Dear friends,
Now that you been working with your Magic mirror that tells all I would
like to discuss: FlYING FINGERS".
Correct hand position is a MUST.
This you cannot cheat on. I am sure your teachers have been over the years
telling you how to hold your flute correctly. There are many books that show
photos, many articles and my own letters that will discuss in detail the
absolute correct position for holding and playing the flute.
We all have different size hands, some of us have very small fingers. My
fingers, for instance are longer than when I first started playing at the
age of 10.
When I was around 15 I got a very good teacher. She taught me how to really
be conscious in regard to my hand position. It was a very hard thing to
change . It felt very uncomfortable. I remember standing in front of my
mirror at home and holding an orange in the palm of my hand to try and get
my right hand away from ' the "Droopy Syndrome." That is when your right
hand is not pushing the flute from behind but when it hangs off and your
thumb sticks way out.
We shall discuss this also in another letter.
It seemed, like I had to change so much at that time. I felt a bit
depressed.
But, I remember that there was one simple thing I could do: That was to
keep my fingers closer to the keys when I played.
So I kept working on that. Caressing the keys, making sure that when I
lifted my fingers they stayed as close as I could manage to the keys. A bit
curved, not straight in the air. Then it happened, I could play faster and
easier. My fingers looked like they were working very easily. When you have
Flying Fingers, you are working too hard. You use up energy and will never,
ever get a good technique.
So the Thought for today is" NO FLYING FINGERS!"
Stay close to the keys , caress your flute like you love it and you will
see, the magic will happen for you too!
Your friend,
