Challenge

dancingflutist3000 · Post by **dancingflutist3000** » Thu Jan 22, 2004 10:33 pm

In band, we are now working on playing the F scale and
arpeggio and I''m going to level with you...it''s NOT CHALLENGING! I want
more challenging things to work on and work for, but I can hardly go up to my
band director, who has enough work to do, and ask her,"I want music." How to I
find out about any special bands or contests that I can enter to play in. Also,
can anyone suggest pieces of music for a player of about 2 1/2-3 years?

sakuramimato · Post by **sakuramimato** » Fri Jan 23, 2004 4:05 am

I can help find some Honor Band or others around your state
if you could specify. Also, don't be afraid to ask your instructor to lend you
some music (if they're original copies) or run some off for you. They'll get
the impression that you're a student interested in music, and I'm sure she'd
love to assist you in your musical aspirations. If you have any colleges or
universities around your place that have a solid music program, chances are that
they have annual musical events that you can try-out for (like in California,
Pasedena City College Tournament of Roses Honor Band). To challenge you a bit
since you've been playing for almost three years, why not get the 12 major
scales down through memory (arpeggios added or not) then start onto minor scales
(natural, harmonic, melodic). And on piece recommendation, I would suggest
purchasing Concert and Contest Collection for C Flute compiled and edited by H.
Voxman (published by Rubank/Hal-Leonard). I was pretty lazy with learning it
last year (3 years of playing, around your level), so I didn't really get much
done. These pieces focus on many different elements and vary in difficulty, etc.
Also, they're usually audition pieces for many specialty bands, so you might
want to take a look. Happy fluting!

fluteluversmom · Post by **fluteluversmom** » Fri Jan 23, 2004 9:34 am

Hi~ You could check the NFA (National Flute Association)
website. They have lists of different flute choirs and ensembles etc. Also, I
don't know where you live but we have the UMFA (Upper Midwest Flute
Association) here which is a smaller group similar to NFA and you may have
something like that in your area that will sponser local contests and flute
choirs etc. You could try a Google search to find flute group information for
your area too. I agree with working on memorizing your scales and arpeggios.
They come in very handy when it comes to auditions. Another book that you might
enjoy would be Master Solos Intermediate Level by Gary Sigurdson. Hope this
helps

Kim

Cleartone · Post by **Cleartone** » Fri Jan 23, 2004 12:46 pm

Ha Ha, I like your attitude. are you talking about a high
school concert band here? I find it strange that the director is making everyone
play the F scale together with an arpeggio. Remember that F for you is not F for
everybody else. (what is the drum section doing?) This scale maybe just a safe
one the director feels everyone can play together. This may be an idea of the
directors' to get everyone on the same page. You know, playing together.
judging from your attitude you are more interested in yourself than the band.
You are not the band and the band is not just you. On your own time you can
challenge yourself by finding more challenging sheet music or other groups of
people to play with. If you don't like the band your in, quit. As far as pieces
out there I would suggest you go to a good sheet music store or the library and
look for some music that "interests" you. If you have a good library you can
borrow the music. I used to do what libraries call inter-library loan. You can
actually borrow sheet music from another library in another city with the
permission of your own library. This came in handy while studying scores of
unique composers. This also sets you up with more sheet music for the flute than
you are going to need. Perfect! Some of the simplist music is the best

dancingflutist3000 · Post by **dancingflutist3000** » Fri Jan 23, 2004 9:27 pm

Thanx for all the great ideas! Also I meant F concert scale
and arpeggio. The drummers keep a steady beat when we as a band do scales. Also
I can't 'just quit band'. Because I love it! It may be boring sometimes but
sometimes it can be fun and challenging. Not to mention if I don't do band in
middle school, high school band isn't an option. Also band is an acedemic class
on my report card and like math and social studies, I can't just drop the class
if I want to.