally. You don't have to have
everything figured out to make this announcement. But if they know your
goals they'll be better able to help you musically to reach them, and
depending on the teacher, some will provide other kinds of advice.
The next thing is to think about what you would like to do. Teach
privately? Play in an orchestra? Chamber music? Solo performance?
Elementary/middle/high school teaching? Recording? Church music?
Once you have some ideas, check out some programs that would prepare you to
go into that field. Then try to get some experience. If you think you
want to play in an orchestra, join your local youth orchestra. If you
think you want to teach, see if you can sit in on a whole day of lessons
that someone else is teaching.
Now is a good time to change your mind about what exactly you want to do.
Once you've found a field that you enjoy, it's time to do some serious
looking. Look around at the programs available for this field. What
degree will you earn? What jobs will you be ready for when you have it?
Be realisitic about your four years of college. What courses will you
take? How much will you need to practice? Do you want to take the courses
and do the practicing?
Then it's time to do serious musical preparation. Talk with your teacher
about repetoire you should learn. Think about learning some theory or
piano. Practice, practice, practice!
***My personal note- There are many more musical careers to choose from than teaching and performing. There is a music therapy degree and a music technology degree (working with computers, instruments, and devices for music). Explore what the colleges have to offer!
If you are going for the degree.....
1) IT'S REALLY HARD!!! This degree realistically means that you are planning to make your living playing flute or teaching privately. Many people wish to do this, and finding your niche can be difficult. Many people will tell you how difficult it is. It's true.
2) There's only one way to decide if this is the career for you: If you *have* to be a flutist, then it is the right choice. If you can do something else, then do that.
3) If you have to do it, then don't let any of the above or any of the rest of this discourage you! I will never forget one particular lesson over a summer where I sat on the floor, leaning against a couch, and my teacher looked down at me and said, "Remember, nothing is impossible." She was right.
4) Here's some stuff you should be able to play to consider entering a program like this: Bach sonatas (Eb, E, C major at least), several pieces from Flute Music by French Composers (have Faure Fantasie and Chaminade under your belt if you can), a Mozart concerto, Poulenc and Hindemith Sonatas, Debussy Syrinx.
5) This doesn't mean you must have played all of the above. When I got into my program I had played: Chaminade, Bach b minor, Mozart G major, and the Hindemith Sonata. And nothing else as far as serious rep goes. But you should have pieces at this level in your reach.
6) You should have memorized all major and harmonic minor scales and arpeggios, as well as a three octave chromatic at a tempo around quarter (crochet)=120 in sixteenths. Seventh chords (dominant at least, others are good too) are also a good thing to know.
7) To be accepted to this degree, you have to play a very strong audition.
Focus is the key! Find a technique that works for you to stay reasonably
calm
(remember: Jeanne Baxtresser says it's not nerveousness, it's energy!)
Remind
yourself of what is really important: think of a scene or emotion you are
trying to share...my mantra is words that were whispered to my by my
beloved
high school flute teacher as we went onstage: "Play your heart out."
That's
all that counts.
8) Here's what to realistically expect in these programs: 2 years of
theory, 2
years of eartraining, 1-2 years required piano, large ensemble and chamber
music every semester, a jury every year, one or two required recitals, 2
years
of music history, one or two years of orchestral rep classes, often a
pedagogy
course and/or a music business course, and between four and eight
semester-long
liberal arts courses (often includes a writing sequence, a math, a science,
a
social science, and a foreign language or culture course, but varies by
school). Expect to spend at least 3-4 hours every day (that means seven
days a
week!) practicing, and another 1-2 hours a day in rehearsal during the
week.
Be sure you are ready for the reality of this kind of time commitment.
9) The thing that matters most in these programs is your teacher -- he or
she
will change your playing and influence you profoundly. Pick well: take
lessons
beforehand when possible, speak to students, attend a studio class. And go
to
the best school you can: your classmates will be your connections in the
future!
10) Above all, to do well in these programs and afterwards, you
must be
prepared for four years (plus two years of grad school for most) to make
flute
your *absolute first priority.* Meaning before your friends, your social
life,
etc. In my first lesson at school, my teacher told me her practice
expectations and then said, "If that means you don't leave school to start
your
studying until 11 o'clock at night, then that's how it has to be." And it
does.
11) Let me say again that it is difficult. It's not right for everyone.
If
you want to teach and conduct as a living, go for music ed. There are also
all
kinds of other wonderful things you can do with music: music business, arts
administration, acoustics, sound engineering, music history, music
theory...this doesn't have to be it.
12) Unless it does. And if it does, then it does. And I firmly believe
that
you can make it work. When you give your flute time, it gives you better
technique and sound. But when you give it your heart and your life and
your
soul, it gives you everything. It's worth it.
all material copyright Sarah Twichell 1999
____________________________________
Sarah Twichell
The Hartt School
twichell@mail.hartford.edu
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