I uploaded the backing I-V backing track to YouTube so you can change keys with the Transpose extension: https://youtu.be/UXJUv9UPIus

Were you mean to your children when they fell down when they were learning to walk & run? No? Why, then, is your inner critic so mean to you when you "fall down" when you're learning to improvise?

This is Manose Singh playing bansuri flute. I love his vibrato and the "effortlessness" of his playing. Notice: - See him look at the guitar strings when they start? I wonder if he was double checking the key signature. See him look directly at the guitar strings again? I bet he's honing in on the rhythm here by watching the guitarist's hands. - Watch how they move their bodies. Not only is the flutist moving expressively, but so are the guitarists and drummer. Watch his facial expressions. If your eyebrows are not moving, you're probably not playing expressively enough. Watch your videos! - Do you hear him create variations on a simpler theme he played earlier? - Do you hear how he starts low, then adds complexity & moves up into the higher register? - Notice how quiet his quietest quiets sound compared to his loudest louds? - If you watch closely you can notice him indicate with his foot to the band an impending temporary key change! They must have agreed upon this before. - You can expect cheering like this from the crowd when you've reached this level of mastery and are performing with talented musicians! What do you like about it and most want to emulate in your own playing?

This is the 2nd time Nancy’s ever heard this song in her life. All I told her was that we would play it in the key of C, that it uses the 4 most common chords (I, IV, V, & vi) and that it was a Lullaby I wrote. She has been playing Improv Games with me & other FLUTARIANS for 2 years, practicing the fundamentals of improvisation in easily digestible & stackable chunks so that she can spontaneously create beautiful improvised melodies & harmonies without fear. Not only does she claim that it practically cured her performance anxiety, but she’s obviously doing a great job here of playing by ear, without any sheet music or music stand. I let her take the lead, remembering the melody she just heard and remixing it into her own unique flute solo. In Flutarians we practice active listening, respecting silence as a fundamental element of music… Notice how Nancy chose to play only during the times when I wasn’t singing, so she wouldn’t squash or overpower the voice. Hear how she mixes in segments of the melody with her own unique variations? Isn’t that nice how she makes a melody that not only has big dynamic range but also ranges throughout the high and low registers? She’s doing a good job applying all her best flute advice - about tone & technique - at the same time as choosing which notes to play and how to play them beautifully, compellingly. Drop a .gif on this video if you like it!

If Flutaria were a real place what would it be like?