This was a really difficult video to organize my thoughts well. I'd been wanting to talk about this subject for a while, as I have been finding myself constantly preparing students for auditions since the spring!

The hardest thing to hear from my students is, "I HAVE to win." But... do you? Back a few months ago, I stunned a student into silence when I responded with, "But what if you don't win? What happens to you? Nothing, right?"

Ever since then, I've been trying to figure out my own thoughts about auditions. I used to hate them because I felt like I couldn't control them. Now, I don't hate them anymore (granted, I still don't like them, haha!)... but for the exact same reason: I can't control the outcome. I've come to the conclusion that if I can't control it... then why bother trying to control it? It's been incredibly liberating since then, and I wanted to share that liberation with everyone. :)

Happy auditioning!
-Joanna

This was a delightful surprise!! I'm absolutely certain that I'm not the first person to come up with this practice technique, but it was cool to stumble on a new (to me) way to practice technique! Who knew that my piano background would help me like this on the flute??

Practicing regularly really makes me a better teacher--I don't stay stagnant in how I see practicing and the flute, and I always have new things to share with my students! It keeps me humble and grounded. It's surprisingly difficult to carve out time to practice when you actually do this for a living (ironic, isn't it?), but I encourage all teachers out there to do so! It really helps enrich your professional work. :)

Hope you guys try this out, happy practicing!

-Joanna

Curiously, this topic was brought up a lot this week in various parts of my life. I had a few comments on my last video that talked about this, and a few of my students raised some questions about sustainability as a musician. I have thought through this topic for a long time and have created boundaries for myself that have helped me feel like I am working a sustainable career, so why not talk about it?

That being said, it was really difficult to figure out how to talk about this topic. It took until I chatted about the topic with my family, friends, and Patreon patrons to figure out a way to organize my thoughts in an understandable and cohesive way.

I'd love to make another video about my thoughts on my worth as a musician. I actually broached the topic a bit while shooting this video, but never made any conclusion about it, so it was ultimately cut from the video. That's a whole other can of worms for another Saturday video. :)

Let me know your thoughts! Would love to continue this discussion with you guys. :)

​-Joanna

That bad tone day was ROUGH.

The hardest part about figuring out your tone on a bad tone day is getting over the feeling that EVERYTHING you're trying feels alien and weird and not at all what you're used to feeling on the flute. You try what feels right, and it doesn't work. You try an extreme of what's right... and it feels wrong, but sounds right.

UGH.

It turned out to be a great experience though, because I had a light bulb moment about what could be happening with some of my students. I realized I had COMPLETELY forgotten about my teachers teaching me to drop and relax my jaw. It had become so normal that I took it for granted! I've already started to make the rounds with my students now concerning this issue, and I'm excited to see where this takes us. 

The only bad part about bad tone days is the tone. More good came out of this than bad, and I'm good with that. :)

​-Joanna

To be truthful, we went into making this video without a clear idea of exactly how it would turn out. We just knew that we wanted to walk you guys through what to expect when shopping for flutes without a certain budget. We knew we still didn't want to compare instruments from different companies because there are far too many differences to compare, so we stayed in one company.

The great side effect of this was that you can actually experience the history of the company behind the flutes! It was really fun to see what types of sounds and tone colour were probably trending at the time these flutes were released. Who's to say that someone right now isn't looking for a sound that was trending a few decades ago? That's why it's important to look at used flutes as well as new. :)

Hope you guys enjoy the video! :D
​-Joanna

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Haynes Commercial Model Flute #15099

Haynes Handmade Flute #37581

Haynes Handmade Flute #48353

Haynes Classic Flute Model Q1

FCNY - JAF Discount
- Free shipping
- 10 day trial
- 18 month warranty
- 3 instruments on trial at a time

FCNY Music - JAF Discount
- 10% off your entire order

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**Huge thanks to the Flute Center of New York for sponsoring this video!
**Prices listed in this post as of July 2019, subject to change.
**Full transparency: I do earn a commission on each instrument and sheet music purchased from FCNY using my code "JAF". :) Thank you for the support!

I've never seen a flute barrel that uses a different metal combination than the rest of the body! I love it--it looks really cool, as well as having an awesome effect on the sound. Thank you for sending it my way, FCNY! :)

I finally put on a different lens other than my ultra-wide. XD I have been in "lazy vlogger" mode for the past few months while I've been wedding planning, and it feels great to have more energy to play around with filming again. I've come to realize that it's really okay to slip into some phases in life where you don't have as much energy to devote to things you normally love doing. When the thing that you're dealing with is over, you can always come back. :) It might sound weird, but having enough time to even switch out the lens feels like coming home.

Without further ado, I hope you guys enjoy this review. It was particularly fun to explain more of what's going on in my head when I review flutes. Let me know what you guys think!

Love you guys, see you next week!
-Joanna

--

Sonare 905 by Powell

FCNY - JAF Discount
- Free shipping
- 10 day trial
- 18 month warranty
- 3 instruments on trial at a time

FCNY Music - JAF Discount
- 10% off your entire order

Like the Flute Center of New York on Facebook!
Follow the Flute Center of New York on Twitter!
Follow the Flute Center of New York on Instagram!

Contact the Flute Center of New York
About ClubFCNY

**Huge thanks to the Flute Center of New York for sponsoring this video!
**Prices listed in this post as of July 2019, subject to change.
**Full transparency: I do earn a commission on each instrument and sheet music purchased from FCNY using my code "JAF". :) Thank you for the support!

I'm not exaggerating when I say that it was quite by accident that I found this way of wording, "Mistakes are welcome." For a long time, I thought that if I actively encouraged students to be okay with making mistakes in front of me that I was an ineffective teacher. I find that there is this pervasive thought in most of my students that if someone fears making a mistake that they are less likely to make it.

I actually find the opposite to be true. The more you fear a mistake… the more it's a self-fulfilling prophecy. You keep imagining you will make the mistake. You keep thinking about making mistakes. So what does your brain do? It does what it keeps thinking about. It makes mistakes.

Ironically, I have found that when you make mistakes something that is not to be feared, the brain then just sees it as an option, not a forbidden thing. When it's an option, your brain then has the ability to choose what it wants to do. Choice is a powerful thing. It's kind of what makes the brain a very cool thing. We can choose what we want to do, we can forge our own path in life. Mistakes are a part of making choices, and it's great to make mistakes if we also learn from them.

So stop beating yourself up. Mistakes are welcome. :)

​-Joanna

It's a very strange thing to be the person on one end of the lesson watching the other person work at something, accomplish it, and then… say they can't do it. I've actually seen this happen before my wedding hiatus, but I noticed it far more after I'd been away for a while. It has BOGGLED my mind for a long time, and I finally made a breakthrough last week!

Turns out, my students are such go-getters that they focus too much on what they can't do, versus what they just did. The weirdest part is that they all have very positive goals for their practicing, but when they are actually in the act of practicing, all these negative thoughts are getting in the way. It's very strange to be so consciously in control of your thoughts to steer them in a more positive direction, but let me tell you… the difference in their playing was immediate and huge!

So guys… yes, work hard, but don't beat yourself up. Beating yourself doesn't do anything to build yourself up to be the best that you can be--it takes you further away from that. Build yourself up with positive reinforcement. You've got this. :)

-Joanna