The Fife Book

Description

• An introductory course to flute playing
• Aimed at beginners and should last for an approximate ten week period. 
• Not intended to be a “self-tutor” and it should be used with a  teacher.  
• Most of the material is very simple and although recorder players might find they can whizz through the tunes very quickly, it takes this amount of time to start to establish a good embouchure, hand positions and posture.
• Notes introduced are those that can be used with exactly the same fingerings on a flute.
• All of the basic aspects of technique can be taught using the fife.  
• Beginners make rapid progress because they are not hampered by the size or complexities of the flute.  
• When the course has been successfully completed, transition to a full size flute is very simple and beginners have an enormous sense of achievement during  their

first “proper flute” lesson when they discover how well they can  play and
how beautiful it sounds.  By the end of the fife course  beginners are more
responsive to work on flute care, as they are less anxious just to play
tunes – especially as they know they already can!  Parents also welcome
this method for financial reasons and when they discover their child is
committed to the instrument, they are usually  only too happy to provide a
good instrument for lessons to continue.

I recommend that every lesson and every practice session should  
include work on the following :

   * Embouchure formation
   * Balancing of instrument and hand positions
   * Breathing
   * Tonguing
   * Note reading
   * Rhythmic work
   * Music playing

Emphasis at this stage will be on embouchure formation and balancing  the
instrument.

Most teachers have their own methods and ideas about teaching  
technique, but in the next few pages I offer some ideas of my own for  you
to experiment with.

I hope you enjoy exploring teaching with the fife.