Coming back to flute after long break...HELP

[Bethneebabe]

Hey all, ::Sighs:: Where to
begin my flute story. Well, I played flute for 8 years and was rated 8th in my
state by the time I graduated high school almost two years ago. But due to
depression, college pressures, and a general feeling in myself that I could
never be a successful flute player I quite. Well, a year and a half later I have
returned to my flute with a new found love and appretiation. I just don''t
know where to go from here or what to do! Anyone else gone through this
situation or have any advice? Thanks a lot!

[AG950Flute]

i think it's great that
you're returning to flute. my senior year of high school after auditioning for
5 music schools and being rejected from all of them i felt i would never succeed
at being a flute player. but, i then found an amazing teacher who believed in me
and never stopped believing that i could become a flute player, and that made
all the difference in the world. i wound up changing schools and am now at a
conservatory so i haven't studied with her for a little over a year and a half,
but she still remains my mentor and is always very positive. i think the most
important thing is to decide what it is that you want to do with your flute, and
then find someone who can help you achieve your goals. a positive teacher and
someone who can enhance your love and appreciation for the flute is crucial.
best of luck and aim for your highest goals and dreams [:)]

[Penny]

If you don't mind the
question. How good were you in HS that you wanted to go on to be a flute major
but schools didn't want you? I mean that in the nicest way. Were you first
chair, in honors bands, all county, all state? Local youth orchestras? Was it
that you hadn't worked hard enough yet? Was it that you hadn't accomplished
what you should have by then? Or was the competition just that stiff? Just
curious what its like after HS. Thanks

[AG950Flute]

was that a question
directed to me? anyway, i'm not offended at all. well....hmmm...in high school
(although it seems like yesterday it's been nearly 4 years since i graduated) i
was first chair in band my freshman and sophomore year and dropped out my junior
year because i was really busy with classes and other extracurricular
activities. i played in 2 youth orchestras, one all through high school and was
asst. principal and one my junior and senior year and was principal my senior
year. i was enrolled in a flute class at a local university and was playing with
college students. a lot of people felt that i was one of the best flutists in my
area. i applied to some big schools, like juilliard, eastman, peabody, indiana
univ, and sf conservatory. i didn't realize what the competition was like.
mostly, i didnt have a teacher that gave me enough a reality check in high
school. like i said, i wound up going to a state college and studied with an
amazing teacher. i've never had a teacher like her and she literally
transformed my playing in the course of a year and a half. and i applied to
music schools again and had a much better end result. i got into longy a
conservatory in boston and CCM (university of cincinnati's conservatory of
music) and was second on the wait list at mannes. now i'm graduating with a BM
from a great school and had a chance to study with a teacher that pushed me
really far technically and emotionally. i'm now ready to pursue my MM and have
applied to 8 schools. and plan on auditioning for several summer festivals as
well as the new world symphony. so, we'll see what happens in the next few
months. anyway....i hope that question for me, or else i just rambled on! [:)]

[embum79]

I was in a similar
situation. I started out as a flute major, but for various reasons, quit. I
still played throughout college, but after graduating took a little break for a
couple years. I just started back into things about 6 months ago. The key is
finding a good teacher. That way you can continue to be motivated about playing.
I hope that I can sometime get back into an emsemble of some sort, but for right
now I'm just concentrating on my playing. Good luck!

[fluteluversmom]

The talk of not being
accepted into music schools and the question after it caught my eye. My
daughters private teacher sat 1st chair all through Jr High and High School. She
won many competitions, allstate etc. She learned how much competition was out
there when she went to college. The school that she is going to only allowed 2
freshman flute players in and she did get in.... but she is not getting the
positions in ensembles or master classes that she did when she was in High
School. She is helping my daughter to enter her 1st big competition this spring
and told me that she thinks it will be a valuable experience to see how many
good players there actually are out there from other schools. Kim

[Penny]

Thanks for your honesty
and all the information. It is always good to take a step back and be reminded
how narrow that pyramid gets near the top. That many very good HS players are
suddenly not good enough when they compete against all the other good HS
players. We always think about it being us that choose the college and not
having to go looking for one that will take us. Sobering. Our school system has
an arts HS where you can major in music performance. They claim it is a big
advantage getting into college. But they are recruiting so who knows how true it
is. Again thanks to all of you that answered.

[AG950Flute]

my opinion on arts high
school is this, there are a lot of them in the country, some are excellent some
of them ok. from my own personal experience the art high schools that are truly
phenomenal and make a good impression for colleges are interlochen and north
carolina school of the arts. i know several people that have attended those
schools and got into almost every school they applied to. also, juilliard and
mannes also have preparatory departments, but don't really know a lot about
those students.