Tuesday, April 21, 2020 by Tori Yaussy | summer lessons

The end of the '19-20 school year is a memorable one, to say the least! I am sorry for all the disruption to my students' learning and everyday lives, especially those graduating and moving on to bigger and better things! 

Now that we are not going back to regular school, here are two updates to round out the year:

1. Last day of online lessons for the school year will be Thursday May 14
2. Summer lessons will begin Tuesday May 26 after Memorial Day weekend! 

Now that everyone is (pretty much) done with placement auditions for next year, we get to do fun flute things! Summer flute lessons are a great opportunity to keep improving your flute playing and also have some fun! With no auditions, solos, or assignments we can explore new areas and I don't know, actually play music for fun??? For high schoolers: the TMEA etudes are posted in July, so we have time to do other things before we crack down on those bad boys. Online lessons make it super easy to schedule throughout the summer, so let me know if you want to sign up! 

Also, if you are craving a little social interaction, feel free to drop in on our FlipGrid! Let me know if you want me to resend your login info. 

Check back often for fun little nuggets of wisdom to keep you INSPIRED during quaran-time. And don't forget about all the resources on MyMusicStaff!

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Tuesday, March 24, 2020 by Tori Yaussy | online lessons

Coronavirus ain't gonna stop us! 

For those of you who are already signed up for online lessons during school closures, here are some important details:

1) Download Zoom and create an account: zoom.us 

2) Add me on Zoom: vtlupinek@gmail.com

3) You will receive an email reminder the day before your lesson that has a link to my "waiting room." You can click on it at your lesson time, and I will let you into my "studio" when I'm ready for ya. 

4) Make sure you are using a computer or laptop. The microphone and speakers are better than on your phone or tablet

5) Use wireless headphones if you can! The sound quality is much better

6) Set up so that you don't have to duck or change your posture to see the screen. That wouldn't be good for your flute playing!

7) Make sure to close the blinds/curtains if there is a window behind you. Otherwise I won't be able to see you! 

8) Also, make sure there is enough light behind your device so that I can see YOU! 

9) Here is an article that will help you optimize your Zoom settings so you have good audio for your lesson. The instructions are towards the bottom of the page:

https://www.ericheidbreder.com/post/the-best-services-and-settings-for-remote-music-lessons-with-step-by-step-instructions

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Please let me know if you have any questions or encounter technical difficulties!

If you haven't already signed up for online lessons and are interested in trying it out, let me know!

If you are getting bored and want me to send you something to do, or something new to practice, also let me know! I am here to help us get through this all in one piece ☺

Here's hoping everyone is doing well and staying safe!

Ms. Lupinek

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Tuesday, September 11, 2018 by Tori Yaussy | Body

A couple weeks ago at the very end of a group lesson, a high school student asked me how I practice. I couldn't possibly answer that question in the short minutes before my next group of students came in! So, I told her I would write a blog post about it. And now I'm finding that it would take many, MANY blog posts to fully answer that question. SO, here it goes! The first entry in a multi-part series on how to effectively practice! 

Stretching

Maybe my high schoolers who I see at 7:20am on Monday mornings think that I start the day with stretching because its early, I'm tired, I'm trying to take up some time in our short 53 minute group lesson. YES, 7:20 is early on a Monday morning, and I haven't had to be at a high school at that time of day since... well, since I was in high school. So maybe yes, I am also a little tired. But I am definitely NOT squandering the very short 53 minutes we have together! 

I explain to my students the importance of stretching before practicing or sitting down for band rehearsal. There are many good reasons:

1) Wake up the body, warmup the body.

2) Bring attention to areas of tension and stretch it out.

3) Counteract some of the negative effects of gravity. Find your best posture. 

4) Alert your body that you are getting ready to go into flute-playing mode and encourage it to act accordingly. 

The great orchestral flutist Jeanne Baxtresser coined the phrase now very common in the music world, "[musicians are] athletes of the small muscles." While we may not be using big muscles to tackle 250-pound linemen on the football field, we are most definitely using our "fine tuner" muscles to make a great sound on our instrument. Here are just a few of those muscles:

1) Lips

2) Tongue

3) Throat

4) Shoulders

5) Chest, intercostal muscles

6) Abs, and all your stabilizer muscles

7) All your arm muscles, plus the tiny muscles in your hands and fingers

8) Every single muscle in the bottom half of your body when you're standing and practicing, or marching on the football field. 

This is definitely something to think about! Athletes don't jump right into practice without warming up their bodies first, so why should we??? 

Here are some of my personal favorite stretches that help me to feel ready to start playing for the day:

1) Scrunch up your face, then open up everything as wide as you can, including your eyes and mouth. 

2) Neck rolls

3) Yawn

4) Neck stretch: Reach over the top of your head with your right arm. Place your right hand on your left ear and gentle pull your head to the right, drawing your head to your shoulder. Repeat on other side. 

5) Big overhead stretch and backbend. Then stretch both sides. Especially the right side, which has a tendency to collapse while we're playing if we aren't conscious of it. 

6) Forward fold

7) Wrist rolls

8) Goal-post arms chest stretch

There you  have it! Just some good, basic stretches are all you need to wakeup and warmup your body, and be ready to make your absolute best flute sound with your first note of the day. Happy stretching! ☺

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