by Ernestine Whitman
Every serious flute student will eventually change teachers, often several times during college and post-college years. Usually the change is accompanied by anticipation and excitement, especially when the student is just entering college. However, sometimes this change can be frustrating and confusing. A new teacher has different expectations and often explains concepts in ways that may seem totally opposed to what the previous teacher taught. The idea I'd like to focus on here is that such pendulum swings are necessary and therefore should be welcomed as a sign of progress.
One of the most obvious examples of "the pendulum swing" is the change in approach to fluency in the high register. When a young student first tries to conquer high notes he or she is usually taught, appropriately so, that the aperture must be smaller and she must blow harder, aiming the air across the flute rather than down into it. But more advanced students are frequently too tight in the upper register and must be encouraged to actually relax their embouchures up there (unless playing pianissimo) and to aim the airstream more into the flute to bring the pitch down. The principle, getting control of high notes, is the same; the technique is diametrically opposed.
Another example of "the pendulum swing," and one which can be much more frustrating to students, is the change in emphasis between quantity and quality of material covered. Beginners start with very modest assignments in terms of quantity of material; an advanced high school student is usually learning a lot of music relatively quickly, especially if she is entering competitions. But she gets to college and the teacher wants to focus on developing better breathing, or a bigger sound, or a more flexible vibrato. The student may have several weeks of playing nothing but slow movements, or perhaps just tone exercises. This is a time when students may feel they are regressing; the sense of accomplishment that came from learning a lot of material is gone, and the student must dig deeper to find that sense of satisfaction that comes from taking an aspect of his or her playing to a higher level. The principle of challenging the student is the same; the particular goal is much more subtle. At a later date the pendulum swings again, and the student may balk at being pushed to learn a lot of music if she now wants to perfect every note in terms of sound, pitch, and vibrato. This laudatory attentiveness to detail must now be rewoven into the routine of learning material quickly.
Another example of the pendulum swing is the issue of musicality. In an effort to get students to understand how to shape a phrase, teachers often write big crescendos and decrescendos into the students' music, regardless of the style. At a later stage of development the issues of balance between subphrase and phrase, and larger architectural shape, as well as the differences in the various style periods, may cause a teacher to minimize or even omit those same crescendos and decrescendos. The underlying principle of playing expressively is the same; the particular advice may be the opposite.
In my own playing, I've recently experienced a pendulum swing in my approach to breathing. I was able to study briefly with Keith Underwood a few months ago, and he shifted my focus from abdominal support to expansion of the rib cage. I had always tried to emphasize both concepts in my teaching, but over the years I had let the pendulum swing too far in the direction of "support." I have been amazed by the freer movement of air I experience, now that the pendulum adjustment has been made.
These are but a few examples of the "pendulum swing," and I am sure readers can think of many others, but the important thing for students is to consider is that seemingly opposite advice from a new teacher may well be building on what the previous teacher taught. Such pendulum swings are not only inevitable but are very positive signs of growth.
-Ernestine Whitman
