Take Note -- Tech Tip #1

Photo courtesy of Pinterest

This week, we had the chance to catch up with Christina Guiliano-Cobas, Powell's Director of Marketing. Christina is also a private flute instructor, and we highlighted her own "family of flutes" in a previous post which you can read by following  this link.

In her studio, Christina teaches a mix of flutists from beginners to more advanced high school students. Regardless of age, she requires each student to bring a notebook to lessons, which she then uses to write notes and their next assignment. One of her high school students forgot her notebook recently, so Christina decided to text a very short note with the next assignment to the student. Although not all of her students have cell phones (and we know this is certainly a topic of debate), Christina began texting assignments to her 14, 15, and 16 year-old-students.  She discovered that this was quite helpful to them! She shared,

Students in this age group are very busy with band, sports, AP classes, driver's exams, part-time jobs... They use their phones for everything.  It turned out that my student who forgot her notebook practiced more, remembered her assignment, and was fully-prepared for her next lesson after she received my text.  Just having that small visual reminder on her phone helped tremendously.  

She added that the physical notebooks are terrific tools for her younger (elementary school-aged) students since they are,"still very much into pens and paper, and their parents need to sign the practice page in the notebook."  However, the notebooks had gone unopened with the teenaged students once the lesson was done.  What happened to be a quick-fix for one high school student turned out to be an excellent method for preparing and inspiring them.  Christina said, "Now, for my 14, 15, and 16-year-olds, I always text their next lesson assignment!"

Photo courtesy of Pinterest

Enhancing Private Lessons with Everyday Technology

By Morgann Davis

Morgann Davis

While it’s easy to view some of today’s amazing technology as a distraction, there are many ways we can easily use the devices and services that have become so commonplace to quickly improve and enhance the private lesson experience. Odds are good that you or your students own at least one of the following: smart phone, iPod, tablet (iPad, Nook, etc.), desktop computer or laptop with a camera and microphone, hand-held video camera, or a digital camera with video capabilities. The odds are also great that there are more ways to use these devices than you realize to help your students improve quickly!

Apps are perhaps the most obvious way we can utilize our smartphones, iPods and tablets. There are amazing music teaching tools available for private and classroom instruction that are very detailed, but there are also great, sometimes simple, freebies that are easy to incorporate. YouTube has a free app that easily allows you to search for videos you’d like to share with your students. Links can be emailed directly from the app, or cut and pasted directly into a text message to the student. There are also lots of excellent, free tuners and metronomes available. I particularly enjoy using insTuner with my students, as it gives them simple guidance on whether they are sharp or flat, and which way to tune their instrument. It is also gives a more stable reading of the pitch than some other free chromatic tuner apps, and will play pitches in different octaves if you want to tune to a drone. There are also great apps for learning or referencing scales, like Scales & Modes (although this one costs $1.99, it provides a wide variety of scale types). Many more apps are available beyond those listed above, including ones that help with ear training and theory (some of these are free as well!), but I find these to be particularly useful. Now, every student has access to things like a metronome or tuner, even if their parents forget to take them to the music store!

As a student, I was told to record myself more times than I can remember (and I hate to admit, more often than I actually found the time to do!). Now, there’s very little excuse for a student not to record audio or video of a portion of their practice time. Even without a smart device, anyone with a computer that has a video camera can record themselves. For example, if you have any type of apple computer, you have a camera and a program called Photo Booth. Although the quality is a bit crude, this free program that is included with the computer more that serves the purpose of providing an outside ear and eye during practice. Students are never far from their phones, so I frequently encourage mine to set their iPhones or iPods to video instead of camera and place it on the stand. If viewing themselves from this vantage point makes them feel nervous, they can face the camera toward the stand. They’ll get a decent quality audio from this to use in analyzing their playing.  My favorite way to use video in lessons, however, is to record a problem spot in a piece or exercise using my phone and then email it to the student and their parent, asking them to watch the video and make notes on what they noticed before their next lesson. I have also done this with recital performances. My students are often shocked by what they observe (both good and bad)! For those of us wishing to make higher quality recordings for ourselves or our students, there are microphones that can be attached to your smartphone from companies like TASCAM that come with apps to operate them and edit the audio you record.

There is also an amazing wealth of resources beyond YouTube that can aid with performance practice and preparation. As a young student, I had no access to music libraries or catalogues of recordings, but today’s students can hear almost any musician from the comfort of their own homes. Beyond tutorials that have been recorded by flutists such as James Galway and Emmanuel Pahud (many of which are available on YouTube), there are free “radio” resources that allow us to access countless recordings. Even iTunes provides free radio where we can listen to classical, jazz or world music. My current favorite program for listening in the context of lessons is Spotify. Unlike Pandora, which generates playlists based on the genre of music or type of artist you searched, you can search for a specific artist or piece in Spotify’s enormous data base, then create and save playlists, even in the free version! For a small monthly fee, you can access your playlists using any device that’s logged into your account. The feature I find most valuable, however, is the ability to share your playlists. Gone are the days of burning CDs for students and hoping they don’t get lost before they make it home. Instead, you can share playlists with a student (even via their parents, if you prefer) with specific recordings you want them to hear through email (once someone has an account they can also opt to follow or subscribe to your playlists). I’ve made an example playlist that I might give to a young student that displays a variety of flutists and styles so you can try it out here: Teach Flute.

Another favorite performance enhancement tool for my studio is Smart Music. For just $40/yr and the one time purchase of a microphone to go with the program, you have access to a wealth of accompaniments. Using the microphone, you can play along to a set tempo (which you can adjust to your liking), or set the program to follow you. While this is obviously no replacement for a real pianist, it has been a tremendous help preparing my students for the first rehearsal with their accompanist when the piece is too difficult for me to play along.

A fun website that my students access often is flutetunes.com. Just like the name implies, there’s lots of free sheet music on this site as well as scales, staff paper, a tuner, and a glossary of musical terms!

From a business perspective, there are a multitude of ways technology can easily and instantly upgrade your teaching experience. Social media used the right way can actually be very effective for networking with other musicians, and for staying connected to your students and their parents. I think most people have become aware that it’s best to keep your personal life and business separate, so if you go this route you may want to create a twitter handle or facebook page specifically for business purposes. I use a Facebook page for my studio (DavisFlute Studio) to post resources, information about recitals and auditions, and the dates of classes for my students. Programs like GoogleDocs or Doodle can be used to help ease scheduling events like classes and recitals. You can even allow tuition payments by credit card for a minimal fee using your smartphone and devices like Square. There are also amazing sites like Weebly where you can easily make a sharp looking website for free. I paid just $40 for a yearly subscription to Weebly Pro so that I can tailor and update my website, MorgannElyce Davis, flutist, however and whenever I like.

These ideas are truly just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to how technology can enhance lessons for both you and your students. The key is to have fun discovering what’s available and to carry the creativity you use in your teaching into the way you use technology! 

“FLUTREPRENEURSHIP”

By Andrea Fisher aka Fluterscooter

Fluterscooter (Andrea Fisher)

I recently did a Skype clinic for the Southeastern Pa. Flute Festival from my apartment in Tokyo, speaking about what it takes to be an entrepreneur in the music world.  The term “flutrepreneur” was coined, and it can apply to my career and many flutists’ careers nowadays.  I recently performed my Japanese debut, where not only did I perform, I also acted as producer, arranger, booking agent, publicist, stylist, you name it!  Putting together a show from start to finish in a foreign city is no easy task, and it can be very frustrating at times.  As much as I wished I could just be practicing my music, I had to do the jobs of contacting press, designing flyers, advertising, finding local musicians, technology, scheduling, and arranging music.  However, in the end, I was proud that I did it all myself and that it was a success!

Goal: to build a concert program that will entertain people who have never listened to classical music and they won’t realize they’re listening to classical music.  Also to collaborate with other forms of art, such as visual art and dance.  “Fluterscooter presents: The Fast and the Fluterious: Tokyo Drift” was anything but a typical flute recital. 

When putting together this show, I first searched the web to find an eclectric group of  Tokyo-based artists.  I knew I wanted to work with live art so the concert-goers would have a visual experience as well.  I found a light painter, who actually used LED lights to paint pictures, live, while I played.  I had always wanted to play with a Taiko drummer, and I picked up the Japanese shinobue flute on my last visit to Japan.  We played an original piece for shinobue and Taiko.   I had met a beatboxer/“mouth musician” on my last trip as well, and we stayed in touch.  I arranged Flight of the Bumblebee and Paganini’s 24^th Caprice for us to play in a hiphop style, also with a DJ scratching.  I also wanted to include music written by flutists, so I chose Greg Pattillo’s “1^st Beat,” and Flutronix’ “Aware,” both written in the past year.  I wanted some minimalist classical to go with the art, so I arranged Arvo Part’s Fratres, originally for violin, for flute.  I also threw in some covers, opening with a tune from dubstep producer Skrillex and finishing the show with Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” complete with backup dancers and choreography.

I wanted the concert program to be a fluid, flowing piece of art, with virtually no stopping between pieces.  All music was memorized to avoid any clunky music stands on stage.  I believe that a show must be both sonically and aesthetically pleasing.  I had a beginning “electronic” section, then a “hiphop/beatbox” one, then a minimalist interlude where audience members could actually play with the LED lights and draw while I played, and ended with pop music.   I like audience participation so the audience does not feel removed from the music and musicians.  This is one way to break down the traditional stereotype of classical music, which is that it is inaccessible to the public.  It’s like doing a concert in the format of a Lady Gaga show and tricking the audience so that they don’t realize they just saw a FLUTE show!

Incorporating technology is equally as important in today’s world when doing a show.  Since I was a student at Juilliard, I’ve been an advocate of using technology in performance.  For my graduation recital 8 years ago, I was already making videos to accompany me (I played Steve Reich’s “Vermont Counterpoint” with a background video showing all the flute parts I played in nature) and learning programs such as MAX and Ableton for live and Protools for producing background tracks.

Lets talk about arrangements.  We all know what music speaks to us, and sometimes it’s not always flute music!  There is great repertoire for string instruments, piano, pop music that can work really well with flute.  You just have to be creative.  I’ve always loved Michael Jackson’s music.  For “Thriller,” I bought the instrumental track from ITunes and played the vocal lines, and the flute actually sounds really great in that song.  Who knew?  Find some songs you love and make unique covers out of them.

Adding extra artistic elements to the performance such as live art and dance also adds to the value of the show.  I learned choreography and worked with backup dancers for the first time.  I actually played flute and danced at the same time; yes, it’s possible!  It definitely took a lot more rehearsal time, but if you want to achieve a certain look, it must be done.

After putting the music and performers together, it was time to do the “busy work,” aka the tedious stuff.  Working with Photoshop, IMovie, writing press releases, etc…

First, start with a title and logo.  Coming up with a catchy title and graphics to match, like “Fluterscooter presents:The Fast and the Fluterious,” gave potential concert-goers an idea of what to expect at the show.  Would as many have come or paid attention to it if I had named it “Andrea Fisher in recital?” with no graphics attached? I had a brief introduction to Photoshop in order to achieve the look I wanted for the online and physical flyers. After deciding on the title and graphics, it is important to write a good description of what the show is about, as well as who you are as a performer, especially in a new city.  Combining the description, a good photo, and show flyer is a press release.  Always keep it simple as possible.

The next step was something I actually learned from hiphop artists.  Many of them post “behind the scenes” videos on youtube to show fans their process for writing a song, rehearsing, and their day to day life.  I filmed 2 of my rehearsals as previews of what to expect at the show.  They showed myself  rehearsing and talking with the beatboxer and Taiko drummer.   By doing behind the scenes videos, it also makes fans feel that they know you better.  Of course, I had to learn IMovie for editing the footage! I then promoted them mostly through facebook, twitter, and blogs.

After the press release and videos are done, contact the press!  This was not easy at first, as most online newspapers, magazines, and radio do not include personal emails of the writers.  So I went to twitter and facebook to look them up.  After facebooking/tweeting them, asking where I can send my press release and video clips, they were happy to give me their email addresses.  My first interview was for a popular podcast called Tokyo Metpod.  After I had the footage from the podcast, I sent out to newspapers and magazines, and I ended up with features both in Time Out Tokyo and the Japan Times.

The importance of networking played a large role in the success of this show.  I had the Apple Store in Ginza as the venue.  Since I had played there before, I kept in touch with the event coordinator through Facebook, and when I told him I’d be interested in doing an event in Tokyo, he was more than welcome to book me.  I think it is always important to stay in touch with the event coordinators from any gig you may play on, because you never know when you will need a venue for your own show.

I made sure to have the show filmed by a videographer, and he then made a short documentary-style video from his footage that I can use to book future shows.  As far as future shows, I will produce them in the same vein as my debut, but on a bigger level each time.  With all the technology at our fingertips, there is so much we can learn and add to our art.