George and Louke: Flute 101
According to social media, this book has become a new favorite among flute teachers, alongside Rubank This spiral-bound book uses every inch of space, including the areas at the top and bottom of the pages, as well as front and back covers of the book.
Throughout Flute 101 are boxes which provide hints and tips on posture/position, musical terms, musicality suggestions, practice ideas, and warm-ups. There is a fingering chart in the front cover from C1-G3. There is also a guide to numbered suggestions throughout the book covering “Simple Suggestions to Music Phrasing” like sigh figures, dynamics, and strength of the beat concepts. At the very beginning is an intro to the anatomy of the flute, headjoint exercises, and black and white photos on holding the headjoint alone and the full flute. There are also black and white pictures to show hand position and embouchure. Students may experience déjà vu as many exercises, songs, and duets – especially in the beginning – are repeated. As additional notes are learned, more songs and folk songs are done. The book ends for the student on a series of scale and arpeggio reviews, and with several Christmas and Hanukkah duets. For the teacher, there is a guide to aid with vibrato practice, reading notation, using the book, and general flute instruction.
From the Author (Patricia George, in her own words):
Several other things may be of interest. First the flutist starts on the headjoint only, then adds the body while playing with the right-hand on the barrel. Later the footjoint is added. Also all beginning materials are written in chunks---that means playing a few beats and then a rest. Beginning flutists are still on the journey of learning to blow and rests are important to keep the flutist from getting tired and then developing poor position problems. Lastly, there are 13 rules of phrasing that are taught in this book. These are on the back inside cover. These are coded by number into the duets at the end of the book to make application easy for the student and perhaps the teacher. We love the idea of the spiral binding so the book is flat on the stand too.
· Range of notes: C1-G3
· Order of notes is as follows: B1, A1 G1, C2, B2, A2, G2, C2, E1, E2, F1, F2, Bb1 Bb2, D2, Eb2, F#1 F#2, C#2, C#3, Db2, Db3, Ab1, Ab2, G#1, G#2, Bb1/Bb2 alternate fingerings, Eb1, D#1, D1, D3, Eb3, E3, F3, C1, C#1, Db1, F#3, G3
· Rhythms: Whole notes/rests, Half notes/rests, Quarter notes/rests, Eighth notes, Dotted quarter notes, Compound meter, Syncopation, Sixteenth notes, Dotted eighths, Triplets
· Other: Repeats, D.C. al Fine, D.S. al Fine, Fermatas, Tempo, Dynamics, Ties, Slurs, Pick-Up Notes, 1st and 2nd Endings, Single Bar Repeat Sign
· Ends with Christmas and Hanukah Duets.
Extra special thanks to Patricia George at www.fabulousflute.com for use of her own words and adding to this post!
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