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Tap into your musical flow at the upcoming Flowing Flautist Retreat in Cornwall, UK

I’m leading a second Boho Flute Retreat this year in Cornwall… and you’re invited! This retreat is called The Flowing Flautist and is taking place on the 16th-18th of September, 2016. Achieving a state of ‘flow’ is about being ‘in the zone’ and finding the magic in your playing so that you can tap into […]

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The Top Digital Tools That Have Helped Me Build a Global Flute Career

Podcast: How Digital Tools Have Built The Career of A Flute E-Diva Are you interested in offering online teaching as a musician? Listen to some tips in my latest interview with Phil Byrne of Positively Sparking, a weekly web-marketing and digital-life podcast. In this episode we chat about the digital tools that have helped me build […]

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How to Use Your Alter Ego for Performance (+ what we can learn from Beyoncé)

Here’s a step-by-step guide about how to tap into your alter ego in order to add more freedom to your playing. When American singer Beyoncé was in her 20’s she would embody an alter ego named ‘Sasha Fierce’ when performing on stage. This invented personality, she claimed, was separate from her everyday ‘shy self’. Sasha […]

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What I Tell Myself When I Don’t Feel Like Practicing

There’s tons of advice written for how to ‘make the most’ of your practice sessions, but how about getting motivated to pull out your instrument in the first place? Here I share 25+ years of what has worked for me a flautist (and what hasn’t) — Back in the 1990’s when I was an teenager […]

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So, you want to (re)start taking flute lessons? (Congrats!) Here’s 9 essential questions to ask yourself first

Ready to start those lessons? Get clear about what you desire in your music-making with these 9 essential questions. Print them out. Daydream. Ponder. Fill them in. Take these to your new teacher. Discuss it. Cut to the chase. Get things rollin’ for your playing from Day 1. 1) Have you had any kind of music […]

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The Letter I’d Write to my Teenage-Self About Being a Musician, 20 Years Later

Hello, my whimsical, hopeful, fresh-faced girl. Since I have your attention for a moment, let me whisper in your ear 10 truths that will be your own only after you leave all those music degree programmes. Keep them near. 1) Your flute teacher –at every stage– matters. Really matters. This person will be like a […]

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Why There’s No Shame in Being a ‘Prostiflute’

Hold on, now. By ‘prostiflute’ I am not talking about mixing prostitution from the red-light area of your favourite city with being a flute player (now that would be a highly fascinating blog topic, no doubt). To be a ‘prostiflute’ (which by the way is not my term,* but is oh so fitting, no?) is to use your […]

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A Behind-the-Scenes Chat with Flautist Bevani (and how she finally ‘Broke Free’)

Musicians who show the world who they are boldly and without any apologies are game-changers for us all. I am talking about artists who are openly unabashed about what they do. The ones who continually aim to unedit their artistic expression.  The ones who tend to ignore sentences like: …if I stay with what’s in the rule book I’ll be fine! or […]

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How to Play Flute From Your Heart + Soul (Here’s 7 Things I Know, For Sure)

Have you been able to witness it? In a recital, on the hi-fi, over Wi-Fi, a bar, or in your car? The air changes, becoming electrically charged with something. Your bum ceases to wiggle about in your seat. You stop worrying about that WhatsApp message niggling you and quit second-guessing whether you’ve locked your doors. You […]

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Tired of the usual musical hum-drum? (Of course you are!) Here are 52 flute activities guaranteed to shake up your musical life this year

Do you ever get frustrated doing the same ol’ same ol’ musical stuff year after year? I sure do. You know what I mean: Masterclasses. Practice. Auditions. Lessons. Winning. More lessons. Exams. Rehearsals. More practice. Losing.  Recitals. Lesson planning. Teaching. Competitions. Marking. Writing. Job applications. More (fill in the blank). Be one of the few […]

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