The Flute

Above is a picture of me as a kid, with my first flute, I think it was a Bundy.

I had started piano lessons in 1st grade with a lady, then took lessons from another man teacher for probably 3 more years. Then, as 5th grade loomed, which was when instrumental music began in the school, I wanted to quit piano lessons, and do band. So Mom let me do that.

I remember one evening when kids and their parents met with the band instructor there at the school in one of the rooms, so we could look at instruments and decide if/what we wanted to play. I really wanted to play clarinet or saxophone, but as instruments were fairly expensive, and we weren't that well off (enough, but not a lot of extra $$), I looked at a flute, as it was the least expensive of all of them. I remember the instructor having me hold my arms out to the side (to see if they were plenty long enough for the flute, which is held sideways), and checking my smile (teeth and bite can be more or less suited to different instruments). He seemed to think a flute would be a good fit for me. So, flute it was.

That first year of band was interesting. I mainly remember almost hyperventilating and passing out from all the blowing (I think we all suffered that! Except for the percussionists, of course. ha ha), plus one pinky finger getting exhausted holding down one of the keys at the end of the flute. But we improved, learning notes and rhythm and ensemble playing, and WATCHING THE DIRECTOR. -ha- We played the usual slow, methodical band piece for the concert, with the junior high and high school bands also being on the program after us.

Another thing that went along with the usual band playing was .... contest time. This happened in both junior high (6th-8th grades in our school) and high school. The main thing I remember about contest pieces was NERVOUSNESS. I hated playing a solo in front of people. Not so bad in a group, but playing solo was terrifying for me. But I did take a piece just about every year. We usually had regional contest (maybe district before that? I'm not remembering well sometimes!), then state. If you made a good enough rating at regional, you could go on to state. I usually did kind of well, but sometimes just so so. This may be because I had kind of a love-hate relationship with the flute. Remember, I really wanted to play a different instrument, but had to pick flute. But I did enjoy music, so made the best of it.

The other day, I was looking through a piano book I had found at the thrift store, small pieces by Tchaikovsky. As I flipped through, I saw "Waltz," and as I looked at the notes, I realized, "AHA! That was what I played for contest on flute one time!" If it wasn't the first piece I ever took to contest, it was one of the first ones. I remember Mom practicing with me at home (she played piano), then I think someone else played piano for the actual contest.

The start of Tchaikovsky's "Waltz," which I played arranged for flute:

The solos were nerve-wracking, but I enjoyed the band and various groups. Following are a few pictures from high school days.

Pep Band, front row far right.

Pep Band, front row second from left.

Stage band, sitting behind the saxophones, wearing a cap.

Tuning up in the band room before a concert, far left. (My best friend is behind me, playing the saxophone.)

In junior high, and maybe some in high school, I had played the piccolo occasionally, which was hilarious, because I could literally carry my instrument in my pocket. This was usually for marching band a few times, but it was fun nonetheless.

Marching band in high school during state fair time (fall of '78, my junior year), but playing flute, not piccolo this time, far left edge of picture. Those uniforms were wool, and along with that overlay, THEY COULD BE VERY HOT ON A WARM DAY. Enough said! My senior year, we got new ones that were a lot more lightweight and comfortable!

Playing downtown in my home town for Christmas time. I'm smack in the middle of the front row, and that's the band director behind me, to the left of me in the photo. He was a good teacher, and I think he put up with a lot from us kids!

I kept up with flute playing through college years as well. Both at a junior college where I studied horse science, and at a four-year liberal arts college where I studied piano performance - and had flute as my secondary instrument - I played in the concert bands. At the four-year college, I also played in flute choir, which was unique and fun. It contained not only piccolo, but also alto flute and bass flute, which I had not encountered until then. The alto flute was like a flute on steroids, same thing but just bigger, with a lower range of notes. The bass flute was even bigger with an even lower note range, and actually doubled back around in the mouthpiece area, looking like a candy cane shape. Really wild. They were a blast to play! Familiar, yet different, and really added depth and harmony to the ensemble.

(If I can scan the photo from the yearbook, I'll add a picture of the flute choir later.)

After college at one point, I enjoyed a little guitar-flute duet playing with a classical guitarist there in my hometown. That was a unique experience, and some pretty neat music. We just played for fun, though, and never ended up performing any of it.

Marriage and family put a pretty severe cramp on all musical endeavors, but I managed to do a little of some things now and then. There were a couple of occasions for flute playing when we did our community cantatas in the spring. But after we moved to Oklahoma, at one point I had to sell my flute, due to finances. That made me sad, it was a nice Gameinhardt, and Dad had bought it for me when I got into playing at college. So I haven't touched or played a flute in YEARS, but I just know if I had the chance, it would all come back very quickly. I would like to try it again, so maybe that will happen in the future. Even though I say it was a love-hate relationship, it was still a lot of fun, and I had a lot of neat experiences with this instrument, sharing music with others.