I sent my silver Pearl flute off to Luke Penella for an overdue COA, so you'll see me playing my purple flute for a couple weeks. I was reflecting on the purple flute story today and realized that I've shared this story on Facebook, but not yet here. 🌠🌠🌠 Someone asked me, "Can you actually play that Purple Flute??" Funny Story... I had a 𝘧𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘦 𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘤y one day in 2020... Tragically, during a rehearsal with the COSMIC BUTTERFLIES band, my flute fell... Off a table!!! Can you imagine how clumsy and disappointed I felt at that moment?? Do you agree that a Flute is simultaneously POWERFUL and FRAGILE - Like us? The flute that fell was my Pearl flute - the flute that went with me to the All State Band - and UNT- the flute that my parents bought for me, before my Dad died… And, at the time, the ONLY flute I had!! I rushed it to the nearest “Emergency Room” for instruments! Little did I know… That music shop was about to close its doors for COVID, and a few months later, Forever… The well-spoken-for repairman my flute went to was about to come down with long COVID, and his wife too… What started as a couple of weeks of expected waiting time turned into months… and months... Of no call backs. Of no text backs. Of no signs of activity. What would you do??? The day after, hoping all would be well in a few weeks, I gambled $100 on a flute from AMAZON. I needed a flute PRONTO! The show must go on! Right? Here’s a question: If you could buy a flute of ANY color, what would you buy? Seeing that for only $100 I had several color options… I chose purple: because it’s Royal! And high vibrations, Right? I found out when it arrived YES, IT PLAYS!!! I was so impressed that right out of the box all of the notes played!! The lower register even had a kind of edge & “pop” that’s different from my Pearl! Honestly, I was just glad to have a flute in my hands – It reminded me of the Yamaha 300 flute I learned on… I remembered the way it felt vibrating in my hands. I felt grateful: for all the progress I’ve made since then!

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?

A couple decent ones from this morning

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!

The more I improvised, the more tolerance I built for the performance anxiety I used to feel with every note... It built my confidence. I still experience performance anxiety, but I am better able to ride it like the perfect surfing wave instead of get destroyed by it like a tsunami. What's an example of something else in your life you were afraid of but built a tolerance to?