Facing a Challenge? Here's the One Question You Should Ask

If you’ve made it as far as reading this blog, you’ve probably figured out that making music isn’t easy.

Rewarding, yes! Worthwhile, yes! But easy?

Definitely not.

And for the most part, that’s a good thing! Engaging in a complex procedural activity like music, something that combines mental and physical and emotional and social exertion, is a great way to keep our minds and bodies flexible. Challenge is good for us, and when we challenge ourselves through music, we are making space in our lives for growth.

But here’s the thing: Not every challenge is productive And learning to distinguish between productive and unproductive challenge is an important part of your musical development.

Productive challenge is the only way we can grow and evolve. Unproductive challenge just makes things pointlessly difficulty.

For a long time, I struggled to make this distinction. Sometimes I still do. If we have successfully nurtured the mindset that challenge is good, it’s easy to make the mistake of thinking that all challenge is good. And, even more perniciously, that backing down from challenge is bad.

It isn’t. When we choose our challenges judiciously, we’re better able to focus our energies and bring our full capabilities to bear. And we’re not wasting time and energy waging battles for no discernible gain.

So how on earth do we tell the difference?

There’s actually a really simple question you can ask yourself that cuts to the heart of the distinction: Will this challenge help me grow? If the answer is yes, full speed ahead! But if the answer is no, it’s worth taking a step back to consider if there’s an easier way.

Here are some examples of productive vs. unproductive challenges.

Productive Challenge: Reading alto an octave up. Yes, it’s hard. Yes, you could rewrite everything to avoid it, or always refuse to do it. But if you tackle this challenge, you’ll be better able to read more music and participate more readily in recorder groups. Will it help you grow? Absolutely!

Unproductive Challenge: Reading small print. Yes, it’s hard. Will it help you grow? Nope. I guess in theory practicing reading small print will help you get better at reading small print…but I haven’t seen good evidence of this, and anyway why would you bother? Consider enlarging your music for ease of reading.

Productive Challenge: Playing scales fluidly. Playing fluidly (in a relaxed, even, connected, and supported way) builds your technique over time. It is challenging, and generally requires practice at slower speeds, and progressing more slowly, than you might like. Will it help you grow? Absolutely.

Unproductive Challenge: Playing scales quarter note = 144. If you’re simply shooting for a specific metronome marking without thinking about fluidity, connection, and support, you’re more than likely practicing bad habits like tension, unevenness, disconnection, and air dropoff. I cannot tell you the number of players I have seen who have achieved a specific metronome marking by sacrificing technique and sound. Will aiming for a metronome marking help you grow? Unless you’re doing it very intentionally and carefully (see above), probably not.

Productive Challenge: Getting back in when you get lost during chapter meeting. Guess what? You're going to get lost. I get lost. My colleagues get lost. Everyone gets lost. And if you’ve never practiced getting back in, guess what you’re going to be really bad at? Will practicing getting back in be enjoyable? Maybe not. Will it help you grow? 110%

Unproductive Challenge: Never getting lost during chapter meeting. Not only is adopting this goal naive, but it has the potential to be enormously destructive. Sure, we’d all rather not get lost. And we do hope to get lost less frequently over time. But those who prioritize never getting lost not only tend not to practice the essential skill of recovery, they tend to play with enormous tension and fear. Will never getting lost help you grow? Nope!

So the next time you come up against something difficult, my challenge to you is to ask yourself our key question: Will it help me grow? Whatever the answer is, it should help guide you forward!

Transform Your Sound: Build a Tone Library!

If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you already know that I love talking about tone! I firmly believe working on your tone is the single most important task you can undertake to improve as a recorder player. A beautiful, clear, rich, and resonant tone makes everything you play sound better, and lies at the heart of captivating playing.

But producing good tone is also notoriously difficult. And in the beginning and intermediate stages of developing your tone, producing it requires a lot of thought and focus. If you think of your cognitive resources as fuel, good tone is a gas hog!

Now, Ideally, the production of good tone will become more automatic as you practice it over time, taking up less of your brain space and allowing you to juggle other things.

But in the meantime, because it requires so much focus and attention, good tone is often the first thing to go when music’s cognitive demands increase: if you add another part, say, or you have to play lots of notes or think about articulation, etc. etc.

This lvel where I see many recorder players get stuck. They have done the work to be able to produce good tone on single notes and slow scales. But as soon as they try playing actual music, their tone suffers.

This is where the Tone Library comes in.

A Tone Library is a collection of short, low-demand pieces that don’t tax you technically or rhythmically. They are the kind of pieces you can play almost without thinking, and, thus, are pieces during which you can devote the lion’s share of your cognitive resources to improving your tone!

A Tone Library can be physical (printed or scanned material) or, even better in my view, mental (short memorized pieces). It can be extensive (many pieces) or abbreviated (3-5 pieces). The important thing is that the pieces are easily accessible to you in whatever form they take.

Once you’ve established your Tone Library, use it as a practice repository to help you build your bank of experiences playing music with good tone. Every day you practice, pull out a piece or two from the library and play with the best tone you can muster. It only takes a few minutes, and over time, the “money” you’re putting in the bank of good tone will pay amazing dividends!

What are the characteristics of an ideal Tone ibrary piece?:

1) Not Long

2) Slow or moderate in tempo

3) Lego or mostly legato

4) Non-taxing rhythm and melody

5) Pleasant to play!

I want some examples! Every Tone Library will look a little different. But here are some pieces that have worked for many people.

Simple. Gifts

Tallis Canon

Lo How A Rose

In Dulci Jubilo

Want more tips on tone? I have a webinar for that

Three Quick Hits

Improving as a musician is not a quick or easy process. And guiding someone through that process of improvement isn’t quick or easy, either! Rather, improvement is a dynamic, non-linear, iterative cycle, involving reflective practice over time. And at times, confoundingly, progress can feel like retrenchment, especially if longtime habits must be undone.

But sometimes you just want a quick hit!

And every now and again as a teacher, I can offer one. Here are a few quick , easy changes you can make that are almost guaranteed to improve your playing!

Ditch the Bifocals

The optimal chin position for playing is level. Your chin should form a 90 degree angle with your neck. If you tip your chin up, muscles in your neck and throat will tighten and your airway will be compressed. Much of this time, this leads to a tense, turbulent sound. I can’t tell you the number of tone-challenged students I’ve spotted cranking their chins up, trying to get the sheet music focused in the right part of their bifocals. Or trifocals. Or progressives. None of them are good! If you struggle to read music without vision correction, you’ll want to consider investing in a pair of single-focus lenses optimized for the distance between your eyes and your music stand.

Wear Looser Pants!

If your pants are too tight, they will prevent your abdominal wall from expanding as you inhale and your breathing will be compromised! Embrace comfort!

Clean Your Recorder

It doesn’t matter if it’s plastic or wood; If you play with any frequency, your recorder needs periodic cleaning. If you’re struggling to play your instrument without nearly immediate clogging, it’s time to consider a clean. The American Recorder Society has several helpful resources if you need instruction; you can read about how to clean your plastic recorder here. The Prescott workshop offers a comprehensive wooden recorder care video here. And if you’re more comfortable leaving the cleaning to the professionals, the Von Huene Workshop is a good resource!

The Surprising Playing Motto That Works!

Do the minimum.

If you’re reading this blog, I’m guessing this isn’t a motto that resonates with you.

After all, musicians and music students tend to be achievers, the kind of people who put 110% into anything they do and who, when faced with obstacles, double down on their efforts. Extra credit? Sure! Above and beyond? Yes, please!

And the thing is, making an effort does serve us well in many, many areas of life.

It’s just that that playing the recorder isn’t one of them.

I’m being slightly specious, of course. Consistent effort, applied over time, is the only way improve many of your skills. But in terms of physical effort, the recorder needs very little. And if you overfunction, using more force than the instrument requires, almost every aspect of your playing will suffer.

How do I know this? Well, for starters, because I’m a recovering overfunctioner myself! But also because, of all the playing problems I see in my teaching life, maybe only 10% are due to insufficient physical effort. The remaining 90% are caused by using too much.

Overfunctioning, or putting forth more musicular effort than you need to while playing, can lead to a smorgasbord of playing problems. Like harsh tone. And weak tone. And turbulent tone! Also ugly tonguing, stiff fingers, poor coordination, squeaky high notes, squeaky low notes, voicing while playing, too much air, and even not enough air.

In short, it’s a waste of your time.

Yes, it’s difficult to train yourself to do the minimum!. It’s tough to give to the instrument only what it needs and no more. But your reward is a gorgeous, soaring river of sound!

So go ahead: Kick back, relax, and enjoy the flight.

Three Reasons I Love Teaching Adults!

When I tell people I’m a music teacher, they’ll often assume I teach children. In fact, I have only one child in my studio at the moment, and since he just turned 18, I’m realizing he probably doesn’t count as a child anymore.

It’s not that I don’t like children; I do. I worked with many children for many years. I have my own children. I’m particularly fond of preschoolers, who are nakedly joyful and self-serving, tiny dervishes spreading chaos. When I teach children, it’s gratifying to watch them discover the joy of making music for themselves.

But I don’t think it’s happenstance that my current studio is made up almost entirely of adults, and that, over the years, the percentage of adults in my studio has climbed steadily toward 100%.

Teaching adults is, for me, pure joy. I wish I had the time and space to enumerate all the reasons adults make terrific students, but I’ll settle for sharing a few!

1) Adults want to be there.

With kids, you often (though not always) have to work to help them want to show up. AND you have to work to help their parents want to help them show up! Adults students do all this work for you. Adults show up joyfully. They show up because they are curious, because they want to grow, because they want help improving their skills and deepening their joy in music. They spend their own money and time to see you, heightening their sense of the value of lessons. Honestly, there are few students more pleasurable to teach then those who show up because they want to!

2) Adults have a past.

Kids come to music lessons with very similar sets of experiences, in that their life thus far has consisted of being a kid. Yes, children are individuals, and yes, they learn in different ways at different times with different supports. But on balance their instructional trajectories are more similar to one another than different.

With adults, it’s like drawing a wild card each and every time! The truth is if you’ve met one adult student, you’ve met…one adult student. Adults come with radically different sets of musical and non-musical experiences, ensuring you’ll be teaching very different things in very different ways. At 1:00 PM you might be helping a former homemaker with arthritis troubleshoot her lowest notes; at 2:00 PM you might be talking relaxation strategies with a music teacher. The amount of individualization you need to do with adults is robust, and that keeps things incredibly interesting!

3) Adults are your partners.

Perhaps my favorite thing about adults students is that they are collaborators in their own learning. The shape of this collaboration can vary– I have students who decide what they are going to play and what they would like me to help them with, and students who prefer that I guide the learning process. But in all cases, we are working together, as a team, to empower them to improve their skills. The process is dynamic, reflective, and iterative, building on itself over time. And it’s deeply fulfilling.

Are you an adult learner or a teacher of adults? What do you enjoy about the process?

How a Simple Thing You Already Do Can Help You Perform Better

For the last two weeks, I’ve been lucky enough to be leading recorder masterclasses at Oberlin Conservatory’s storied Baroque Performance Institute.

If you’ve ever been a teacher or a student of music, you probably know how masterclasses work. Each student gets a time slot during which to play a piece of music in front of the instructor and their peers. After the student plays, instructor guides the student –and the class– toward ways to strengthen their musicianship.

My first week, the class was very full, so there were few moments to spare. But during the second week, I realized I would have one open slot left after all the students had played. What. to do? In past workshops, I’ve done a variety of things with extra time, But this year I had a new idea: I’d open up the slot to the whole class as a mini performance clinic.

As I explained to my students, the performance clinic was opportunity to practice performing in a low-stakes, supportive environment. Any student could sign up to perform for the class, and after their performance I would offer them no musical feedback whatsoever.

What I would offer them was constructive commentary on the non-musical elements performing, including but not limited to: how the student entered the room, how they set up and turned pages, what they did after they played, and the messages conveyed by their face and body throughout.

In essence, I was offering the students what I wish someone had offered me. It’s possible things have changed, but when I went to music school, the time devoted to cultivating and improving the non-musical aspects of our performances was close to nil.

And that’s a pity, because the truth is, the non-musical elements of performance are important. Performing is about communication, and visual communication is important. In fact, it’s far more integral to audience members’ experience of our performances than many of us, in classical music, would like to think that it is.

Yes, our job is to play music. But our job is also to help our audiences feel welcomed and at ease. Audience members key in on our visible emotions: If you look anxious, you’ll make them anxious. If you look upset, they’ll feel unsettled. Putting the audience at ease is a delicate art, but it’s an essential one.

Fortunately, as I explained to my students during the clinic, there’s a hack for that!

Have you ever invited someone into your home? I bet you have. I’d also bet that, as you did so, you arranged your face and body to project welcome and comfort to the person or people in front of you. Hosting is a real life situation in which many of us have gotten to practice, time and time again, projecting exactly the welcome and comfort we want our audience members to feel. And performing should, at its best, feel very similar.

During the performance clinic, one student played beautifully, but his face and body projected diffidence and apology. At the end of the session, I asked him to imagine what he would look like if he was welcoming someone into his home. It was like flipping a switch: His face lit up and his body relaxed. Why? Because, like many of us, he had already practiced the skill; he just needed to apply it to the performance modality.

Next time you perform, try pretending that you’re inviting someone in. Because in a very real way, you are!

I'm Still Scared

My five-year-old daughter is a natural performer. She sings at top volume. She dresses to impress. If there are people around, she’s mugging for a laugh.

And so it came as something of a shock to me, as I was delivering her backstage for her school’s Kindergarten concert, when she grabbed my hand and said: “Mommy, I’m scared.”

Most of parenting feels like being parachuted, unprepared, into a combination of the reality television shows “American Ninja Warrior” and “Naked and Afraid.” So it is absurdly gratifying when, for once, you are fully equipped to address some facet of your child’s rearing.

I had this one.

“It’s OK to be scared,” I told her. “I’m scared every time I perform. I do it anyway.”

At that point, she let go of my hand to shriek over the presence of a classmate whom she had last seen approximately 37 minutes previously. But I think I’d set the wheels turning. And if I’d done nothing else, I’d spoken the truth.

I really am nervous. Every. Single. Time. Even though I’ve performed, at this point in my career, more times than I can count. And, for me, the nerves exist completely out of proportion to the stakes of the concert– I am just as capable of getting nervous playing Christmas music with a local Community Chorus as I am soloing on a major series.

This used to bother me. As a professional musician, wasn’t I supposed to be beyond nerves? Wasn’t I supposed to feel supremely confident and comfortable on stage?

But after years of playing and teaching, I’ve come to accept fear as my companion. I will always be scared. My daughter (though she proceeded onstage to offer a full-throated, high-octane rendition of the ABC song, complete with extempore dance moves) may always be scared. You may always be scared. It’s OK. We do it anyway.

Play Better with this One Weird Trick!

Yes, I am writing recorder clickbait! I couldn’t resist.

Mostly that’s because I am delighted by the very idea of recorder clickbait!

But it’s also because it’s exceedingly rare that I, or any other music teacher, can offer you a simple trick or quick fix. Learning to play music is a schlep. It involves the slow accretion of a constellation of complex, evolving skills and processes across very long time horizons. It is not straightforward; it is not linear; and in fact I’d pretty much call it hack-proof.

Except, that is, for this one weird trick!

So what is it, already?

Pretend there’s a note after your last note.

Lasts notes are challenging. I can’t tell you how many saggy, warped, droopy final notes I’ve heard (and produced!) over the years. I think it’s because once you get to the last note, it’s easy to drop your concentration. Part of you thinks you’re done playing, so you let your air, and your musical intention, quit before the note does. This leads to endings that are out of tune, wobbly, and/or just plain blah.

But if you pretend there’s a note after your final note, I can almost guarantee that you will invest your former last note, now pretend second-to-last note, with air, life, and shape. You won’t let your breath down early, or lose your musical intention, because you’ve convinced yourself there’s more music to come.

Then, once you’ve played your note, you can let this imagined future dissipate.

Don’t quit making music before you quit making sound! Pretend there’s a note after your last note.

It’s one weird trick that, yes, actually works.

Help! I Can't Get Rid of My Vibrato

You know the sound you wish would come out of your instrument– it’s round and resonant, like a bell. It’s warm and clear and centered, a beautiful, smooth stream of air.

But when you go to play, that’s not the sound you hear. Instead, your air stream is turbulent, maybe even rough, wobbling up and down with a constant vibrato you can’t seem to get rid of, no matter how hard you try.

What’s causing this? What can you do?

Vibrato you don’t have control over, and can’t get rid of, is called involuntary vibrato. It’s an extremely common problem in the recorder world, and one that, with time and proper technique, you absolutely can surmount!

Unlike voluntary vibrato, which is used to intensify or otherwise decorate specific notes and is completely under the control of the player, involuntary vibrato is constant and rudderless, occurring without a player’s conscious direction.

Most of us have heard players who play with involuntary vibrato. Maybe you’re one of them. If you are, read on for answers to some frequently asked questions!

Why does involuntary vibrato happen?

The short answer is constriction. When you play, air needs to get from your lungs to the instrument. You can think of the passage between your lungs and your instrument as a giant tube. If the tube is open and relaxed, air flows smoothly through it, like water through a smooth riverbed. But if there is constriction in the tube, you get turbulence, an air stream that flows more like water moving over rocks. If you’ve got involuntary vibrato, you’ve got constriction somewhere in your tube.

What is causing my involuntary vibrato?

There are three main technical problems that cause involuntary vibrato. One of the three causes usually predominates, although they absolutely can combine.

1) Insufficient air. If you’re not taking in enough air for what you want to play, muscles around your tube will attempt to compensate by squeezing the air you do have out.

2) Too much air. If you’re taking in more air than you need for what you want to play, you’ll have to engage muscles to work to hold some of your air back. This will also cause constriction.

3) Miscellaneous tension! The catch-all category. Something is squeezing where it doesn’t need to squeeze. You’re doing more work than you need to do, which, for recorder, is never a good thing.

How do I get rid of my involuntary vibrato?

For most people, there isn’t a quick fix, but you absolutely can reduce and even eliminate it over time. How you go about doing that depends on what’s causing it.

1) If you have insufficient air, you’ll want to work on taking better breaths that allow you to support your sound without squeezing. Often this will involve breathing lower, allowing the belly and sides to expand. Good breathing is at the heart of any wind instrument’s technique, and the recorder is no exception. Want more tips? My Breathing Webinar is full of practical advice. Get access here.

2) If you have too much air, you’ll want to work on taking in just enough air for your needs, and letting go of all the air you have.

3) If you carry miscellaneous tension, you’ll want to begin to very deliberately practice relaxed production, zeroing in on where you’re carrying tension and experimenting with techniques for letting it go.

What if I like my involuntary vibrato?

I definitely come across people who simply like the way their involuntary vibrato sounds. If that’s you, don’t worry: I’m not here to wrest your vibrato away from you. What I will do, though, is urge you to make that vibrato a choice, something you select deliberately rather than something you simply can’t stop.

Why Go to a Summer Workshop?

Summer workshop season is around the corner, and as usual, I’m excited!  There are some workshops I teach every year and there are other workshops I rotate through, but I enjoy them all, and I can’t imagine my year without these weeks devoted to learning and growing with students and colleagues.

But if you’re new to recorder world, or new to idea of week-long workshops, you might be wondering what’s in it for you. Why carve a whole week out of your life to attend? Is it worth the time, travel, and cost?

My answer is an enthusiastic yes. Summer workshops, by dint of their structure, size, and length, offer opportunities that are tough to come by during day-to-day music-making or shorter workshops Here are a few:

Perspective

No matter how much you love your local teacher, there are limits to each person’s knowledge, abilities, and time.  Summer workshops almost always offer a slate of faculty, and interacting with multiple teachers can open you up to new ways of thinking and playing, expose you to new repertoire, or give you a different angle on something you’ve been working toward.  I reliably find that my own students benefit from this broader exposure.

Depth

During a shorter workshop, it’s simply not possible to delve deeply into techniques, repertoire, or concepts.  Summer workshops tend to be longer, somewhere around a week, and this allows you more time to deepen your understanding, build skills, and reinforce new habits.

Connections 

Summer workshops draw regionally and nationally, so you’re able to make connections with other players outside your local sphere. Peer-to-peer learning at workshops is real and invaluable. Maybe you’ve always wanted to try out a comfort tenor, or talk to someone who has put together a school concert. Now’s your chance!

Focus

Do you dream of a class devoted entirely to the hurdy gurdy?  Are you keen to try out crumhorn or play with a harpsichordist? How about a class devoted to music for bass recorders?  Summer workshops, with their larger student and faculty pools, are the place to do this.

Time 

For those of us with many commitments outside of playing the recorder, the most precious gift summer workshops offer is time.  Think about how much time you spend each day working, cooking, cleaning, caretaking, commuting, etc.  Now sweep all of that away and replace it with large blocks of time devoted to music. Sound good?  (EDITOR’S NOTE: IT’S GLORIOUS!)

Are you interested in giving a summer workshop a try? Come join me this year– I’m teaching at four!

Virginia Baroque Performance Academy: June 9-15, 2024

***FULL FOR RECORDERS IN 2024****. Unique, intimate workshop in the Shenandoah Valley offering recorder masterclass and baroque chamber ensembles.  Relaxed schedule, supportive environment, smaller enrollment; ideal for more advanced amateur players.

Oberlin Baroque Performance Institute: June 16-29, 2024

You can attend either one or both weeks of this storied Baroque summer program!  This is my first year teaching at BPI, and I'm excited! All recorder players will have masterclass and technique with me in the morning.  In the afternoon, recorder players can choose from coached recorder consort (with an opportunity to use some of Oberlin's wonderful instruments!) or mixed-instrument baroque ensembles.  Suitable for high-intermediate players and above (all players should be able to hold your own line in an ensemble).  Optional extras include beginning viol, baroque dance, and more. Northern Ohio is beautiful in summer!  Application deadline is April 5.

 Mountain Collegium: June 30-July 6, 2024

Exceptionally well-run early music and folk workshop in the North Carolina Mountains.  I’ve taught many times at this workshop and am always impressed by its friendliness.  It’s also a great place to try something new. 

SFEMS Recorder Week: July 21-July 27, 2024

Fun with recorder in the Bay Area!  SFEMS is a well-established recorder workshop suitable for players of all levels. It features diverse classes with multiple faculty members, as well as large group playing opportunities.

I hope to see you there!

My Five Most Popular Blog Post of All Time

I’m always curious what resonates with my readers. It isn’t always what I think it will be! But this month is the first time I’ve done a deep dive into the data. I’ve been blogging since 2016, publishing articles about once a month…. that’s a lot of blogging! So I got curious: Out of all the articles I’ve published over the years, which were the ones that got the most traction?

Without further ado, I present my five most popular blog posts of all time. Some weren’t a surprise…but some were!

Transform Your Playing: Keeping a Practice Journal.

This is an old post, but I’m not surprised it took the number one spot…it’s a good one! I still refer my students here sometimes for advice on setting up and tracking their practice.

Practicing Tunefulness: Your Journey Toward Playing in Tune

Tuning is quite difficult on the recorder, so it makes sense that this was a topic of interest.

Better Playing in Five Minutes: No Really!

The hope for a quick fix springs eternal! But truthfully, there’s some verygood advice here.

The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Recorder Players

How many of these habits do you cultivate? They’re good ones!

The Single Word that Can Transform Your Playing

OK, OK, I cheated a bit: This is actually my eighth most popular entry. But I believe in this one with my whole heart, and I think you should, too!

Were these your favorites? Did I miss something? My hope over the years is that I’ve written at least one thing that has helped you on your musical journey!

How to Navigate a Practicing Slump: Four Tips

You probably know what a practicing slump feels like. Where once you might have practiced happily, even eagerly, now the thought of picking up your instrument makes you tired, or maybe even grumpy. You might dodge the practice room, but then you feel guilty about it. Or, you might succeed in dragging yourself there, but every minute feels like a grind. Why are you doing this again? What’s the point?

Practicing slumps are normal. I have them; my colleagues have them; my students have them. But I think we’re particularly vulnerable to them after we’ve attempted big, sweeping changes….in other words, for many of us, in January.

We make bold promises in January. We embark on new musical journeys and projects. We tell ourselves that this is the year we’re going to get it all done! We practice every day! With enthusiasm!

By February, our resolve beings to flag. Our January pace proves difficult to sustain, and we’re more and more tempted to throw up our hands and maybe also go back to bed. February is like January with a hangover.

Practicing slumps are totally normal, but it’s also important that we know how to navigate through them. A practice slump in an of itself isn’t harmful, but if you let it drag you down, it can diminish your participation in, and enjoyment of, music– and that’s a sad thing!

So how do you deal with a practicing slump, whether in February or any other time? Here are my top four tips!

Take a Break

Sometimes we need to intentionally rest and reset. If you spend three days away from the instrument by accident, intending to play every day, you’re going to fill guilty and powerless. But if you allot yourself three days of time-limited, intentional rest, chances are fairly good that you’ll return to your practice refreshed and reenergized. The key is to make your break purposeful and deliberate.

Wait it Out

This is the route I probably take the most. Sometimes, with a practicing slump, you just need to ride it out. If I’m feeling the tell-tale lack of energy and enthusiasm that signifies a practicing slump, I’ll put in a bare minimum amount of time, stopping once I reach it unless I feel like doing more. Putting in, say, 20 minutes a day keeps me in the game and helps me maintain my technique, as well as the habit of practicing, while I wait for my enthusiasm to return.

Shake it Up

Sometimes you don’t need a break from practicing so much as you need a break from practicing a particular thing. Instead of walking away from the instrument, try something different. Memorize a favorite tune, listen to recorder players online, sight read easy pieces, mess with a different clef. Trying something new, or even just swapping tasks, can bring your practicing slump to a close.

Phone a Friend

There’s nothing like engaging musically with other people to help us a practicing slump! Grab a friend and try something musical. You can play with them, listen to music together, ask them to be your audience for a mini-performance….even teach them the rudiments of the recorder! Getting another human being in the room can be immensely beneficial.

If you find yourself in a practicing slump this month (or any month), try one of these techniques. February may be extra long this year, but your practicing slump doesn’t have to be!

What Being a Student is Teaching Me

Recently, I’ve become a student again.

To be honest, it was not on purpose! As a working mother of two, my life was already quite full, and I wasn’t looking to add more to my plate.

But an old music school classmate of mine, a singer, was interested in taking recorder lessons, and she offered to barter lesson for lesson. And then I found that my son, who wanted to take tae kwon do, participated noticeably more if I was learning, too.

So I’m studying voice! And tae kwon do! And while it’s true that I’m a slightly better singer than when I started, and a slightly better martial artist than when I started, I think at least half the value, for me, of taking lessons has been a more direct window into the experiences of my students.

Here’s what it’s teaching (or re-teaching) me!

I Don’t Know What I Don’t Know

It’s a phenomenon I’ve observed consistently in my students, but it’s been fascinating to watch it unfolding in myself. As a learner, you are often simply not able to perceive even the outline of things you don’t know.

Here’s an example: One of the first tae kwon do moves I learned was something called high block, where you raise your arm to block a strike coming at your face. After two sessions, I thought I had it down absolutely pat! I was flawless! Brilliant, even!

After four sessions, I got clued in to the fact that the order of my movements was off. After six sessions, it dawned on me that my thumb position mattered. After eight sessions, I realized the angle of my arm needed to change. At this point I have no doubt there are more realizations ahead.

Learning is a process in which you expand not only skills, but also your perception. I compare it to flying in a plane: At first, you might see mountains and rivers and lakes. As you get closer, you begin to perceive that there are also settlements and roads. It’s only once you get even closer that you’re able to make out individual houses and vehicles.

The more you know, the more you realize how much you don’t know. How cool is that?

Cognitive Load Matters

This is something else I already knew, but it’s been valuable to feel it more viscerally.

Basically: Humans have a limited capacity for conscious engagement. If we’re wrestling with something that is taking a lot of conscious thought, we’re not going to be able to complete additional processing unless it is happening more or less automatically, below the level of conscious control.

This means that, for students, you need to consider cognitive load. Take note of what the students are able to do automatically, and try to tax them with only one additional high-load, conscious assignment at a time. And if you’re a learner, don’t try to do it all at once!

I Really Do Know What I’m Talking About

The beauty (curse?) of returning to formalized learning after having taught for a very long time is that I hear my own voice yapping away in my head. And you know what? I give some really great advice!

When I’m worried I’m backsliding, I remind myself that progress is not linear. When I’m frustrated by the pace of my improvement, I recollect that learning is a long road, and that many skills simply require the consistent investment time over time. I know that I need to practice relaxation. I know that I need to practice curiosity. I know that treating my mistakes neutrally, as data, will ultimately lead to my growth.

It’s comforting to reaffirm that most of what I’m telling my students is exactly on point. And to rediscover the joy of learning!

Four Reasons Playing the Recorder is Awesome!

Alright, it’s true that sometimes playing the recorder gets a bad rap.

There are the vaguely scornful looks and raised eyebrows. The endless memes (yes, I HAVE seen that one before; please do not send it to me). Plus that one South Park episode that shall live in infamy.

But the truth is that there are some pretty terrific things about playing recorder. And as 2023 –another year in which I’ve made my living as a recorder professional– draws to a close, I want to enumerate a few of them!

1) The inexpensive versions are good.

Just try finding and playing a $35 violin. And then you need a bow.

Whereas I can purchase a plastic Yamaha alto for $35, have it overnighted to me, and have a pretty solid instrument in my hands for less than the cost of airport parking.

2) It’s accessible.

Not only are recorders easy to procure, but unlike, say, a violin or trumpet, the recorder allows you to produce a sound fairly intuitively, meaning you can learn to play recognizable tunes much more rapidly than on many other instruments.

After that, the learning curve gets rapidly steeper…which is why I would never call the recorder easy. But if you’re someone who wants to take joy in music without having years to spend learning to produce a sound, the recorder is a fabulous option.

3) It fits under the seat in front of you!

Many of my colleagues have horror stories about boarding planes (or failing to board planes) with sackbuts or violas or, God Forbid, cellos. Whereas, unless I’ve got a bass recorder or bigger, I simply waltz aboard and stow my recorders safely under the seat in front of me.

4) You can be anything!

If you play the flute, you’ll be playing melody most of the time. If you play the cello, you’re going to play a lot of bass lines. If you play the viola there are a whole lot of inner parts in your future.

With the recorder, you get to choose your role!

Want to play an inner part? You can. Want to hold down the bass line? You can. Want to take the melody part and swan around? Totally doable! And you’re free to swap to a different role the next time. The flexibility is refreshing and empowering.

Speaking of which….want to play every part in Handel’s Messiah? Sign up for Recorder Messiah and join me in making Handel’s masterwork our own!

Three Secrets to Sneaking a Breath

Sneaky breaths are underrated!

Yes, it’s important to learn to take full, relaxed, high-quality breaths that will give you the air you need to spin long, beautiful lines.

But it’s also important to learn to sneak!

A sneaky breath, discreetly folded into a musical phrase, offers you the ability to sustain your musical intention while simultaneously protecting the quality of your tone. It opens up phrasing possibilities you might not have thought were possible. Sneaky breaths are practical, powerful, and, if executed correctly, close to undetectable!

But they do take skill! Here’s how to make them work for you.

Think Small

Sneaky breaths are basically tiny sips of air. They’re roughly equivalent in volume to the amount of air you’re taking in with each inhale as you’re reading this article (and they should feel similarly relaxed!). Especially on soprano and alto recorders, a tiny amount of air can take you a long way.

End Cleanly

One of the most common mistakes I hear people make when they attempt to sneak a breath is that they allow the impending breath to affect, in a detrimental way, the quality of the note immediately prior. Don’t telegraph your intention to breathe early: Wait until you’ve cleanly ended the note right before. And make sure your air stream stays level right up until the very end of that note!

Begin Softly

Sneaking a breath effectively is all about giving the illusion of a continued musical line. This means keeping the air level before the breath, as outlined above. And it also means that you need to enter after your intake of air with a sense that the breath was a mere suspension in on ongoing line. Practically, this means two things: The tongue stroke of your next note needs to be very soft, and your post-breath airstream needs to precisely match what came before.

The next time you’re practicing sneaky breaths, try out a few of these instructions. I predict more effective sneaking ahead!

Are you wondering not only how to sneak a breath, but where to do it? I’ve developed a practical, step-by-step process for ensuring your breathing supports, rather than disrupts, your music. My Webinar replay Where Do I Breathe? covers this and more.

Should You Join A Recorder Group?

Maybe you’ve been playing the recorder all by yourself in your living room for a while, and you’re starting to wonder if playing with others might be rewarding.

Maybe you just picked up the recorder during Covid, or you’re coming back to it after many years, and you know you want to make music with others, but you’re worried it will be beyond you, or that you’re not ready.

Maybe you’ve thought about joining a recorder group, but you just haven’t quite mustered up the courage.

Many of my students have found themselves in this space before, trying to decide whether to join in or stay on the sidelines. I know because they’ve told me! And if you’re one of them, read on for my top five signs you' should join a recorder group!

#1: YOU LOVE MUSIC

A single line of melody can be lovely. But melody and harmony? Multiple melodic lines interweaving? That can be absolutely exquisite. If you’re a music lover, being able to make music that has multiple parts is a major upgrade!

#2: YOU ENJOY SHARING A PURPOSE

To me, there’s something beautiful about coming together with others to move collaboratively toward a goal, particularly when that goal is something that all of you love. Music is a particularly special kind of collaboration because, unlike many kinds of projects, much of your communication and interaction is both nonverbal and taking place in real time!

#3: YOU’RE COMFORTABLE WITH BEING UNCOMFORTABLE…

…or you’re ready to learn to be that way! Playing in a group often feels vulnerable. And because many groups contain people who have been playing for many years, it can seem daunting, scary, or intimidating. You might worry about messing up, or getting lost, or brining the group down. And the truth is, you will mess up. You will get lost. You will make sounds you, and possibly others, don’t enjoy. And you know what? That’s OK! Actually, it’s more than OK, because it means you’re learning. The only way to get better at playing in a group is playing in a group, and in order to do that, you have to be willing to screw up. Plus, guess what? Every single person in the room with you has also been a beginner– they already know how you feel.

#4: YOU’RE READY TO GROW

Playing in a group can motivate you to expand your skills like nothing else. It forces you to practice things like sight reading, following your line amidst conflicting inputs, and listening and playing at the same time. It can inspire you to pick up a new size of instrument, or work to improve skills like pulse keeping or your ability to pay in tune. It will stretch you in ways that would be difficult, if not impossible, to achieve on your own.

#5: YOU LIKE SNACKS!

Ah, the snacks! Recorder players are, almost without exception, lovely, interesting people who happen to really excel at snacks. Just make sure to bring a toothbrush!

Quiz: What's Your Learning Engine?

Do you sometimes have to drag yourself into the practice room, but other times can’t wait to get started?

Do you sometimes feel a powerful drive to learn, but other times struggle to make yourself care?

And are you never sure which version of yourself is going to show up?

If this sounds familiar, you might benefit from identifying your learning engine– the experience or goal that best motivates you.

Yes, each of us is unique– but in my many years of teaching, I’ve found that most students tend to fall into one of four motivational categories. Identifying yours can be powerful– you’ll be able to harness your natural tendencies to move forward with more efficiency and speed. (You may find multiple things motivating, but in my experience, one tends to predominate.)

Is this scientific? Absolutely not. Is it useful? I think so! Is there a super fun quiz I just made up? Of course!

Ready to identify your learning engine and harness your drive? Answer these five questions as honestly as you can.

I experience the most musical satisfaction when I:

1. Play through a piece I know and play well

2. Gain confidence with a newer fingering system

3. Get together to make music with my friends

4. Immerse myself in a new musical style

I’m most proud of myself when I:

1. Nail a piece in performance

2. Finish the last exercise in the book

3. Hold down my section in recorder orchestra

4. Learn something new about music theory

A great musical afternoon would be:

1. Playing through the pieces I love best

2. Trying a piece I previously struggled with and noticing how far I’ve come

3. Recorder reading party, with snacks!

4. Plunging into original notation!

I struggle the most when:

1. The piece I’m trying to play is beyond my current abilities

2. I don’t think I’m getting anywhere

3. There’s no one to play with

4. We just play the same old stuff

A terrific musical gift for me would be:

1. A fine, handmade version of my favorite instrument

2. The next size up or down I need to learn– I’m ready!

3. A contrabass I can bring to my ensemble

4. A big stack of music and books I’ve never seen before

ANSWER KEY:

Mostly 1s: Your learning engine is MASTERY

You love the experience of doing something you’re good at. You like to feel relaxed and confident when you’re playing, and you find pleasure in producing sounds you enjoy. Best of all is when you don’t even have to think about what you’re doing! On the flip side, you may struggle with struggle: If something is difficult for you, it may be harder for you to engage with it productively.

How to harness MASTERY: Make sure to allow yourself plenty of time during your practice sessions to enjoy playing things you’re good at, and use this time as a reward for tackling thornier musical tasks. You may also benefit from adding structure and accountability (courses, webinars, workshops, lessons) around tasks that are harder for you, as these additional supports can help you move beyond your comfort zone. (For what it’s worth, this is my own engine, so the advice is personal!)

Mostly 2s: Your learning engine is PROGRESS

You love the experience of moving forward toward your goals. The process of step-by-step improvement feels empowering, particularly when you are able to see or hear how far you’ve come. Learning each new note on the recorder was a joy! On the flip side, you may begin to run aground when progress becomes less linear and straightforward and more dispersed and granular– as it will once you’re no longer a beginner.

How to harness PROGRESS: You will benefit from good record keeping in your practice, both written and aural. This will help you look and listen back and reflect on how far you’ve come! It will also behoove you to break larger goals into small, achievable steps you can progress though. And finally, you may derive motivation from accessing an established curriculum, such as the ABRSM graded coursework or the American Recorder Society’s Personal Study Program (must be a member to access).

Mostly 3s: Your learning engine is COMMUNITY

You love the experience of playing in community, of being a part of something bigger than yourself. You like to feel useful in a group, and will gravitate toward whatever role you feel benefits the whole. Playing with others drives you to be a better musician and you want to improve your skills so you can increase your value to the group. On the flip side, you may struggle to stay motivated when you’re on your own.

How to harness COMMUNITY: Find or make as many group playing opportunities as you can. Consider adopting group goals, in which each member of the community is working toward the same thing. Look for music you’d be excited to play in a group, and choose something you know will challenge you. Attend workshops and join your local chapter.

Mostly 4s: Your learning engine is DISCOVERY

You love the experience of learning something new. Acquiring knowledge and engaging with new concepts are motivating for you, and you enjoy integrating new information into your existing knowledge frameworks. You like to delve into the historical context of the music you’re playing, and may enjoy learning new notational systems or theory concepts. On the flip side, you may struggle to find motivation to polish or perfect pieces you already know, and repetitive technical work may feel like a chore.

How to harness DISCOVERY: Use your love of learning to motivate your practice by seeking out and immersing yourself in new musical worlds. Tackle repetitive work at the beginning of your practice session, when you’re fresh and energetic, and reward yourself with new material. If you’re learning a new piece on your own, allow yourself to engage comprehensively with it, placing it in historical context, listening to it, reading about it, etc.

Recorder FAQ

Often, the questions that recorder students ask surprise me. Recorder players tend to be thoughtful, curious, and insightful, and as a teacher, I’m always amazed at the diversity of things they wonder about!

That said, there are certain questions that come up again and again. These are the evergreen questions, the ones I’m asked routinely, year after year, by person after person…which clearly signifies that many people want to know the answers!

Accordingly, I’ve decided to try my hand at answering a few of the questions I’m asked most frequently as a teacher. Here goes!

Q: How do I get the lowest notes to sound nice?

A: This is a process! You need a well-mixed cocktail of appropriate air flow, good finger coverage, smart positioning, independent finger movement, soft tonguing, and consistent practice. I have an article about it here, and a webinar here.

Q: How do I get the highest notes to sound nice?

A: This is also a process! Thumb positioning and movement is vitally important as is the quality of your airflow and your level of bodily tension. I have a webinar about it here.

Q: Is there a trill chart you can recommend?

A: Unfortunately….not really. I wish I could recommend a single comprehensive source for you to reference, but I can’t, in part because which trill fingering you should choose is impacted by factors like note duration, the place and time your piece was written, its character, etc. It’s my belief that trills are best learned in context.

Q: Is there a comprehensive book or article about ornamentation you can recommend?

A: Again….unfortunately not. There are many books and articles about ornamentation, and many are useful, but learning to ornament is best understood as a ground-up process, meaning it needs to be driven by the needs and parameters a specific piece of music. I also think it’s necessary to have an aural component to your learning. My teaching about ornamentation is therefore always contextualized.

Q: When you learn a new size of instrument, should you stop playing the one you already know for a while? What about learning more than one size at a time?

A: So I don’t actually know the answer to this excellent question, because to my knowledge no research studies have been conducted that would begin to answer it! My gut, though, tells me that it’s not harmful to switch between sizes and fingering systems– that it’s even possibly beneficial. The one thing I would make sure to do, as you add a new fingering system, is to practice it early in your sessions, while you’re mentally fresh, thereafter switching to the system you know the best. The less familiar you are with a system, too, the larger a “chunk” of practice you might set aside before turning to something else.

Q: How do I stop making mistakes?

A: You don’t. You learn to make your mistakes more discreetly, less frequently, and with reduced fallout. But you will still make mistakes. And that’s OK!

Q: Is it normal to have mental slips while playing?

A: Yes, very. And the more you are asking yourself to do at one time (or the more I am asking you to do at one time!), the more frequent your mental slips are likely to become. This is a normal part of the learning process and should not be cause for alarm.

Q: Why don’t I sound like you?

I have been practicing, often under expert guidance, almost every day of my life for 32 years. Also, this is my work, and I support myself doing it. Unless you also meet these conditions, it’s unlikely you’re going to sound the way I do. That said, anybody can improve their sound with targeted practice over time, including you!

Q: Is this old recorder I found in the basement worth money? Can you tell me what it’s worth?

A: Almost certainly not, and no. The best way of guessing value of your instrument by identifying its maker and its age, assessing its condition, and doing your own research to see what comparable instruments are selling for, used, in the current market. The only thing I could possibly help you with is an in-person assessment of your instrument’s playability and quality (not its price), typically for a fee.

I hope some of these answers were helpful! Happy playing.

Five Lies You Might Be Telling Yourself

You probably already know this, but how we talk to ourselves as musicians and learners– both the content and the tone of that communication– matters! And we don’t always realize when we’re telling ourselves things that, well, just aren’t true!

Unfortunately, these inadvertent falsehoods can have consequences. At best, they’re unhelpful, and at worst, they can limit our desire and ability to grow.

That’s why it can be beneficial to stop every now and then to take inventory. What are you telling yourself about your playing and your musicianship? And is it really accurate?

Here are five of the most common lies I catch recorder students telling themselves. Ask yourself: Do any of them sound familiar? I’m personally guilty of at least two!

I need an expensive instrument to make any more progress

Think of your instrument like a car. Is it super fun to drive a Porsche to the grocery store? Yes! Can you still get there in your Ford Pinto? Yes. Likewise, hopping into the Porsche isn’t going to magically make you a better driver. But driving lessons might! And owning a Porsche might give you fantastic motivation to improve your skills.

There is something wrong with my instrument

OK, full disclosure: Sometimes this is not a lie. Sometimes there is actually something wrong with your instrument. But 95% of the time, the “problem” with your instrument can be recitfied by improving your technique. Are your high notes cracking? Are your low notes not coming out? Is your tuning inconsistent.? Most of the time it’s a safe bet that the culprit is you. Want to know for sure? Hand your instrument to a professional or advanced player and have them try it out.

I can’t get any better than I already am

This is a bald-faced lie I told myself in my early 20s. And I was so, so, so wrong! Unless we are suffering from a degenerative disease process, we can, every single one of us, improve. I am still improving! My colleagues are still improving. Every single one of my students is improving! But improving takes targeted, deliberate work, and you have to be willing to put that work in.

I’m bad at XXX

No, you’re not bad at XXX (insert sight reading, tuning, playing bass, playing by ear, skydiving, etc. etc. etc.). You’re simply not where you want to be at XXX yet. Can you improve at XXX with targeted, deliberate work? Yes. Might your rate or degree of improvement still frustrate you? Yes. But our abilities are never fixed.

No one wants to hear me play

You want to hear you play! In the end, that’s what matters.

And truth be told, there are almost certainly more people in your life who would enjoy hearing you play than you think. I personally love seeing and hearing people make live music, no matter what their level– what a wonderfully human endeavor! It’s a privilege to be able to watch another human being bring music to life. So the idea that no one wants to hear you play is almost certainly false. (The exception is cats. Cats do not want to hear you play. Ever.)

How's Your "C" Game?

I made a mistake yesterday in performance.

This is not particularly unusual for me. Truth be told, this is not particularly unusual for anyone I know. Live performance of music is an incredibly consuming, complicated endeavor, and it’s close to impossible to achieve, live, the level of perfection you might hear on your favorite recording. (Spoiler alert: those are edited!)

Yes, there are times when, on stage, my performance seems to be unfolding flawlessly, unrolling like a magic carpet without any evident effort on my part. And those times are pretty dang great!

Other times, though, my playing feels more effortful. I don’t feel as fluid or alert as I want to be. I’m on edge or I’m tired. I screw up. And yet, the performance continues.

This is why I was so interested recently to hear Sports Psychologist Dan Abrahams, who primarily works with professional soccer players, describe the importance of helping athletes develop a good relationship with their “C” games. (Side note: if you’re a teaching and learning junkie like me, I highly recommend the new podcast Sweat the Technique.)

Getting comfortable with your “C” game makes an enormous amount of sense to me. Obviously we always want, and strive, to bring our “A” games. But the truth is that sometimes we will bring our “C” games instead. And we need to know how to react when we do.

Now, please understand that getting comfortable with your “C” game doesn’t mean that you’ve given up on your “A” game. You’re still going to work really hard to be your best musical self as often as you possibly can. You’re also going to work hard make sure your “C” game is as good as it can be, which means consistent investment, over time, in growing your overall abilities.

But when you find yourself, in the moment, playing with less than 100% of your ability, you need to be able to react constructively and calmly, and that means reacting from a place of acceptance rather than from a place of panic.

If I recognize that I’ve brought my “C” game, for example, I might take fewer risks. I might ornament a bit less, take more conservative tempos, and hew more closely to what I know will work. I’m probably going to double down on physical relaxation, and I’m definitely going to be working to recover from my mistakes as seamlessly as possible.

Which is what I did yesterday. Mistakes happen. You can’t always bring your “A” game. But you absolutely can accept, adjust, and continue.