Let’s be honest – being a musician can be realllllly expensive. We have to purchase and maintain our instruments, are consistently buying new music, pay to take lessons and classes at school…. not to mention the cost of accessories, going to conferences, and entering/competing in competitions – it adds up quickly!
I’m all about finding free tips, tools, and tricks to help me become a better player, teacher, researcher, and administrator. I figured I would compile a list of blogs and other resources I have found helpful and have used for help with playing or teaching, as inspiration to write my own posts, or just find fun to read!
Not all these resources are currently active, but their archives are still relevant and helpful for today’s flutist! Also as a side note, these are listed in no particular order – all are equally great tools 🙂
This website is worth exploring if you haven’t already! It has a little bit of everything including some articles, fingering charts, a music glossary, and blank staff paper that you can download. My favorite resource on this website, however, is all the free music people have arranged for flute(s). Most of the music (and there is a lot of it) has play-along accompaniment tracks – it’s a great resource to use to practice sight-reading!
This is an online magazine by a bunch of different authors. It features a variety of articles on pretty much everything flute/music/career related – album reviews, new music, considerations for musicians’ health and wellness, interviews with flutists, practice tips, insights regarding different brands of flutes/piccolos, etc. It’s a great resource!
While you are able to access a ton of content for free, a membership ($12.95/year) is required to view some articles in previous issues.
Free PDFs from the National Flute Association
Though this page is titled “Young Member Resources,” you don’t have to be young or a member of the NFA to access these files! This page contains 43 different articles, workshops, guides, games, and other resources on topics ranging from performance anxiety to improvisation and everything in between.
To date, Dr. Heidi Kay Begay has released 254 episodes on her podcast, Flute 360! Dr. Begay often features guests on her podcasts to talk about creativity, building your network and career, and how to navigate life in college – she discusses so many topics! The tagline on her Facebook states the podcast looks “at the flutist from all angles: the human, artist, and musicpreneur” – hence the name Flute 360!
This is the only non-flute specific resource on the list, but it is still super helpful! The Bulletproof Musician was started by Dr. Noa Kageyama, a performance psychologist who currently teaches at Juilliard. His blog posts discuss research that demonstrates how different techniques, mindsets and strategies help us become more effective while practicing and more confident as musicians.
Jennifer Cluff is a Canadian flutist and teacher whose blog features a lot of great teaching and playing tips. Her posts range from how to get rid of throat noises or how to avoid neck tension while playing to breathing strategies, flute transcriptions, and everything in between!
Dr. Geier’s blog posts are fresh, honest, and vulnerable – one of her most recent posts is titled “Confessions of a Struggling Flutist” and shines light on some of the struggles we all face as musicians. Scroll all the way to the bottom of her website to see her archived blogs!
Dr. Angela McBreaty’s blog, Doctor Flute, has a lot of quick and practical tips and tricks for playing. For example, some of her recent posts talk about trills, how to avoid going flat at the ends of phrases, and evening out your registers.
Some of the topics featured on Hannah’s blog include reviews on accessories/gear/technology, and repertoire suggestions. She also has a handful of posts on her day-to-day life when she was a music major in college, which are great for those who are interested in studying music in college!
Similar to the Flute View, the Flute Examiner is an online publication that talks about a variety of topics! You can browse through their current and previous issues for free, and sort the articles by topic if you scroll to the bottom of the site.
Do you know of any other good and free resources for flute that you’d like to share? Let me know in the comments!
