Sharon Bezaly - They call her God's gift to the flute

 
According to every piece I read about old Shazza, she is described as ‘God’s gift to flute playing’. At the age of fourteen incidentally three years after picking up an instrument; Shazza was tooting her flute as a soloist with the Israel Philharmonic. I’ve not long picked up the bongos and I too hope to be mixing it up with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in three years time. Not sure they’ll label me God’s gift to the bongos though... perhaps simply bonkers. Anyway…by all accounts Ms Bezaly is one talented flautist and she has a gold flute to prove it. Having seen her play last year with the Australian Chamber Orchestra I can attest to her technical prowess. To see what Sharon is up to check out her website http://www.sharonbezaly.com/main.htm


Check out some Bezaly magic. Hear her play the Prokofiev Flute Sonata- 4th Movement. Please note that there is only audio available for this one.

What is better than one flute...two of course!

What could be better than a flute? Two flutes!
I wanted to share this wonderful video with you. Two classic flautists and one classic Doppler piece- in parenthesis Jean Pierre Rampal and Julius Baker playing a duet composed by the flute playing brothers themselves the Dopplers. Legend has it that the brothers used to challenge each other to play their flutes upside down and back to front. As any player knows there is something genuinely satisfying when playing a duet. So I encourage you if you haven't in a while, catch up with a flute playing buddy and jam. Hey even try a simple round a la three blind mice.

This Guy can really play!

Suling (Balinese flute) - Flute Ensemble

Balinese Flute

One of my well travelled students who is lucky enough again to be travelling to Bali later this year, inspired me to post some information about Balinese Flutes. Despite owning a menagere of Balinese flutes in my household, I am yet to master this wonderfully simple yet multifaceted instrument.

Made of bamboo, a suling or Indonesian/Balinese flute is usually played in Gamelan ensembles. Unlike the Western hand position, to play the balinese flute you place your right hand at the top and left hand at the bottom. A unique technique of this instrument involves moving your fingers over the holes to create a quivering sound otherwise known as a ngelik. Critcial when playing, is the way in which you alter the air flow through the flute and the way you use vibrato to alter the tone. Generally, the flute is played using circular breathing much like the didgeridoo. There are various varieties, designs and sizes.

For more information and history of Surling follow the following links
http://balaibanjar.blogspot.com/2009/11/balinese-flute.html
http://www.balibeyond.com/gamelanbali.html
http://www.balimusicanddance.com/articles/what-is-a-suling.html

Nina Perlove - The Internet Flutist

Nina Perlove the self described internet flutist, has become somewhat of a cult figure bringing flute music and flute playing to a virtual mass audience. On her You Tube channel she jams with prominent flautists and gives masterlasses on everything from articulation to breathing and sound production. Nina is a fine player and has been instrumental (no pun intended) in bringing the flute to a global online audience. According to Nina, she has had 6 million views of her videos and has recieved attention from all around the world.

If you want the low down on all things flute technique her Youtube channel is a must see. Check out Nina's Real Flute Project here: http://www.realfluteproject.com/web/home.aspx

Subscribe to Nina's You Tube Channel

http://www.youtube.com/user/ninaflute#p/c/FF6C946F383B916C

Alexey Kudrya sings and plays Tamino aria w. flute

This is a multifaceted rendition of the AMEB Grade 4 piece, 'Tamino's Aria' from Mozart's Opera The Magic Flute. Enjoy!

Flute Beatboxing

Since its inception in the early noughties, flute boxing or flute beatboxing as it is otherwise known, is the heady combination of beatboxing whilst blowing air into your flute. Its a little bit oxygen and a little bit percussion.

The ever reliable Wikipedia defines it as, "an innovation in the extended technique of the flute...involving the production of distinct and stereoscopic flute tones (producing two separate sounds by humming while blowing into the flute) combined with vocal percussion and aural prestidigitation (slight-of-ear), flute beatboxing enables the use of the flute as a rhythmic instrument".

Confused? Check this out. This is a video by flute beatboxing pioneer Greg Pattillo (more on him later) with his remix/rendition of Inspector Gadget. This video went viral on the web and has thus been dubbed the coolest thing to happen to flute since Ian Anderson.

I have created a flute boxing glog which serves as both a homage to the pioneers of this evolving technique, as well as a resource for those wishing to flute box their way to stardom. Check it out here.

Welcome to Toot Ya Flute

Hello and welcome to the blog dedicated to all things flute. Here at Toot Ya Flute you will find posts, articles, links and resources relating to the only instrument that matters - the flute. The aim of this blog is to give budding flautists exposure to the diverse nature of flute technique and repertoire as well as a space to celebrate fine flautists and flute fun. Here you'll find articles, glogs, videos and audio of the flute variety which will hopefully satisfy your flute fancy. So in the company of an ever growing online flute fraternity... let the flute tooting begin!