Help! I Can't Get Rid of My Vibrato

You know the sound you wish would come out of your instrument– it’s round and resonant, like a bell. It’s warm and clear and centered, a beautiful, smooth stream of air.

But when you go to play, that’s not the sound you hear. Instead, your air stream is turbulent, maybe even rough, wobbling up and down with a constant vibrato you can’t seem to get rid of, no matter how hard you try.

What’s causing this? What can you do?

Vibrato you don’t have control over, and can’t get rid of, is called involuntary vibrato. It’s an extremely common problem in the recorder world, and one that, with time and proper technique, you absolutely can surmount!

Unlike voluntary vibrato, which is used to intensify or otherwise decorate specific notes and is completely under the control of the player, involuntary vibrato is constant and rudderless, occurring without a player’s conscious direction.

Most of us have heard players who play with involuntary vibrato. Maybe you’re one of them. If you are, read on for answers to some frequently asked questions!

Why does involuntary vibrato happen?

The short answer is constriction. When you play, air needs to get from your lungs to the instrument. You can think of the passage between your lungs and your instrument as a giant tube. If the tube is open and relaxed, air flows smoothly through it, like water through a smooth riverbed. But if there is constriction in the tube, you get turbulence, an air stream that flows more like water moving over rocks. If you’ve got involuntary vibrato, you’ve got constriction somewhere in your tube.

What is causing my involuntary vibrato?

There are three main technical problems that cause involuntary vibrato. One of the three causes usually predominates, although they absolutely can combine.

1) Insufficient air. If you’re not taking in enough air for what you want to play, muscles around your tube will attempt to compensate by squeezing the air you do have out.

2) Too much air. If you’re taking in more air than you need for what you want to play, you’ll have to engage muscles to work to hold some of your air back. This will also cause constriction.

3) Miscellaneous tension! The catch-all category. Something is squeezing where it doesn’t need to squeeze. You’re doing more work than you need to do, which, for recorder, is never a good thing.

How do I get rid of my involuntary vibrato?

For most people, there isn’t a quick fix, but you absolutely can reduce and even eliminate it over time. How you go about doing that depends on what’s causing it.

1) If you have insufficient air, you’ll want to work on taking better breaths that allow you to support your sound without squeezing. Often this will involve breathing lower, allowing the belly and sides to expand. Good breathing is at the heart of any wind instrument’s technique, and the recorder is no exception. Want more tips? My Breathing Webinar is full of practical advice. Get access here.

2) If you have too much air, you’ll want to work on taking in just enough air for your needs, and letting go of all the air you have.

3) If you carry miscellaneous tension, you’ll want to begin to very deliberately practice relaxed production, zeroing in on where you’re carrying tension and experimenting with techniques for letting it go.

What if I like my involuntary vibrato?

I definitely come across people who simply like the way their involuntary vibrato sounds. If that’s you, don’t worry: I’m not here to wrest your vibrato away from you. What I will do, though, is urge you to make that vibrato a choice, something you select deliberately rather than something you simply can’t stop.

Why Go to a Summer Workshop?

Summer workshop season is around the corner, and as usual, I’m excited!  There are some workshops I teach every year and there are other workshops I rotate through, but I enjoy them all, and I can’t imagine my year without these weeks devoted to learning and growing with students and colleagues.

But if you’re new to recorder world, or new to idea of week-long workshops, you might be wondering what’s in it for you. Why carve a whole week out of your life to attend? Is it worth the time, travel, and cost?

My answer is an enthusiastic yes. Summer workshops, by dint of their structure, size, and length, offer opportunities that are tough to come by during day-to-day music-making or shorter workshops Here are a few:

Perspective

No matter how much you love your local teacher, there are limits to each person’s knowledge, abilities, and time.  Summer workshops almost always offer a slate of faculty, and interacting with multiple teachers can open you up to new ways of thinking and playing, expose you to new repertoire, or give you a different angle on something you’ve been working toward.  I reliably find that my own students benefit from this broader exposure.

Depth

During a shorter workshop, it’s simply not possible to delve deeply into techniques, repertoire, or concepts.  Summer workshops tend to be longer, somewhere around a week, and this allows you more time to deepen your understanding, build skills, and reinforce new habits.

Connections 

Summer workshops draw regionally and nationally, so you’re able to make connections with other players outside your local sphere. Peer-to-peer learning at workshops is real and invaluable. Maybe you’ve always wanted to try out a comfort tenor, or talk to someone who has put together a school concert. Now’s your chance!

Focus

Do you dream of a class devoted entirely to the hurdy gurdy?  Are you keen to try out crumhorn or play with a harpsichordist? How about a class devoted to music for bass recorders?  Summer workshops, with their larger student and faculty pools, are the place to do this.

Time 

For those of us with many commitments outside of playing the recorder, the most precious gift summer workshops offer is time.  Think about how much time you spend each day working, cooking, cleaning, caretaking, commuting, etc.  Now sweep all of that away and replace it with large blocks of time devoted to music. Sound good?  (EDITOR’S NOTE: IT’S GLORIOUS!)

Are you interested in giving a summer workshop a try? Come join me this year– I’m teaching at four!

Virginia Baroque Performance Academy: June 9-15, 2024

***FULL FOR RECORDERS IN 2024****. Unique, intimate workshop in the Shenandoah Valley offering recorder masterclass and baroque chamber ensembles.  Relaxed schedule, supportive environment, smaller enrollment; ideal for more advanced amateur players.

Oberlin Baroque Performance Institute: June 16-29, 2024

You can attend either one or both weeks of this storied Baroque summer program!  This is my first year teaching at BPI, and I'm excited! All recorder players will have masterclass and technique with me in the morning.  In the afternoon, recorder players can choose from coached recorder consort (with an opportunity to use some of Oberlin's wonderful instruments!) or mixed-instrument baroque ensembles.  Suitable for high-intermediate players and above (all players should be able to hold your own line in an ensemble).  Optional extras include beginning viol, baroque dance, and more. Northern Ohio is beautiful in summer!  Application deadline is April 5.

 Mountain Collegium: June 30-July 6, 2024

Exceptionally well-run early music and folk workshop in the North Carolina Mountains.  I’ve taught many times at this workshop and am always impressed by its friendliness.  It’s also a great place to try something new. 

SFEMS Recorder Week: July 21-July 27, 2024

Fun with recorder in the Bay Area!  SFEMS is a well-established recorder workshop suitable for players of all levels. It features diverse classes with multiple faculty members, as well as large group playing opportunities.

I hope to see you there!

My Five Most Popular Blog Post of All Time

I’m always curious what resonates with my readers. It isn’t always what I think it will be! But this month is the first time I’ve done a deep dive into the data. I’ve been blogging since 2016, publishing articles about once a month…. that’s a lot of blogging! So I got curious: Out of all the articles I’ve published over the years, which were the ones that got the most traction?

Without further ado, I present my five most popular blog posts of all time. Some weren’t a surprise…but some were!

Transform Your Playing: Keeping a Practice Journal.

This is an old post, but I’m not surprised it took the number one spot…it’s a good one! I still refer my students here sometimes for advice on setting up and tracking their practice.

Practicing Tunefulness: Your Journey Toward Playing in Tune

Tuning is quite difficult on the recorder, so it makes sense that this was a topic of interest.

Better Playing in Five Minutes: No Really!

The hope for a quick fix springs eternal! But truthfully, there’s some verygood advice here.

The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Recorder Players

How many of these habits do you cultivate? They’re good ones!

The Single Word that Can Transform Your Playing

OK, OK, I cheated a bit: This is actually my eighth most popular entry. But I believe in this one with my whole heart, and I think you should, too!

Were these your favorites? Did I miss something? My hope over the years is that I’ve written at least one thing that has helped you on your musical journey!

How to Navigate a Practicing Slump: Four Tips

You probably know what a practicing slump feels like. Where once you might have practiced happily, even eagerly, now the thought of picking up your instrument makes you tired, or maybe even grumpy. You might dodge the practice room, but then you feel guilty about it. Or, you might succeed in dragging yourself there, but every minute feels like a grind. Why are you doing this again? What’s the point?

Practicing slumps are normal. I have them; my colleagues have them; my students have them. But I think we’re particularly vulnerable to them after we’ve attempted big, sweeping changes….in other words, for many of us, in January.

We make bold promises in January. We embark on new musical journeys and projects. We tell ourselves that this is the year we’re going to get it all done! We practice every day! With enthusiasm!

By February, our resolve beings to flag. Our January pace proves difficult to sustain, and we’re more and more tempted to throw up our hands and maybe also go back to bed. February is like January with a hangover.

Practicing slumps are totally normal, but it’s also important that we know how to navigate through them. A practice slump in an of itself isn’t harmful, but if you let it drag you down, it can diminish your participation in, and enjoyment of, music– and that’s a sad thing!

So how do you deal with a practicing slump, whether in February or any other time? Here are my top four tips!

Take a Break

Sometimes we need to intentionally rest and reset. If you spend three days away from the instrument by accident, intending to play every day, you’re going to fill guilty and powerless. But if you allot yourself three days of time-limited, intentional rest, chances are fairly good that you’ll return to your practice refreshed and reenergized. The key is to make your break purposeful and deliberate.

Wait it Out

This is the route I probably take the most. Sometimes, with a practicing slump, you just need to ride it out. If I’m feeling the tell-tale lack of energy and enthusiasm that signifies a practicing slump, I’ll put in a bare minimum amount of time, stopping once I reach it unless I feel like doing more. Putting in, say, 20 minutes a day keeps me in the game and helps me maintain my technique, as well as the habit of practicing, while I wait for my enthusiasm to return.

Shake it Up

Sometimes you don’t need a break from practicing so much as you need a break from practicing a particular thing. Instead of walking away from the instrument, try something different. Memorize a favorite tune, listen to recorder players online, sight read easy pieces, mess with a different clef. Trying something new, or even just swapping tasks, can bring your practicing slump to a close.

Phone a Friend

There’s nothing like engaging musically with other people to help us a practicing slump! Grab a friend and try something musical. You can play with them, listen to music together, ask them to be your audience for a mini-performance….even teach them the rudiments of the recorder! Getting another human being in the room can be immensely beneficial.

If you find yourself in a practicing slump this month (or any month), try one of these techniques. February may be extra long this year, but your practicing slump doesn’t have to be!

What Being a Student is Teaching Me

Recently, I’ve become a student again.

To be honest, it was not on purpose! As a working mother of two, my life was already quite full, and I wasn’t looking to add more to my plate.

But an old music school classmate of mine, a singer, was interested in taking recorder lessons, and she offered to barter lesson for lesson. And then I found that my son, who wanted to take tae kwon do, participated noticeably more if I was learning, too.

So I’m studying voice! And tae kwon do! And while it’s true that I’m a slightly better singer than when I started, and a slightly better martial artist than when I started, I think at least half the value, for me, of taking lessons has been a more direct window into the experiences of my students.

Here’s what it’s teaching (or re-teaching) me!

I Don’t Know What I Don’t Know

It’s a phenomenon I’ve observed consistently in my students, but it’s been fascinating to watch it unfolding in myself. As a learner, you are often simply not able to perceive even the outline of things you don’t know.

Here’s an example: One of the first tae kwon do moves I learned was something called high block, where you raise your arm to block a strike coming at your face. After two sessions, I thought I had it down absolutely pat! I was flawless! Brilliant, even!

After four sessions, I got clued in to the fact that the order of my movements was off. After six sessions, it dawned on me that my thumb position mattered. After eight sessions, I realized the angle of my arm needed to change. At this point I have no doubt there are more realizations ahead.

Learning is a process in which you expand not only skills, but also your perception. I compare it to flying in a plane: At first, you might see mountains and rivers and lakes. As you get closer, you begin to perceive that there are also settlements and roads. It’s only once you get even closer that you’re able to make out individual houses and vehicles.

The more you know, the more you realize how much you don’t know. How cool is that?

Cognitive Load Matters

This is something else I already knew, but it’s been valuable to feel it more viscerally.

Basically: Humans have a limited capacity for conscious engagement. If we’re wrestling with something that is taking a lot of conscious thought, we’re not going to be able to complete additional processing unless it is happening more or less automatically, below the level of conscious control.

This means that, for students, you need to consider cognitive load. Take note of what the students are able to do automatically, and try to tax them with only one additional high-load, conscious assignment at a time. And if you’re a learner, don’t try to do it all at once!

I Really Do Know What I’m Talking About

The beauty (curse?) of returning to formalized learning after having taught for a very long time is that I hear my own voice yapping away in my head. And you know what? I give some really great advice!

When I’m worried I’m backsliding, I remind myself that progress is not linear. When I’m frustrated by the pace of my improvement, I recollect that learning is a long road, and that many skills simply require the consistent investment time over time. I know that I need to practice relaxation. I know that I need to practice curiosity. I know that treating my mistakes neutrally, as data, will ultimately lead to my growth.

It’s comforting to reaffirm that most of what I’m telling my students is exactly on point. And to rediscover the joy of learning!

Four Reasons Playing the Recorder is Awesome!

Alright, it’s true that sometimes playing the recorder gets a bad rap.

There are the vaguely scornful looks and raised eyebrows. The endless memes (yes, I HAVE seen that one before; please do not send it to me). Plus that one South Park episode that shall live in infamy.

But the truth is that there are some pretty terrific things about playing recorder. And as 2023 –another year in which I’ve made my living as a recorder professional– draws to a close, I want to enumerate a few of them!

1) The inexpensive versions are good.

Just try finding and playing a $35 violin. And then you need a bow.

Whereas I can purchase a plastic Yamaha alto for $35, have it overnighted to me, and have a pretty solid instrument in my hands for less than the cost of airport parking.

2) It’s accessible.

Not only are recorders easy to procure, but unlike, say, a violin or trumpet, the recorder allows you to produce a sound fairly intuitively, meaning you can learn to play recognizable tunes much more rapidly than on many other instruments.

After that, the learning curve gets rapidly steeper…which is why I would never call the recorder easy. But if you’re someone who wants to take joy in music without having years to spend learning to produce a sound, the recorder is a fabulous option.

3) It fits under the seat in front of you!

Many of my colleagues have horror stories about boarding planes (or failing to board planes) with sackbuts or violas or, God Forbid, cellos. Whereas, unless I’ve got a bass recorder or bigger, I simply waltz aboard and stow my recorders safely under the seat in front of me.

4) You can be anything!

If you play the flute, you’ll be playing melody most of the time. If you play the cello, you’re going to play a lot of bass lines. If you play the viola there are a whole lot of inner parts in your future.

With the recorder, you get to choose your role!

Want to play an inner part? You can. Want to hold down the bass line? You can. Want to take the melody part and swan around? Totally doable! And you’re free to swap to a different role the next time. The flexibility is refreshing and empowering.

Speaking of which….want to play every part in Handel’s Messiah? Sign up for Recorder Messiah and join me in making Handel’s masterwork our own!

Three Secrets to Sneaking a Breath

Sneaky breaths are underrated!

Yes, it’s important to learn to take full, relaxed, high-quality breaths that will give you the air you need to spin long, beautiful lines.

But it’s also important to learn to sneak!

A sneaky breath, discreetly folded into a musical phrase, offers you the ability to sustain your musical intention while simultaneously protecting the quality of your tone. It opens up phrasing possibilities you might not have thought were possible. Sneaky breaths are practical, powerful, and, if executed correctly, close to undetectable!

But they do take skill! Here’s how to make them work for you.

Think Small

Sneaky breaths are basically tiny sips of air. They’re roughly equivalent in volume to the amount of air you’re taking in with each inhale as you’re reading this article (and they should feel similarly relaxed!). Especially on soprano and alto recorders, a tiny amount of air can take you a long way.

End Cleanly

One of the most common mistakes I hear people make when they attempt to sneak a breath is that they allow the impending breath to affect, in a detrimental way, the quality of the note immediately prior. Don’t telegraph your intention to breathe early: Wait until you’ve cleanly ended the note right before. And make sure your air stream stays level right up until the very end of that note!

Begin Softly

Sneaking a breath effectively is all about giving the illusion of a continued musical line. This means keeping the air level before the breath, as outlined above. And it also means that you need to enter after your intake of air with a sense that the breath was a mere suspension in on ongoing line. Practically, this means two things: The tongue stroke of your next note needs to be very soft, and your post-breath airstream needs to precisely match what came before.

The next time you’re practicing sneaky breaths, try out a few of these instructions. I predict more effective sneaking ahead!

Are you wondering not only how to sneak a breath, but where to do it? I’ve developed a practical, step-by-step process for ensuring your breathing supports, rather than disrupts, your music. My Webinar replay Where Do I Breathe? covers this and more.

Should You Join A Recorder Group?

Maybe you’ve been playing the recorder all by yourself in your living room for a while, and you’re starting to wonder if playing with others might be rewarding.

Maybe you just picked up the recorder during Covid, or you’re coming back to it after many years, and you know you want to make music with others, but you’re worried it will be beyond you, or that you’re not ready.

Maybe you’ve thought about joining a recorder group, but you just haven’t quite mustered up the courage.

Many of my students have found themselves in this space before, trying to decide whether to join in or stay on the sidelines. I know because they’ve told me! And if you’re one of them, read on for my top five signs you' should join a recorder group!

#1: YOU LOVE MUSIC

A single line of melody can be lovely. But melody and harmony? Multiple melodic lines interweaving? That can be absolutely exquisite. If you’re a music lover, being able to make music that has multiple parts is a major upgrade!

#2: YOU ENJOY SHARING A PURPOSE

To me, there’s something beautiful about coming together with others to move collaboratively toward a goal, particularly when that goal is something that all of you love. Music is a particularly special kind of collaboration because, unlike many kinds of projects, much of your communication and interaction is both nonverbal and taking place in real time!

#3: YOU’RE COMFORTABLE WITH BEING UNCOMFORTABLE…

…or you’re ready to learn to be that way! Playing in a group often feels vulnerable. And because many groups contain people who have been playing for many years, it can seem daunting, scary, or intimidating. You might worry about messing up, or getting lost, or brining the group down. And the truth is, you will mess up. You will get lost. You will make sounds you, and possibly others, don’t enjoy. And you know what? That’s OK! Actually, it’s more than OK, because it means you’re learning. The only way to get better at playing in a group is playing in a group, and in order to do that, you have to be willing to screw up. Plus, guess what? Every single person in the room with you has also been a beginner– they already know how you feel.

#4: YOU’RE READY TO GROW

Playing in a group can motivate you to expand your skills like nothing else. It forces you to practice things like sight reading, following your line amidst conflicting inputs, and listening and playing at the same time. It can inspire you to pick up a new size of instrument, or work to improve skills like pulse keeping or your ability to pay in tune. It will stretch you in ways that would be difficult, if not impossible, to achieve on your own.

#5: YOU LIKE SNACKS!

Ah, the snacks! Recorder players are, almost without exception, lovely, interesting people who happen to really excel at snacks. Just make sure to bring a toothbrush!

Quiz: What's Your Learning Engine?

Do you sometimes have to drag yourself into the practice room, but other times can’t wait to get started?

Do you sometimes feel a powerful drive to learn, but other times struggle to make yourself care?

And are you never sure which version of yourself is going to show up?

If this sounds familiar, you might benefit from identifying your learning engine– the experience or goal that best motivates you.

Yes, each of us is unique– but in my many years of teaching, I’ve found that most students tend to fall into one of four motivational categories. Identifying yours can be powerful– you’ll be able to harness your natural tendencies to move forward with more efficiency and speed. (You may find multiple things motivating, but in my experience, one tends to predominate.)

Is this scientific? Absolutely not. Is it useful? I think so! Is there a super fun quiz I just made up? Of course!

Ready to identify your learning engine and harness your drive? Answer these five questions as honestly as you can.

I experience the most musical satisfaction when I:

1. Play through a piece I know and play well

2. Gain confidence with a newer fingering system

3. Get together to make music with my friends

4. Immerse myself in a new musical style

I’m most proud of myself when I:

1. Nail a piece in performance

2. Finish the last exercise in the book

3. Hold down my section in recorder orchestra

4. Learn something new about music theory

A great musical afternoon would be:

1. Playing through the pieces I love best

2. Trying a piece I previously struggled with and noticing how far I’ve come

3. Recorder reading party, with snacks!

4. Plunging into original notation!

I struggle the most when:

1. The piece I’m trying to play is beyond my current abilities

2. I don’t think I’m getting anywhere

3. There’s no one to play with

4. We just play the same old stuff

A terrific musical gift for me would be:

1. A fine, handmade version of my favorite instrument

2. The next size up or down I need to learn– I’m ready!

3. A contrabass I can bring to my ensemble

4. A big stack of music and books I’ve never seen before

ANSWER KEY:

Mostly 1s: Your learning engine is MASTERY

You love the experience of doing something you’re good at. You like to feel relaxed and confident when you’re playing, and you find pleasure in producing sounds you enjoy. Best of all is when you don’t even have to think about what you’re doing! On the flip side, you may struggle with struggle: If something is difficult for you, it may be harder for you to engage with it productively.

How to harness MASTERY: Make sure to allow yourself plenty of time during your practice sessions to enjoy playing things you’re good at, and use this time as a reward for tackling thornier musical tasks. You may also benefit from adding structure and accountability (courses, webinars, workshops, lessons) around tasks that are harder for you, as these additional supports can help you move beyond your comfort zone. (For what it’s worth, this is my own engine, so the advice is personal!)

Mostly 2s: Your learning engine is PROGRESS

You love the experience of moving forward toward your goals. The process of step-by-step improvement feels empowering, particularly when you are able to see or hear how far you’ve come. Learning each new note on the recorder was a joy! On the flip side, you may begin to run aground when progress becomes less linear and straightforward and more dispersed and granular– as it will once you’re no longer a beginner.

How to harness PROGRESS: You will benefit from good record keeping in your practice, both written and aural. This will help you look and listen back and reflect on how far you’ve come! It will also behoove you to break larger goals into small, achievable steps you can progress though. And finally, you may derive motivation from accessing an established curriculum, such as the ABRSM graded coursework or the American Recorder Society’s Personal Study Program (must be a member to access).

Mostly 3s: Your learning engine is COMMUNITY

You love the experience of playing in community, of being a part of something bigger than yourself. You like to feel useful in a group, and will gravitate toward whatever role you feel benefits the whole. Playing with others drives you to be a better musician and you want to improve your skills so you can increase your value to the group. On the flip side, you may struggle to stay motivated when you’re on your own.

How to harness COMMUNITY: Find or make as many group playing opportunities as you can. Consider adopting group goals, in which each member of the community is working toward the same thing. Look for music you’d be excited to play in a group, and choose something you know will challenge you. Attend workshops and join your local chapter.

Mostly 4s: Your learning engine is DISCOVERY

You love the experience of learning something new. Acquiring knowledge and engaging with new concepts are motivating for you, and you enjoy integrating new information into your existing knowledge frameworks. You like to delve into the historical context of the music you’re playing, and may enjoy learning new notational systems or theory concepts. On the flip side, you may struggle to find motivation to polish or perfect pieces you already know, and repetitive technical work may feel like a chore.

How to harness DISCOVERY: Use your love of learning to motivate your practice by seeking out and immersing yourself in new musical worlds. Tackle repetitive work at the beginning of your practice session, when you’re fresh and energetic, and reward yourself with new material. If you’re learning a new piece on your own, allow yourself to engage comprehensively with it, placing it in historical context, listening to it, reading about it, etc.

Recorder FAQ

Often, the questions that recorder students ask surprise me. Recorder players tend to be thoughtful, curious, and insightful, and as a teacher, I’m always amazed at the diversity of things they wonder about!

That said, there are certain questions that come up again and again. These are the evergreen questions, the ones I’m asked routinely, year after year, by person after person…which clearly signifies that many people want to know the answers!

Accordingly, I’ve decided to try my hand at answering a few of the questions I’m asked most frequently as a teacher. Here goes!

Q: How do I get the lowest notes to sound nice?

A: This is a process! You need a well-mixed cocktail of appropriate air flow, good finger coverage, smart positioning, independent finger movement, soft tonguing, and consistent practice. I have an article about it here, and a webinar here.

Q: How do I get the highest notes to sound nice?

A: This is also a process! Thumb positioning and movement is vitally important as is the quality of your airflow and your level of bodily tension. I have a webinar about it here.

Q: Is there a trill chart you can recommend?

A: Unfortunately….not really. I wish I could recommend a single comprehensive source for you to reference, but I can’t, in part because which trill fingering you should choose is impacted by factors like note duration, the place and time your piece was written, its character, etc. It’s my belief that trills are best learned in context.

Q: Is there a comprehensive book or article about ornamentation you can recommend?

A: Again….unfortunately not. There are many books and articles about ornamentation, and many are useful, but learning to ornament is best understood as a ground-up process, meaning it needs to be driven by the needs and parameters a specific piece of music. I also think it’s necessary to have an aural component to your learning. My teaching about ornamentation is therefore always contextualized.

Q: When you learn a new size of instrument, should you stop playing the one you already know for a while? What about learning more than one size at a time?

A: So I don’t actually know the answer to this excellent question, because to my knowledge no research studies have been conducted that would begin to answer it! My gut, though, tells me that it’s not harmful to switch between sizes and fingering systems– that it’s even possibly beneficial. The one thing I would make sure to do, as you add a new fingering system, is to practice it early in your sessions, while you’re mentally fresh, thereafter switching to the system you know the best. The less familiar you are with a system, too, the larger a “chunk” of practice you might set aside before turning to something else.

Q: How do I stop making mistakes?

A: You don’t. You learn to make your mistakes more discreetly, less frequently, and with reduced fallout. But you will still make mistakes. And that’s OK!

Q: Is it normal to have mental slips while playing?

A: Yes, very. And the more you are asking yourself to do at one time (or the more I am asking you to do at one time!), the more frequent your mental slips are likely to become. This is a normal part of the learning process and should not be cause for alarm.

Q: Why don’t I sound like you?

I have been practicing, often under expert guidance, almost every day of my life for 32 years. Also, this is my work, and I support myself doing it. Unless you also meet these conditions, it’s unlikely you’re going to sound the way I do. That said, anybody can improve their sound with targeted practice over time, including you!

Q: Is this old recorder I found in the basement worth money? Can you tell me what it’s worth?

A: Almost certainly not, and no. The best way of guessing value of your instrument by identifying its maker and its age, assessing its condition, and doing your own research to see what comparable instruments are selling for, used, in the current market. The only thing I could possibly help you with is an in-person assessment of your instrument’s playability and quality (not its price), typically for a fee.

I hope some of these answers were helpful! Happy playing.

Five Lies You Might Be Telling Yourself

You probably already know this, but how we talk to ourselves as musicians and learners– both the content and the tone of that communication– matters! And we don’t always realize when we’re telling ourselves things that, well, just aren’t true!

Unfortunately, these inadvertent falsehoods can have consequences. At best, they’re unhelpful, and at worst, they can limit our desire and ability to grow.

That’s why it can be beneficial to stop every now and then to take inventory. What are you telling yourself about your playing and your musicianship? And is it really accurate?

Here are five of the most common lies I catch recorder students telling themselves. Ask yourself: Do any of them sound familiar? I’m personally guilty of at least two!

I need an expensive instrument to make any more progress

Think of your instrument like a car. Is it super fun to drive a Porsche to the grocery store? Yes! Can you still get there in your Ford Pinto? Yes. Likewise, hopping into the Porsche isn’t going to magically make you a better driver. But driving lessons might! And owning a Porsche might give you fantastic motivation to improve your skills.

There is something wrong with my instrument

OK, full disclosure: Sometimes this is not a lie. Sometimes there is actually something wrong with your instrument. But 95% of the time, the “problem” with your instrument can be recitfied by improving your technique. Are your high notes cracking? Are your low notes not coming out? Is your tuning inconsistent.? Most of the time it’s a safe bet that the culprit is you. Want to know for sure? Hand your instrument to a professional or advanced player and have them try it out.

I can’t get any better than I already am

This is a bald-faced lie I told myself in my early 20s. And I was so, so, so wrong! Unless we are suffering from a degenerative disease process, we can, every single one of us, improve. I am still improving! My colleagues are still improving. Every single one of my students is improving! But improving takes targeted, deliberate work, and you have to be willing to put that work in.

I’m bad at XXX

No, you’re not bad at XXX (insert sight reading, tuning, playing bass, playing by ear, skydiving, etc. etc. etc.). You’re simply not where you want to be at XXX yet. Can you improve at XXX with targeted, deliberate work? Yes. Might your rate or degree of improvement still frustrate you? Yes. But our abilities are never fixed.

No one wants to hear me play

You want to hear you play! In the end, that’s what matters.

And truth be told, there are almost certainly more people in your life who would enjoy hearing you play than you think. I personally love seeing and hearing people make live music, no matter what their level– what a wonderfully human endeavor! It’s a privilege to be able to watch another human being bring music to life. So the idea that no one wants to hear you play is almost certainly false. (The exception is cats. Cats do not want to hear you play. Ever.)

How's Your "C" Game?

I made a mistake yesterday in performance.

This is not particularly unusual for me. Truth be told, this is not particularly unusual for anyone I know. Live performance of music is an incredibly consuming, complicated endeavor, and it’s close to impossible to achieve, live, the level of perfection you might hear on your favorite recording. (Spoiler alert: those are edited!)

Yes, there are times when, on stage, my performance seems to be unfolding flawlessly, unrolling like a magic carpet without any evident effort on my part. And those times are pretty dang great!

Other times, though, my playing feels more effortful. I don’t feel as fluid or alert as I want to be. I’m on edge or I’m tired. I screw up. And yet, the performance continues.

This is why I was so interested recently to hear Sports Psychologist Dan Abrahams, who primarily works with professional soccer players, describe the importance of helping athletes develop a good relationship with their “C” games. (Side note: if you’re a teaching and learning junkie like me, I highly recommend the new podcast Sweat the Technique.)

Getting comfortable with your “C” game makes an enormous amount of sense to me. Obviously we always want, and strive, to bring our “A” games. But the truth is that sometimes we will bring our “C” games instead. And we need to know how to react when we do.

Now, please understand that getting comfortable with your “C” game doesn’t mean that you’ve given up on your “A” game. You’re still going to work really hard to be your best musical self as often as you possibly can. You’re also going to work hard make sure your “C” game is as good as it can be, which means consistent investment, over time, in growing your overall abilities.

But when you find yourself, in the moment, playing with less than 100% of your ability, you need to be able to react constructively and calmly, and that means reacting from a place of acceptance rather than from a place of panic.

If I recognize that I’ve brought my “C” game, for example, I might take fewer risks. I might ornament a bit less, take more conservative tempos, and hew more closely to what I know will work. I’m probably going to double down on physical relaxation, and I’m definitely going to be working to recover from my mistakes as seamlessly as possible.

Which is what I did yesterday. Mistakes happen. You can’t always bring your “A” game. But you absolutely can accept, adjust, and continue.

Is Making Music Good For You?

One of the questions I frequently pose to students, both individually and in workshop settings, is: Why do you play?

I like this question because it helps people to refocus on what fuels and sustains them as musicians, as opposed to perseverating on their musical challenges.

And I get a fascinating array of answers! Some people play because they love to perceive progress; others because they enjoy specific styles of music; some prioritize the social aspect of making music with others

But one answer I don’t often receive is “because it’s good for me.”

Why not?

I’m not entirely sure, but I suspect it’s because people underestimate extent to which making music, especially in community, can enhance individual health and well being.

Here’s the thing: Music is really, really good for you! Yes, you personally, whether you’re young, old, or somewhere in between. The benefits of making (and learning to make) music last throughout the lifespan, and are particularly acute among older adults.

Yes, I’m biased….but I’m also informed! If you’re a research junkie like me, you can start to dive into the relevant research here and here and here. But I’ll also summarize a few key points, below!

• Actively engaging with music is positively associated with (self-reported) social and emotional well-being; this is consistent across levels of music making (i.e., beginner, amateur, professional).

• There are strong social benefits to making music together.

• Older adults are fully capable of developing and progressing in their musical skills.

• Music learning in all stages of life may offer cognitive benefits.

In short, making music is a pretty terrific thing for you to be doing with your time! Way to go!

Three Surprising Metaphors that Will Improve Your Airflow

Airflow– the production, management, movement, and guidance of air– is among the most difficult aspects of recorder playing to master. As you may have discovered, making a sound he recorder is easy….but producing a clear, resonant, well-shaped, beautiful sound is not.

When I’m teaching about airflow (which I am, constantly, because it’s the beating heart of any and all recorder playing), I like to come at the topic from two angles.

First, the bottom up….since I’m an anatomy and physiology nerd, I think it’s essential to address what your body should actually be doing as you play.

But it’s also useful to talk about airflow from the top down, starting with the sound we want to produce and identifying thought patterns that can help us achieve it.

And that’s why, like every other teacher before me, I love a good metaphor! The right metaphor can act a shortcut, ushering you toward beneficial patterns of movement without your having to build them up from scratch.

I’ve got literally dozens of airflow metaphors. Some of them work for most students and some of them work for only a few. Some of them are standard issue and some of them are unique. And some of them, to be totally honest, are wacky!

In honor of April Fool’s Day, here are three of my more offbeat metaphors. They may be a little odd, but try them out! They work more often than you’d think!

The ORD People Mover

Your air is the moving sidewalk between terminals at the Chicago O’Hare International Airport. You simply step on and admire the moving patterns of lights as you float toward your destination.

The Endless Towel Dispenser

You know those resusable towel dispensers in highway rest stops of yore? The ones where you pulled down on a loop of reusable material to dry your hands, and then pulled again to expose fresh towel? The ones to which the pandemic most likely dealt a killing blow? The towel loop is your air, and you’re pulling it out of your instrument in one never-ending loop.

The Rubber Duckie

Your sound is a rubber duckie bobbing gently up and down on a warm, slowly moving sea of air! Yes, really!

What’s your favorite metaphor? Is it more common, or a little bit quirky?

Want more on how to improve your airflow? My three-part webinar series on tone sttarts with Breathing.

The Thing About Ornamentation I Wish Everyone Knew

As I write this, I have just returned from a workshop at which I taught, among other things, a four-day course on ornamentation.

Ornamentation –the practice of adding to and/or changing what’s on the page– is an integral part of playing music from the Renaissance and Baroque eras. It is not optional!

But it can feel feel intimidating, especially (though not exclusively!) if you’re just getting started.

Possibly for this reason, I really enjoy teaching ornamentation.  It’s fun to demystify a complex process, breaking it down so it becomes, step by step, more approachable.   

But what if, instead of four days, I only had one blog entry to cut to the heart of what ornamentation was all about? If I could tell every student of ornamentation only one thing, what would that thing be?

Don’t ornament because you can; ornament because you must.

If your main reason for adding notes is the fact that you can, you are unlikely to be doing the most important job of a musician, which is, like an actor, to bring what’s on the page vividly to life.

The musical text in front of us is the beating heart of our endeavor, and it should be the driving force behind any ornamentation. A good ornament feels compelled.  It feels necessary.  It highlights the shapes and moods and colors and correspondences that are already front of you. It grows from the the music, an organic extension of its power.

An ornament that is not compelled by the music, in contrast, sounds cheap.  It obscures the text. It’s a glitter bomb, burying everything in sparkle.

Don’t be a rhinestone cowboy. Grow your ornaments from seed.

Want more tips on how to ornament with grace and style? Check out my Ornamentation Starter Kit.

Five Things I Never Worry About...and Neither Should You!

You may have noticed that making music is complicated.

Do I win the understatement of the year award? I never cease to be awestruck by the breadth and depth of what music demands from us, all the physical, cognitive, perceptual, emotional, and social skills it requires us integrate in real time and under pressure.

Isn’t it nice, then, to have a few musical things we can simply…blow off?

Here are five things I never worry about...and I don’t think you should, either! And while I can’t promise my list will be free of controversy, my hope is that it helps at least some of you say a guilt-free goodbye to something you’ve been sweating.

So let’s get to it!

1) Circular breathing. Do I circular breathe? No. Do I want to? Honestly, not really. Circular breathing is a cool party trick, and I can see how it might come in handy in some circumstances. But taking time to breathe can be such an intimate and beautiful part of music-making, so essential for making phrases and shapes, that it very seldom feels like a constraint. Done correctly, your breathing is part of the music.

2) Making low notes loud. The unique timbre and volume of the various notes on the recorder is a feature, not a bug! Embrace it!

3) Keeping my music pristine. Unless I’m working with an orchestral part that I have to relinquish when the gig is done, I have carte blanche to do whatever the heck I want with my page. I can mark my beats, mark my part, pepper the score with exclamation points and inscrutable phrases (“llama enters here”)...whatever helps. No one cares.

4) Making up unique ornaments out of whole cloth in the moment, every time. Look: here’s the truth. Yes, a few of us are up there extemporizing elaborate, novel flourishes inspired by the moment. But a whole lot more of us (including me) are doing what I call prepared improvisation. That means we’ve spent quality time experimenting during our practice sessions, exploring different ornamental patterns to discover what works. Then, when it comes time to perform, we have a repository of semi-rehearsed shapes from which to select. There’s no law that says you have to come up with something new and unique every time. In fact, the number of ornamental shapes that will work in any given passage is not infinite, and if you get too hung up on novelty, it’s easy to lose sight of whether your ornament actually supports what’s written.

5) What other people think of the recorder. My indifference is hard won, but at this point I can simply say: I make the most beautiful music I can on the instruments I have to hand. I can’t wait for you to hear it!

How to Begin

Once upon a time, as an innocent young musician, I thought you began at the beginning.

I mean, it makes intuitive sense! If you are going to begin something, surely the beginning is the best place to start? There’s even a saying: about it: Begin at the beginning.

So for a long time, whenever I began a piece of music, I started at the beginning: I played the first note. Then the note after that. And then another and another and another, never realizing I’d left out something vital.

I can’t remember when or how I realized I’d been doing the equivalent of starting a five mile race at mile marker one, but somehow or other it dawned on me: Music begins before its beginning.

Say what?

See, music is like an iceberg. There’s what you hear, the sounds that actually reach your ears. Then there’s a whole bunch of stuff that lurks below the surface of perception but is, nevertheless, an essential part of making music: your breathing, your thoughts, the movement of the pulse through your body.

Before you play the first note of a piece, you are, or should be, already deeply engaged with the music– tracking its pulse, assessing its character, timing your inhale so that, when it comes time to play, your exhale is merely the continuation of your ongoing musical intention.

Let me say it again: Music starts before sound. You need to be making music before you make sound.

It’s an essential concept, but it can be a challenge to implement. Fortunately, you can practice!

The next time you begin a piece, give it a shot: Think about making music before you begin making sound. If you do this enough, it will start to become a habit. And I promise it will be worth your while.

The One Thing You Need to Ask Yourself This December

Certain times of the year encourage us toward particular kinds of reflection.

October and early November lean into mortality. Thanksgiving herds us toward gratitude. The New Year is a powerful nudge to think about self-improvement.

And December?

Well, there’s generally not much time to think in December.

December, for many of us, is a noisy, cookie-laden vortex we’re lucky to stagger out the other end of.

Which is fun, but also kind of a pity, because December is the absolute best time to ask yourself a vital question: What are you proud of this year?

As musicians, we are trained to look forward. How can I develop my skills? How can I improve how I sound? What do I need to do next to get where I want to be?

And since so much of what we do is about skill development, that forward-looking orientation serves us. Progress depends on keeping the future firmly in our sights.

But I think we miss something crucial if we don't take the time to reflect upon, and rejoice in, what we have done. We need a moment to look back on, and celebrate, our own work. Over the past year, have you put forth effort in the service of something you love? If so, that’s pretty terrific!

Acknowledging what we’ve done, not just focusing on what we’ve left undone, is essential fertilizer for musical growth. It’s an antidote for destructive frustration. It is a vital reminder of the power of our own efforts. It is renewing, and it is important.

So take a moment, right now, to ask yourself: What are you proud of this year?

Maybe you practiced most days of the week. Maybe you didn’t quit when you got frustrated. Maybe you picked up a new size of instrument, improved your understanding of time signatures, learned to read bass clef, got through a whole sonata, worked on your tone, brushed up on your articulation, played in a group for the first time, got back in after you got lost…or all of these things. Or more!

You put in musical effort this year. Rejoice!

Should I buy it?

As we head into the holiday season, you may be thinking: Now is the perfect time to buy a recorder!

OK, full confession: I am always thinking this. My budget only sometimes agrees.

But let’s say your budget cooperates. You’ve done your research and identified the style, make and model of recorder you’d like to own. You’ve surrendered your credit card number.

And thus it is that, one happy morning, a package arrives! You open it eagerly. There it is: a beautiful new (or used) recorder, sent to you on approval.

Now you have to decide: Should you buy it?

Sometimes, this decision is easy. You need a sopranino for a concert next month. Your old alto cracked.

But sometimes, it’s agonizing. How do you know you’re buying the right instrument? What about all the other instruments out there you could be buying instead?? How on earth can you make a commitment without full knowledge of the options??? (Let me just interject here how grateful I am that there is no Tinder for recorders.)

The good news is that I am here to help! As a longtime agonizer AND a longtime purchaser of recorders, I have developed five key questions you can ask yourself to frame your decision and choose with confidence. To wit:

1) How much agonizing is it worth?

The amount of time you spend making a purchase decision should be proportional to what that instrument will cost you. I’m not talking about its dollar amount; I’m talking about what it will cost you, specifically. A $35 dollar plastic recorder could be a big investment for some and forgettable for others.

You’ll also want to think about cost in terms of your time. Some instruments have a steeper learning curve, requiring that you invest more hours of your life to be able to play them well. High investment purchases require more thought.

2) Are there deal breakers?

Some instruments might be excellent in many ways, but they possess key flaws that will render them, for your purposes, useless. The key phrase here is for your purposes. If you only want to play solo, a spectacular instrument that plays ten cents flat won’t phase you. If you want to pair that instrument with a keyboard, however, that’s a deal breaker

I do need to differentiate here between deal breakers and technical constraints. If the high F isn’t coming easily and you’ve not yet built confidence in the upper register, the problem might not be the instrument. If your technical stills are still in the early stages of development, you might want to seek out a second opinion from someone with more experience.

3) Is it The One?

I’m not going to tell you that true, instant recorder love doesn’t exist, because I have actually fallen in deep and lasting love with a recorder. But this has happened ONE TIME and I have tried literally hundreds of recorders. Do NOT wait for The One. But on the off-chance The One happens to come along, buy it!

4) Will it open up new doors?

If you don’t own a C bass, purchasing a C bass is going to enable you to tackle new repertoire in new ways. Same with a Ganassi-style instrument, or an instrument at a different pitch than you currently own. If your current priority is unlocking a musical door, the value of having a key, any key, increases.

5) How much work are you willing to do?

No instrument is perfect. Some notes will be easier to make beautiful, some will be harder. Some will be flat, some sharp, and accommodations will need to be made. The question to ask yourself is: How much work am I willing to do? As with any relationship, you will always have to do some work. But you shouldn’t feel as if the work completely overwhelms the joy.

Happy hunting!

The One Musical Tool You Absolutely Must Own

What if I told you there was a transformative musical tool that was portable, sturdy, intuitive, and dirt cheap?

Now what if I told you there was a 99% chance chance that this tool was already in your house? I mean…WOW!

I’m talking, of course, about the pencil (or, for you high-tech converts, the stylus). The pencil is likely to be the single most powerful and versatile musical tool you own, yet it very seldom gets its due.

Until now! This month I’m hoping to inspire you to pick up your pencil with confidence and intention– because it really can make you a better musician.

Pencils ready? Here are four important ways to use them:

Mark Mistakes: Here’s my rule: If I miss something once– misread a note or a rhythm, fail to remember to repeat, etc.– no problem. But if I miss the same thing twice, I break out the pencil and mark it. No exceptions. Repeated errors mean I need to add a visual support for my future self. That might mean writing in a note name. It might mean circling a tricky rhythm. It might mean scratching in what another part is doing, or drawing eyeglasses to remind myself to look up– whatever will be helpful in the moment. In no way, shape, or form is this cheating. Rather, it is setting yourself up for success!

Mark Beats: Many of us have difficulty with rhythms that cross beats or are not precisely aligned with the pulse of the music. This can be especially true as we begin to use longer note values, like half notes or whole notes, as our basic pulse. Marking in your beats, usually by way of little tics at the top of the staff, is a terrific way to support yourself during these difficult passages. This is not a crutch– it is a smart self-assist!

Mark Breaths: Sure, you might breathe in felicitous places if you entrust your breathing plan to the whim of the moment. But you’re much more likely to interrupt phrases, run out of air, or otherwise squander the opportunity to knit your breath into your music making. Marking your breaths in advance is a terrific way to increase the chance that your breathing will serve the music, as opposed to the other way around.

Make Group Decisions: So much of our music-making takes place in groups. And groups, in order to be musically unified, need to make and stick to musical decisions. Unless you have the steel-trap mind of a tween, it is highly unlikely that you will be able to remember these decisions in the moment without some kind of written cue. Writing in group decisions is part of your duty as an ensemble member.

Sense a theme here? Use your pencil! Use it frequently! And use it with pride!