I have a new venture!
Hard truth: while I think I'm a very capable flutist and teacher, I am not a strong pianist. I like the piano and wish I could play better, but let's be honest--my often limited practice time must be directed to my flute things. I've often wished I could accompany my students much better than I do. In lessons I often play the piano parts as best I can on my flute. This is somewhat helpful--the student could hear certain moments in the accompaniment that I wanted them to understand. It also had its limits, most notably my brain's ability to read bass clef accurately while sight reading and staying within the range of the flute. My solution is to start creating flute duet versions of standard flute repertoire solos that I often teach to my students. My aim was to keep the beauty of the original piece while making the accompaniment work well within the flute range (and no more transposing bass clef on the fly!) I started off with an arrangement of the Bach E flat major sonata, a piece that I teach often for auditions and as standard repertoire. And yes, I have my next arrangement already in mind! This was a HUGE learning process for me, with many more tweaks to come in future arrangements. I had to update my website, figure out a way to sell the arrangement, make financial arrangements, etc.. I did a lot of reading and research on the business end of this, and still have more to learn. Ironically, my bass clef reading skills improved a lot while I was creating this, as well as my knowledge of using Musescore (knowing the keyboard shortcuts is LIFE!) I also wish I'd had this idea during the summer when I have more time and not at the start of a busy semester of college teaching! I never thought of myself as a composer or arranger before this, but I encourage others to jump in and try it! You will learn so much about the music itself. Taking risks is a part of growing as a musician, as I tell students. It was good to model that myself. I hope you will be interested in giving my arrangements a try! You can find more information on my Shop page or go to Sheet Music Plus to purchase.
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I Write too!I write about flute, classical music, college auditions, positive mindset, and music advocacy. Archives
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