August 26, 2024 • 30 mins
Laura Lentz has given us a new book: The Modal Flute Warmup: Sound Discovery and Color Palette Expansion where she revisits and expands a classic Sam Baron exercise to introduce classical flutists to All the modes, encouraging exploration and discovery.
In this conversation, Laura presents her book, and we talk about the importance of finding space in our practice and teaching to allow for discovery.
You can learn more about Laura and her book at lauralentzflute.com
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(00:17):
Hey,this is Doctor Kathleen Weidenfeld.
Welcome to the flute suite.Here in the flute suite,
I like to share a differentperspectives on flute teaching
practice and performance.I also hope to introduce you to
some of my colleagues and someof the flute happenings from my
(00:39):
adopted home country of Finland.I'm so glad you've decided to join
us, so settle in and I hope youenjoyed this episode. Hi everyone!
It's actually taken a little longerthan I had originally planned to
get this episode out for you.I'll blame the start of the
academic year but in truth,this wonderful warm and sunny early
(01:04):
fall weather that we've been enjoyinghere in Southern Finland does
have a lot to do with it as well.We've got to enjoy these last few
weeks of incredible weather reallybefore it starts to get dark.
I'm doing things a little bitdifferently today.
Laura Lentz has no real connectionsto Finland, but she has written
(01:28):
a book, The Modal Workbook,which I wanted to look at and
present to you as the start of aseries that I want to do on
introducing written material thatyou can use to help you incorporate
(01:48):
more improvisation into your ownpractice and into your teaching.
One of the things I often hearfrom my colleagues is that they
don't have Of time to improvisewith their students.
Because there are so many thingsthat we have to force into their
lessons in the small amount oftime and space that we have.
(02:12):
My goal is to show you ways that youcan use improvisation as a tool to
develop those same skills and helpyour students meet those same goals.
And I know sometimes it can beintimidating if you've never
improvised before.I want to bring you not only
(02:36):
exercises, but some written materialthat can help you do just that.
And this interview with Laura isa way of introducing her book is
one way I'm planning on doing that.I hope you enjoy this episode,
and I hope that you will listento the end, because I think at
(02:57):
the end we get into a really niceconversation about space and I
think it's really important.Thank you all for listening.
So I'm excited today.And I have to tell you, Laura,
that I had to practice saying yourname even though I'm an American,
because living here so long,it would automatically come out
(03:17):
as Laura. So if I call you Laura.It's actually that's actually
fine with me.If that was more comfortable.
I lived in Italy almost nine years.Oh, wow. Okay.
That's part of my story.And so I was Laura Lenz for Laura
Lanza for. So I am fine with that.And Laura, we're a composer.
(03:41):
You're a teacher. You're a performer.You have this ensemble five by five,
but you've also written thiswonderful new workbook for flutist
called The Modal Workbook. Yes.I have to say, what caught my eye,
I got I was lucky enough to getto see it before it went into
publication, and thank you for that.Through as we were just talking
(04:04):
about our mutual friend Lee Pearson,the things that stood out to me when
I read your introduction, the wordsthat stood out to me exploration,
discovery, self-reflection,and then new color palettes and
going beyond tonal harmony. Yes.Yes. Well, thank you so much.
Thank you so much for having me.And the book Modal Flute warm Up
(04:26):
came with all of those things inmy mind as I was working on it.
And actually,the original inspiration for
this book was an exercise that Icame across at a flute fair.
And this is the wonder of networkingand going to flute fairs and having
new experiences, because you get toexplore and discover new possible
(04:51):
things that you don't know or ideas.And so there was an exercise by
the wonderful teacher Sam Barron.There's a five note scale pattern
with a rest, and then anotherscale pattern, and then a rest.
And I brought it home and I startedworking on it, and I realized
how important the idea of spaceis for us to have time to think
(05:13):
and to listen and to be aware.And so in my own studies and my
own teaching, I have found eventhe top bar we have to do them.
They're wonderful. They're important.I think that they sometimes can
be limiting in the way that we'repracticing, and the way I think
that we're taught how to practice,that we go on automatic pilot.
We don't have space to stop andthink about what we're doing.
(05:34):
And so for me,it was very much like this, you know,
incredible eye opening experienceto have a technical exercise of
this short little scale patternwith this rest that gave me time to
think about what I had just done.And then I can ask myself,
what did I notice?What did, what am I hearing?
(05:56):
What am I experiencing?What does it feel like when I'm
happy with the sound? How is my air?How are my shoulders?
How's my body? How's my mind?I mean, that's a lot, you know?
So each time that I would play alittle one of these scale patterns
and the rest occurs, I find thatthat space gives me so much room.
(06:17):
And also for my students and thepeople that I've been meeting as
a result of writing this book,that wondrous rest in that space
that's there.And that exercise that Sam Baron
originally put in that exerciseis so important.
So that was the original inspirationfor the book. I took that exercise.
I expanded it up to the uppertetra chord of the scale.
(06:39):
I realized it was modal in nature.And then from there,
I started creating this warm upthat I was essentially looking for.
I mean, I was looking for somethingthat was a little different.
I was looking for a way to tap intosome different color and emotion
and space and room for exploringand discovery that for me, I felt
this warm up structure and contentsatisfied that need that I had.
(07:04):
You know, also wanting somethingthat gave me joy.
I was starting to feel like Ineeded something different.
So this full warm up that's in thisbook is meant as something that
really helped me in that momentwhere I was in my creative practice
and process, and it also supportedmy students to think a little
differently than the, you know,again, nothing terrible or it's
(07:28):
so important all the, you know,why this exercise is tough and I'll
go bare. This does not replace that.This is a supplement.
This is something different forpeople.
If they're looking for somethingmaybe a little different in their
practice. That's fantastic.I just want to let it resonate
there in this space.You want to give it space? Yes.
One of the stories of my son as ayoung pianist, he got to study with a
(07:53):
rather respected pianist here inthe town that we were living in,
and I'd heard so much about him.I was really excited that I was
going to get to follow the lessons.At first I didn't understand what was
going on because to me it lookedlike there was nothing going on.
You know, he would sit and listenand just, you know, but as as time
went on and as I heard his otherstudents as well, it finally clicked
(08:17):
that he was giving them space andhe was being present and waiting.
And in the case of my son,I mean, he never pushed him.
And my son was not good atpracticing. A few of us are.
And I remember the day he was it wasthe beginning of summer vacation.
(08:37):
He was about 12 years old, and I wassure he was ready to quit piano.
And I found him in bed withheadphones on and a big black book.
And he said, mom,do you know who Messiaen is?
He said, mom,have you ever heard of the little
symphony He had this score in hishands and he was listening to it.
(08:57):
And that started a journey.And he just did his masters and
just played his first professionalconcert last week. Fantastic.
And I've found the same thing,like you talk about when you give
your students space and how wonderfulto build that into our practice. Yes.
Well, you know,I think that there's this idea
(09:18):
that there's the master teacher,and the master teacher gives all
the information to the students,and they're an empty vessel.
They receive this information.You know, that's and so. Sure.
Wonderful.But, you know, I mean,
I think we can do for ourselvesand for our students.
We can serve them better if weand ourselves better, if we allow
(09:39):
moments of reflection and moments ofself-discovery and self-awareness.
Not everybody will arrive to thesame answer.
I think that a lot of teaching andlearning benefits when we can give
opportunities for thinking andunderstanding what's happening for
(09:59):
themselves, so that when they go homeand they're practicing on their own,
they can be their own teachers andthey can learn for themselves.
And they need me less and less.That's my goal.
That's our goal as teachers, right?And if we give them these tools and
especially, again, this idea ofspace, I believe that that's really
saying you have the resources, youhave the possibility to understand
(10:25):
for yourself what's happening.And in fact, it actually will,
in the long run,serve you better than me telling
you exactly what I see happening.Absolutely, absolutely.
And it's a lot more fun for yourteacher to say to you, go home and
play around with these notes ratherthan go home and play these scales
at this tempo and this many times.And that's right, that's right,
(10:48):
that's right. Yeah.And then wonder why the student
doesn't feel like practicing or Yeah.Another thing that I noticed too.
If you have a young student who'sexcited and wants to learn, if you
give them that kind of information,they come back the next week
with a tight, hands tight sound.Yes, because they're trying so
(11:10):
hard to get the speed.And the speed is I mean,
our fingers move.That's usually not the problem.
Right.Well, you know, if you if you, um,
flip through the pages of this book,it looks very technical.
And in fact, it is technical.And one thing that I, um, you know,
in sessions on zoom and in theclasses that I've done this year,
(11:32):
and I'm getting ready to go tothe NFA, uh, next month is,
you know, I, I talk about howimportant it is to go at a pace
that feels good to you so that youcan notice things for yourself.
And it might be faster for aprofessional flutist or another
student.It might be slower for another
student.I have some adult learners We do
(11:53):
very slow pace, and we use theexercises as an opportunity to
listen to things that we notice.You know, I do want to mention
the modal aspect of this book.Yeah, that original Sam Barron
exercise, because it goes stepwise.As I was practicing,
I realized this is modal.And I thought, oh,
that's interesting.What if I was talking to a jazz
(12:13):
friend of mine and I grew up witha jazz dad and remembering some
things about how jazz musicianspractice and in fact, they practice.
For example,you start with Lydian and then you
add a flat and you go through.So for example,
if you look at page 86,it starts with one sharp C Lydian,
and it goes through all the modesand C root it goes from C Lydian.
(12:35):
Then it adds a flat to C IonianSea Mixolydian C Dorian.
And what's happening is you're havinga one note change and you have this
fantastic moment of like, oh wow,that one note changes it completely.
You know, it's the sameinformation from part three,
which is Has all of the scales.For example C major you go C, d, e,
f, g, a, and you go through each onewith the five note scale pattern.
(12:59):
But here in part four you'reorganizing all that same
information but by the root.So all of the exercises have C
as their starting note.And so you have C Lydian C
Ionian Sea Mixolydian.And so discovering this pattern that
that jazz musicians use I thoughtwell how many classical flutes
use this. I don't think we do.And so that's been an eye opening
(13:23):
exercise for a lot of people I'vebeen working with. And it's fun.
And then as I kept playing both thesepart three and part four exercises,
I started noodling around.And that's where the composer,
Laura came out and I wrote the part.Five are modal noodles.
Basically,you have the opportunity to stay
(13:44):
in one mode all the way through.You have this little phrase at
the beginning.So for example,
floating starts in F Lydian andthen it goes to G flat Lydian,
and then it goes to G Lydian.So it goes through all of the
keys you're transposing throughstaying in Lydian.
So you get this nice Lydian color.And then at the end of doing
(14:04):
that you have an opportunity.On page 115, you'll see it says,
try improvising your own modalnoodle and F Lydian.
And you have F Lydian right there.And then you have a starting
little idea.And then you can improvise using
that as a starting point.One thing that's been really
enjoyable to do is to remind peoplethat improvising is not jazz.
(14:27):
Improvising is creating your ownmusic in the moment, and it doesn't
have to be in a jazz style.It can be in an Irish style,
it can be in any style.It can be in a mood and emotion.
What I've been doing in the in thesessions, uh, meeting with groups
of artists around the country,as I've been talking about this book,
(14:47):
is we do group improvisations we goover the mode and then we go to it,
and it's the most fantastic,glorious thing and you can do it
in your lessons also.Ask a student, what mood are you in?
Are you interested in somethingupbeat, something maybe darkish?
And then we come up with an emotion.We come up with more or less like
(15:07):
a time signature, and we use oneof the modes in the book and we
improvise together freely.It's encouraging students to find
their own musical voice or anartistic voice, giving them space
to create in the moment somethingthat comes from them spontaneously.
One thing I wanted to do was atthe end of my modal noodle.
(15:29):
I wanted to improvise a little bitso that I'm feeling joyful and I'm
tapping into some emotion or colouror something different, or the
Laura voice at that day, you know.And so I just, I think if
there's room that we can providefor ourselves and others where
we're listening and experiencingInfluencing new fingering
(15:50):
combinations, maybe tapping into somenew emotions and you don't need to
know modes at all to play this bookbecause everything is written out.
If anybody has any questions,I offer zoom sessions frequently,
so anybody who buys the book oranybody who's interested in the
book can meet with me and I cananswer questions or guide you in a
way to work through the book thatmight be helpful for you. Great.
(16:14):
I've been using improvisationwith my students as long as I've
been teaching here in Finland.Anyway, so about 30 years plus.
And I started because I was usingso-called extended techniques as a
way to develop tone and technique,and there was no material really,
at that point available.Little by little, we're getting more.
(16:38):
My doctoral thesis was on doinggroup improvisations with adult
amateurs and what I like becauseI stay away from written
exercises when doing this.What I found here is,
like you said, you don't have toexplain what is this mode?
What is an F going to look atyou with glass faces. Right.
So we can, you know,pull up in the audience who might be.
(17:01):
Curious to know more.And they want to understand.
They want to know what is that?What is F Lydian?
And so you take the space andyou talk with them through it.
But there's some students that'sa little overwhelming.
And you just say,look at the key signature and it's
going to sound a little different.I think that you don't have to
have that theory or you,but there may be students who are
curious about it. Absolutely.And what I find is through
(17:21):
improvisation and through playingwith this, you learn the theory
because they're also using their earsand their mind, and not just copying
what's on the page. Yes. Yeah.There's a bunch of things that came
up for me as you were talking.So one thing that I really like
to use for improvisation,although I haven't used it as
(17:41):
much recently, but you'rereminding me how wonderful it is.
We'll often has an improvisationcalendar, and it's a book of
drawings of visuals to sparkimprovisation in our students.
But this idea that we can tapour creative selves in some way
to be sparked,to create something in response.
(18:02):
And I think that that is wherethe magic is, and that's where
we can teach students to, like,trust what they're experiencing
and feeling at the moment.And then they can respond in a
way with some musical idea thatcomes from within them.
You know, there's the wonderfulcomposer Pauline Oliveros,
who had marvelous opportunitiesfor improvisation, um, her Buffalo
(18:23):
Jam and the breathing meditation.There's a bunch of pieces from her
that allow for group improvisation orlike in my book, just taking a mode
and showing the student that you'reready to take a risk with them.
And how fun is it to create somemusic in the moment with your teacher
that you're both doing this risktaking at the moment with this mode,
(18:46):
and you're learning something new.I have been finding that students
have been learning scales muchbetter and more deeply by doing
the exercises in here.The part three that's organized
in these little scale patterns,what happens is they're gaining
confidence in a smaller gesture.I do want to mention in the book, the
(19:07):
part one is called Start to Discover.And so the chapter one goes through
different aspects of flute playinglike body awareness and breathing,
armature, tone, technique,articulation, expressive elements,
practicing, and even about yourflute. Like do you need a new flute?
Doesn't need to be repaired.And then the most important thing,
I think, is this exploration anddiscovery box that's listed in each
(19:30):
section, where in regular textthere's invitations to explore.
So for example,in the body awareness section,
since the body as a whole considerwhole body movements that you like,
you might do some of these movementsbefore you start practicing.
You might do some of these as you'repracticing, and then the opportunity
(19:54):
to discover after you have thoughtabout some of these things,
then you're asked to think aboutwhat movement resonates with you.
And did the movement change yourmindset and did it change how
your body feels?It's meant as a way to check in
on these different aspects offlute playing.
There are also specific resourceslisted to discover if people want
(20:18):
to explore some more. Great!I love to ask people their
origin stories.So what brought you to the flute?
Yes, well,I come from a family of musicians.
I am the third generation ofmusician.
My my son is a pianist as well.My father is a jazz musician,
(20:40):
so I grew up in that color world.We used to play the blues and
play modes together.I completed my undergrad degree, Can
Andrews at the Crane School of Music.I studied with Stephanie Judt in
Madison, Wisconsin and livedthere for about nine years or so,
playing with the local symphony.I met my husband, who's Italian,
(21:07):
and we ran off to Rome, Italy.I have a son named Luca. He's now 20.
He's a piano major at BowlingGreen State University.
I founded a chamber group.It's a new music ensemble called
Five by Five.I recently taught at Eastman School
of Music's Institute of MusicLeadership, and this fall I'll be
(21:29):
teaching at Nazareth University, bothcourses on grant writing and how to
find funding for your creative ideas.How do you balance all of these
balls, and how do you keep takingcare of yourself and keep that space
while you're doing all of this Yeah.Well, you know, I think being
organized with your time,setting priorities, setting goals,
(21:53):
knowing what's what you want,knowing what's important to you,
saying no, it is challenging. It is.It is very hard to live as a creative
and to balance all of those things.Not only am I a teacher and teaching
these classes, I'm also a performer.And not only with five by five,
but I'm also committed toperforming as a soloist.
Commissioning works I have severalcomposers that have been writing
(22:16):
music for me, which I have a coupleof projects this year that are me
performing with string quartet,or with electronics or with piano.
If inspiration grabs you, listento it and take the space to try to
understand what's there, becauseyou may end up publishing a book.
(22:38):
As you've lived for nine yearsin Italy, I imagine you probably
experienced a similar thing.So the idea of space and time
here in Europe is really takenmuch more seriously and
differently than it is in the US.And I wonder how it was for you
living in. Did you play when you did?Could you explain a little bit
(22:59):
about your experience,about time and space?
I mean, I definitely had aninteresting experience in Italy and
then returning back here, but I wouldbe curious to know what your if you
could share a little bit about yourexperience with time and space.
I've been here so long now thatI take for granted that well,
(23:20):
here in Finland, I think we'regoverned very strongly by.
Italy in a different way, right?So yeah. Yeah.
Probably we also have the dark in thewinter and the sun in the summer.
So at summertime everythingshuts down.
And when I first came here especiallyand you still do on small businesses
(23:44):
you will find signs startingaround mid-June mid-summer that
we will open again in August.Everything shuts down less now
than it used to.It's become a little more hectic.
Finland is filled with summerfestivals.
I mean, they celebrate summer andyou're outside in the summer because
then we have to go through this longsix months of dark and gray and cold.
(24:07):
So you have to be outside,you have to get as much sun and as
much rest as possible and rechargeyour batteries during that time.
There's also built in and again,this is unfortunately changing,
but built into the whole educationsystem is a sense of space and time.
(24:30):
Even today when you start a degree,you have ten years.
And that's fairly recent.This limit to finish.
Kids start school when they're seven.Nowadays it is.
It's not mandatory,but it's very common that kids
will start at six with this sortof what they call preschool.
(24:52):
Traditionally, it is not expectedthat a young child is going to
learn to read until 6 or 7.They just don't expect it.
Of course, some kids do,but it's not expected.
And so there is this space toallow the kid to be a kid.
There's a space when they go toschool.
The school day is structured so thatchildren are in school when they
(25:15):
have classes, even from first grade.So they have different length days.
They have recess after everysingle class.
And this at first,to me as an American coming in here.
And then when I started having kids,it was horribly disorienting.
You know, it felt wrong.And I had to learn how to
breathe and go with it.Well, you're reminding me about many
(25:39):
things that I experienced comingfrom the US and moving to Italy.
I was in Rome and Rome is hectic,fascinating,
but just busy and crazy city.My experience of living in Italy,
I was based in Rome,but you know, of course we would
travel around around the country.There's not one you can't stereotype
(26:01):
about the kind of time and space.I do think that there are some
definite cultural differences that Ithink I grappled with a little bit.
You know, if you say 7:00,it's probably not going to be 7:00.
It's probably going to be 730.You know, that was very challenging
for me because I do like punctuality.And so, yeah, that was something
(26:22):
that I struggled with a little bit.And when we moved back here,
my husband, who's Italian, struggledwith that here because, you know,
again, 7:00 doesn't mean 7:00.It means, you know, and it's actually
considered rude to in some ways.You want to give space to people.
If you say 7:00,it's actually polite to arrive late.
(26:42):
You reminded me of Augustcompletely shutting down in Italy
and everybody goes to the sea.They're just crazy drivers,
you know, they're very fast,but they take their time for Sunday
lunches and they sit together andthey enjoy and there's no rush.
We should probably try to bring this.I was thinking.
About something when you werejust talking.
(27:03):
We often are listening to peoplethinking about a response that
we're going to make, rather thanjust listening to the person.
I think that the whole idea oflistening in our playing and our
teaching,I think it's really important,
obviously, that we are listeningto our students, to ourselves in
(27:26):
our practice and giving them thespace to feel like we're listening
to them without a ready response.So what we want to do.
When you give your students thespace to think and when you respect,
(27:49):
build this trust and you build thisrespect of their ideas, all of a
sudden they have something to say.And I have found that even with
my youngest students,they 95% of the time,
they know what they don't like.And actually often what we have
to do as teachers is step in andsort of give them more confidence
(28:11):
that you don't have to be able toat this point to play everything
absolutely perfectly with perfectintonation at the horrible speed.
We're going at a pace and thistime in space to develop.
But when you do that,you learn yourself.
What I found is I learned at least asmuch from my students. Absolutely.
(28:34):
And then they have, you know,they have the time to develop
into a person that believes inthemselves and believes in their
own personal musical voice. Yes.And so we're not creating cookie
cutters, but we're creating music.Absolutely.
And I think that's important part of.What.
I wanted as I was creating this book,thinking about the idea of
(28:55):
exploration and discovery,I wanted a book that gave readers
a book that could give the spaceto explore and to listen,
knowing that we have the resourcesand that we can, with listening,
understand the things that we mightwant to reflect on in our playing.
(29:24):
If you were to go back and talkto little Laura flutist,
what would you say to her? Oh, gosh.Well, little Laura didn't want
to play the flute, okay.I wanted to wanted to play
something else, but I think Iwould go back and tell her to
trust yourself and to. To enjoy.To enjoy and find the joy in the
(29:47):
moments that things are temporary.Any challenging things will pass
that I also have the resources tomanage through those tough times.
Thank you Laura so much for sharingyour book and your ideas with us.
And thank you listeners.I really hope you've enjoyed
(30:08):
this episode.If you have, share it with a friend
and also consider giving us a review.That would help a lot.
You can reach out to the flutesuite on Instagram or on Facebook.
You can find me in the sameplaces or@walker.com and stay
(30:32):
tuned for more content.For now, I'm going to say goodbye.
I'll talk to you again soon.
Hey,this is Doctor Kathleen Weidenfeld.
Welcome to the flute suite.Here in the flute suite,
I like to share a differentperspectives on flute teaching
practice and performance.I also hope to introduce you to
some of my colleagues and someof the flute happenings from my
(00:39):
adopted home country of Finland.I'm so glad you've decided to join
us, so settle in and I hope youenjoyed this episode. Hi everyone!
It's actually taken a little longerthan I had originally planned to
get this episode out for you.I'll blame the start of the
academic year but in truth,this wonderful warm and sunny early
(01:04):
fall weather that we've been enjoyinghere in Southern Finland does
have a lot to do with it as well.We've got to enjoy these last few
weeks of incredible weather reallybefore it starts to get dark.
I'm doing things a little bitdifferently today.
Laura Lentz has no real connectionsto Finland, but she has written
(01:28):
a book, The Modal Workbook,which I wanted to look at and
present to you as the start of aseries that I want to do on
introducing written material thatyou can use to help you incorporate
(01:48):
more improvisation into your ownpractice and into your teaching.
One of the things I often hearfrom my colleagues is that they
don't have Of time to improvisewith their students.
Because there are so many thingsthat we have to force into their
lessons in the small amount oftime and space that we have.
(02:12):
My goal is to show you ways that youcan use improvisation as a tool to
develop those same skills and helpyour students meet those same goals.
And I know sometimes it can beintimidating if you've never
improvised before.I want to bring you not only
(02:36):
exercises, but some written materialthat can help you do just that.
And this interview with Laura isa way of introducing her book is
one way I'm planning on doing that.I hope you enjoy this episode,
and I hope that you will listento the end, because I think at
(02:57):
the end we get into a really niceconversation about space and I
think it's really important.Thank you all for listening.
So I'm excited today.And I have to tell you, Laura,
that I had to practice saying yourname even though I'm an American,
because living here so long,it would automatically come out
(03:17):
as Laura. So if I call you Laura.It's actually that's actually
fine with me.If that was more comfortable.
I lived in Italy almost nine years.Oh, wow. Okay.
That's part of my story.And so I was Laura Lenz for Laura
Lanza for. So I am fine with that.And Laura, we're a composer.
(03:41):
You're a teacher. You're a performer.You have this ensemble five by five,
but you've also written thiswonderful new workbook for flutist
called The Modal Workbook. Yes.I have to say, what caught my eye,
I got I was lucky enough to getto see it before it went into
publication, and thank you for that.Through as we were just talking
(04:04):
about our mutual friend Lee Pearson,the things that stood out to me when
I read your introduction, the wordsthat stood out to me exploration,
discovery, self-reflection,and then new color palettes and
going beyond tonal harmony. Yes.Yes. Well, thank you so much.
Thank you so much for having me.And the book Modal Flute warm Up
(04:26):
came with all of those things inmy mind as I was working on it.
And actually,the original inspiration for
this book was an exercise that Icame across at a flute fair.
And this is the wonder of networkingand going to flute fairs and having
new experiences, because you get toexplore and discover new possible
(04:51):
things that you don't know or ideas.And so there was an exercise by
the wonderful teacher Sam Barron.There's a five note scale pattern
with a rest, and then anotherscale pattern, and then a rest.
And I brought it home and I startedworking on it, and I realized
how important the idea of spaceis for us to have time to think
(05:13):
and to listen and to be aware.And so in my own studies and my
own teaching, I have found eventhe top bar we have to do them.
They're wonderful. They're important.I think that they sometimes can
be limiting in the way that we'repracticing, and the way I think
that we're taught how to practice,that we go on automatic pilot.
We don't have space to stop andthink about what we're doing.
(05:34):
And so for me,it was very much like this, you know,
incredible eye opening experienceto have a technical exercise of
this short little scale patternwith this rest that gave me time to
think about what I had just done.And then I can ask myself,
what did I notice?What did, what am I hearing?
(05:56):
What am I experiencing?What does it feel like when I'm
happy with the sound? How is my air?How are my shoulders?
How's my body? How's my mind?I mean, that's a lot, you know?
So each time that I would play alittle one of these scale patterns
and the rest occurs, I find thatthat space gives me so much room.
(06:17):
And also for my students and thepeople that I've been meeting as
a result of writing this book,that wondrous rest in that space
that's there.And that exercise that Sam Baron
originally put in that exerciseis so important.
So that was the original inspirationfor the book. I took that exercise.
I expanded it up to the uppertetra chord of the scale.
(06:39):
I realized it was modal in nature.And then from there,
I started creating this warm upthat I was essentially looking for.
I mean, I was looking for somethingthat was a little different.
I was looking for a way to tap intosome different color and emotion
and space and room for exploringand discovery that for me, I felt
this warm up structure and contentsatisfied that need that I had.
(07:04):
You know, also wanting somethingthat gave me joy.
I was starting to feel like Ineeded something different.
So this full warm up that's in thisbook is meant as something that
really helped me in that momentwhere I was in my creative practice
and process, and it also supportedmy students to think a little
differently than the, you know,again, nothing terrible or it's
(07:28):
so important all the, you know,why this exercise is tough and I'll
go bare. This does not replace that.This is a supplement.
This is something different forpeople.
If they're looking for somethingmaybe a little different in their
practice. That's fantastic.I just want to let it resonate
there in this space.You want to give it space? Yes.
One of the stories of my son as ayoung pianist, he got to study with a
(07:53):
rather respected pianist here inthe town that we were living in,
and I'd heard so much about him.I was really excited that I was
going to get to follow the lessons.At first I didn't understand what was
going on because to me it lookedlike there was nothing going on.
You know, he would sit and listenand just, you know, but as as time
went on and as I heard his otherstudents as well, it finally clicked
(08:17):
that he was giving them space andhe was being present and waiting.
And in the case of my son,I mean, he never pushed him.
And my son was not good atpracticing. A few of us are.
And I remember the day he was it wasthe beginning of summer vacation.
(08:37):
He was about 12 years old, and I wassure he was ready to quit piano.
And I found him in bed withheadphones on and a big black book.
And he said, mom,do you know who Messiaen is?
He said, mom,have you ever heard of the little
symphony He had this score in hishands and he was listening to it.
(08:57):
And that started a journey.And he just did his masters and
just played his first professionalconcert last week. Fantastic.
And I've found the same thing,like you talk about when you give
your students space and how wonderfulto build that into our practice. Yes.
Well, you know,I think that there's this idea
(09:18):
that there's the master teacher,and the master teacher gives all
the information to the students,and they're an empty vessel.
They receive this information.You know, that's and so. Sure.
Wonderful.But, you know, I mean,
I think we can do for ourselvesand for our students.
We can serve them better if weand ourselves better, if we allow
(09:39):
moments of reflection and moments ofself-discovery and self-awareness.
Not everybody will arrive to thesame answer.
I think that a lot of teaching andlearning benefits when we can give
opportunities for thinking andunderstanding what's happening for
(09:59):
themselves, so that when they go homeand they're practicing on their own,
they can be their own teachers andthey can learn for themselves.
And they need me less and less.That's my goal.
That's our goal as teachers, right?And if we give them these tools and
especially, again, this idea ofspace, I believe that that's really
saying you have the resources, youhave the possibility to understand
(10:25):
for yourself what's happening.And in fact, it actually will,
in the long run,serve you better than me telling
you exactly what I see happening.Absolutely, absolutely.
And it's a lot more fun for yourteacher to say to you, go home and
play around with these notes ratherthan go home and play these scales
at this tempo and this many times.And that's right, that's right,
(10:48):
that's right. Yeah.And then wonder why the student
doesn't feel like practicing or Yeah.Another thing that I noticed too.
If you have a young student who'sexcited and wants to learn, if you
give them that kind of information,they come back the next week
with a tight, hands tight sound.Yes, because they're trying so
(11:10):
hard to get the speed.And the speed is I mean,
our fingers move.That's usually not the problem.
Right.Well, you know, if you if you, um,
flip through the pages of this book,it looks very technical.
And in fact, it is technical.And one thing that I, um, you know,
in sessions on zoom and in theclasses that I've done this year,
(11:32):
and I'm getting ready to go tothe NFA, uh, next month is,
you know, I, I talk about howimportant it is to go at a pace
that feels good to you so that youcan notice things for yourself.
And it might be faster for aprofessional flutist or another
student.It might be slower for another
student.I have some adult learners We do
(11:53):
very slow pace, and we use theexercises as an opportunity to
listen to things that we notice.You know, I do want to mention
the modal aspect of this book.Yeah, that original Sam Barron
exercise, because it goes stepwise.As I was practicing,
I realized this is modal.And I thought, oh,
that's interesting.What if I was talking to a jazz
(12:13):
friend of mine and I grew up witha jazz dad and remembering some
things about how jazz musicianspractice and in fact, they practice.
For example,you start with Lydian and then you
add a flat and you go through.So for example,
if you look at page 86,it starts with one sharp C Lydian,
and it goes through all the modesand C root it goes from C Lydian.
(12:35):
Then it adds a flat to C IonianSea Mixolydian C Dorian.
And what's happening is you're havinga one note change and you have this
fantastic moment of like, oh wow,that one note changes it completely.
You know, it's the sameinformation from part three,
which is Has all of the scales.For example C major you go C, d, e,
f, g, a, and you go through each onewith the five note scale pattern.
(12:59):
But here in part four you'reorganizing all that same
information but by the root.So all of the exercises have C
as their starting note.And so you have C Lydian C
Ionian Sea Mixolydian.And so discovering this pattern that
that jazz musicians use I thoughtwell how many classical flutes
use this. I don't think we do.And so that's been an eye opening
(13:23):
exercise for a lot of people I'vebeen working with. And it's fun.
And then as I kept playing both thesepart three and part four exercises,
I started noodling around.And that's where the composer,
Laura came out and I wrote the part.Five are modal noodles.
Basically,you have the opportunity to stay
(13:44):
in one mode all the way through.You have this little phrase at
the beginning.So for example,
floating starts in F Lydian andthen it goes to G flat Lydian,
and then it goes to G Lydian.So it goes through all of the
keys you're transposing throughstaying in Lydian.
So you get this nice Lydian color.And then at the end of doing
(14:04):
that you have an opportunity.On page 115, you'll see it says,
try improvising your own modalnoodle and F Lydian.
And you have F Lydian right there.And then you have a starting
little idea.And then you can improvise using
that as a starting point.One thing that's been really
enjoyable to do is to remind peoplethat improvising is not jazz.
(14:27):
Improvising is creating your ownmusic in the moment, and it doesn't
have to be in a jazz style.It can be in an Irish style,
it can be in any style.It can be in a mood and emotion.
What I've been doing in the in thesessions, uh, meeting with groups
of artists around the country,as I've been talking about this book,
(14:47):
is we do group improvisations we goover the mode and then we go to it,
and it's the most fantastic,glorious thing and you can do it
in your lessons also.Ask a student, what mood are you in?
Are you interested in somethingupbeat, something maybe darkish?
And then we come up with an emotion.We come up with more or less like
(15:07):
a time signature, and we use oneof the modes in the book and we
improvise together freely.It's encouraging students to find
their own musical voice or anartistic voice, giving them space
to create in the moment somethingthat comes from them spontaneously.
One thing I wanted to do was atthe end of my modal noodle.
(15:29):
I wanted to improvise a little bitso that I'm feeling joyful and I'm
tapping into some emotion or colouror something different, or the
Laura voice at that day, you know.And so I just, I think if
there's room that we can providefor ourselves and others where
we're listening and experiencingInfluencing new fingering
(15:50):
combinations, maybe tapping into somenew emotions and you don't need to
know modes at all to play this bookbecause everything is written out.
If anybody has any questions,I offer zoom sessions frequently,
so anybody who buys the book oranybody who's interested in the
book can meet with me and I cananswer questions or guide you in a
way to work through the book thatmight be helpful for you. Great.
(16:14):
I've been using improvisationwith my students as long as I've
been teaching here in Finland.Anyway, so about 30 years plus.
And I started because I was usingso-called extended techniques as a
way to develop tone and technique,and there was no material really,
at that point available.Little by little, we're getting more.
(16:38):
My doctoral thesis was on doinggroup improvisations with adult
amateurs and what I like becauseI stay away from written
exercises when doing this.What I found here is,
like you said, you don't have toexplain what is this mode?
What is an F going to look atyou with glass faces. Right.
So we can, you know,pull up in the audience who might be.
(17:01):
Curious to know more.And they want to understand.
They want to know what is that?What is F Lydian?
And so you take the space andyou talk with them through it.
But there's some students that'sa little overwhelming.
And you just say,look at the key signature and it's
going to sound a little different.I think that you don't have to
have that theory or you,but there may be students who are
curious about it. Absolutely.And what I find is through
(17:21):
improvisation and through playingwith this, you learn the theory
because they're also using their earsand their mind, and not just copying
what's on the page. Yes. Yeah.There's a bunch of things that came
up for me as you were talking.So one thing that I really like
to use for improvisation,although I haven't used it as
(17:41):
much recently, but you'rereminding me how wonderful it is.
We'll often has an improvisationcalendar, and it's a book of
drawings of visuals to sparkimprovisation in our students.
But this idea that we can tapour creative selves in some way
to be sparked,to create something in response.
(18:02):
And I think that that is wherethe magic is, and that's where
we can teach students to, like,trust what they're experiencing
and feeling at the moment.And then they can respond in a
way with some musical idea thatcomes from within them.
You know, there's the wonderfulcomposer Pauline Oliveros,
who had marvelous opportunitiesfor improvisation, um, her Buffalo
(18:23):
Jam and the breathing meditation.There's a bunch of pieces from her
that allow for group improvisation orlike in my book, just taking a mode
and showing the student that you'reready to take a risk with them.
And how fun is it to create somemusic in the moment with your teacher
that you're both doing this risktaking at the moment with this mode,
(18:46):
and you're learning something new.I have been finding that students
have been learning scales muchbetter and more deeply by doing
the exercises in here.The part three that's organized
in these little scale patterns,what happens is they're gaining
confidence in a smaller gesture.I do want to mention in the book, the
(19:07):
part one is called Start to Discover.And so the chapter one goes through
different aspects of flute playinglike body awareness and breathing,
armature, tone, technique,articulation, expressive elements,
practicing, and even about yourflute. Like do you need a new flute?
Doesn't need to be repaired.And then the most important thing,
I think, is this exploration anddiscovery box that's listed in each
(19:30):
section, where in regular textthere's invitations to explore.
So for example,in the body awareness section,
since the body as a whole considerwhole body movements that you like,
you might do some of these movementsbefore you start practicing.
You might do some of these as you'repracticing, and then the opportunity
(19:54):
to discover after you have thoughtabout some of these things,
then you're asked to think aboutwhat movement resonates with you.
And did the movement change yourmindset and did it change how
your body feels?It's meant as a way to check in
on these different aspects offlute playing.
There are also specific resourceslisted to discover if people want
(20:18):
to explore some more. Great!I love to ask people their
origin stories.So what brought you to the flute?
Yes, well,I come from a family of musicians.
I am the third generation ofmusician.
My my son is a pianist as well.My father is a jazz musician,
(20:40):
so I grew up in that color world.We used to play the blues and
play modes together.I completed my undergrad degree, Can
Andrews at the Crane School of Music.I studied with Stephanie Judt in
Madison, Wisconsin and livedthere for about nine years or so,
playing with the local symphony.I met my husband, who's Italian,
(21:07):
and we ran off to Rome, Italy.I have a son named Luca. He's now 20.
He's a piano major at BowlingGreen State University.
I founded a chamber group.It's a new music ensemble called
Five by Five.I recently taught at Eastman School
of Music's Institute of MusicLeadership, and this fall I'll be
(21:29):
teaching at Nazareth University, bothcourses on grant writing and how to
find funding for your creative ideas.How do you balance all of these
balls, and how do you keep takingcare of yourself and keep that space
while you're doing all of this Yeah.Well, you know, I think being
organized with your time,setting priorities, setting goals,
(21:53):
knowing what's what you want,knowing what's important to you,
saying no, it is challenging. It is.It is very hard to live as a creative
and to balance all of those things.Not only am I a teacher and teaching
these classes, I'm also a performer.And not only with five by five,
but I'm also committed toperforming as a soloist.
Commissioning works I have severalcomposers that have been writing
(22:16):
music for me, which I have a coupleof projects this year that are me
performing with string quartet,or with electronics or with piano.
If inspiration grabs you, listento it and take the space to try to
understand what's there, becauseyou may end up publishing a book.
(22:38):
As you've lived for nine yearsin Italy, I imagine you probably
experienced a similar thing.So the idea of space and time
here in Europe is really takenmuch more seriously and
differently than it is in the US.And I wonder how it was for you
living in. Did you play when you did?Could you explain a little bit
(22:59):
about your experience,about time and space?
I mean, I definitely had aninteresting experience in Italy and
then returning back here, but I wouldbe curious to know what your if you
could share a little bit about yourexperience with time and space.
I've been here so long now thatI take for granted that well,
(23:20):
here in Finland, I think we'regoverned very strongly by.
Italy in a different way, right?So yeah. Yeah.
Probably we also have the dark in thewinter and the sun in the summer.
So at summertime everythingshuts down.
And when I first came here especiallyand you still do on small businesses
(23:44):
you will find signs startingaround mid-June mid-summer that
we will open again in August.Everything shuts down less now
than it used to.It's become a little more hectic.
Finland is filled with summerfestivals.
I mean, they celebrate summer andyou're outside in the summer because
then we have to go through this longsix months of dark and gray and cold.
(24:07):
So you have to be outside,you have to get as much sun and as
much rest as possible and rechargeyour batteries during that time.
There's also built in and again,this is unfortunately changing,
but built into the whole educationsystem is a sense of space and time.
(24:30):
Even today when you start a degree,you have ten years.
And that's fairly recent.This limit to finish.
Kids start school when they're seven.Nowadays it is.
It's not mandatory,but it's very common that kids
will start at six with this sortof what they call preschool.
(24:52):
Traditionally, it is not expectedthat a young child is going to
learn to read until 6 or 7.They just don't expect it.
Of course, some kids do,but it's not expected.
And so there is this space toallow the kid to be a kid.
There's a space when they go toschool.
The school day is structured so thatchildren are in school when they
(25:15):
have classes, even from first grade.So they have different length days.
They have recess after everysingle class.
And this at first,to me as an American coming in here.
And then when I started having kids,it was horribly disorienting.
You know, it felt wrong.And I had to learn how to
breathe and go with it.Well, you're reminding me about many
(25:39):
things that I experienced comingfrom the US and moving to Italy.
I was in Rome and Rome is hectic,fascinating,
but just busy and crazy city.My experience of living in Italy,
I was based in Rome,but you know, of course we would
travel around around the country.There's not one you can't stereotype
(26:01):
about the kind of time and space.I do think that there are some
definite cultural differences that Ithink I grappled with a little bit.
You know, if you say 7:00,it's probably not going to be 7:00.
It's probably going to be 730.You know, that was very challenging
for me because I do like punctuality.And so, yeah, that was something
(26:22):
that I struggled with a little bit.And when we moved back here,
my husband, who's Italian, struggledwith that here because, you know,
again, 7:00 doesn't mean 7:00.It means, you know, and it's actually
considered rude to in some ways.You want to give space to people.
If you say 7:00,it's actually polite to arrive late.
(26:42):
You reminded me of Augustcompletely shutting down in Italy
and everybody goes to the sea.They're just crazy drivers,
you know, they're very fast,but they take their time for Sunday
lunches and they sit together andthey enjoy and there's no rush.
We should probably try to bring this.I was thinking.
About something when you werejust talking.
(27:03):
We often are listening to peoplethinking about a response that
we're going to make, rather thanjust listening to the person.
I think that the whole idea oflistening in our playing and our
teaching,I think it's really important,
obviously, that we are listeningto our students, to ourselves in
(27:26):
our practice and giving them thespace to feel like we're listening
to them without a ready response.So what we want to do.
When you give your students thespace to think and when you respect,
(27:49):
build this trust and you build thisrespect of their ideas, all of a
sudden they have something to say.And I have found that even with
my youngest students,they 95% of the time,
they know what they don't like.And actually often what we have
to do as teachers is step in andsort of give them more confidence
(28:11):
that you don't have to be able toat this point to play everything
absolutely perfectly with perfectintonation at the horrible speed.
We're going at a pace and thistime in space to develop.
But when you do that,you learn yourself.
What I found is I learned at least asmuch from my students. Absolutely.
(28:34):
And then they have, you know,they have the time to develop
into a person that believes inthemselves and believes in their
own personal musical voice. Yes.And so we're not creating cookie
cutters, but we're creating music.Absolutely.
And I think that's important part of.What.
I wanted as I was creating this book,thinking about the idea of
(28:55):
exploration and discovery,I wanted a book that gave readers
a book that could give the spaceto explore and to listen,
knowing that we have the resourcesand that we can, with listening,
understand the things that we mightwant to reflect on in our playing.
(29:24):
If you were to go back and talkto little Laura flutist,
what would you say to her? Oh, gosh.Well, little Laura didn't want
to play the flute, okay.I wanted to wanted to play
something else, but I think Iwould go back and tell her to
trust yourself and to. To enjoy.To enjoy and find the joy in the
(29:47):
moments that things are temporary.Any challenging things will pass
that I also have the resources tomanage through those tough times.
Thank you Laura so much for sharingyour book and your ideas with us.
And thank you listeners.I really hope you've enjoyed
(30:08):
this episode.If you have, share it with a friend
and also consider giving us a review.That would help a lot.
You can reach out to the flutesuite on Instagram or on Facebook.
You can find me in the sameplaces or@walker.com and stay
(30:32):
tuned for more content.For now, I'm going to say goodbye.
I'll talk to you again soon.
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