Flute Playing & the Art of Doing Less Volumes One and Two serve as learning resources for all levels of flute players. The two volumes can be used alone, in tandem, or as a reference source that can accompany tone studies, daily exercises, and etude work.
Working with the two volumes of the book will help flute players:
1 learn new skills or new approaches to already developed skills,
2. increase their understanding about how their body work impacts their flute work,
3. gain an understanding of how the flute “works,”
4. develop their sound and sound production skills,
5. develop in-depth problem solving skills,
6. develop their teaching skills.
The first volume addresses the question, “What are the most fundamental and indispensable mechanical actions needed when working with tone production, how can they be most simply understood, and how are they acquired?” Volume One is divided into three parts: breathing, lip work, and tongue work (articulation.) Each of these parts are based on a “Less is More” approach. Using this approach helps flute players to 1. identify and isolate the appropriate action required for completing a “job” and 2. carry out that action out while using a minimal amount of energy.
The second volume addresses the question, “How do our mechanical actions (air, lip, and tongue) most efficiently interact with the acoustic properties of the flute?” Traditional teaching methods and tone-study publications primarily rely on descriptive imagery when presenting goals and instructions for tone work. However, while descriptive imagery can be both inspiring and useful it does not provide learners with clear, sequential steps that have been formed through an understanding of the acoustic nature of the flute. In Volume Two the flute’s acoustic qualities are explained and related to the mechanical skills described in Volume One of Flute Playing and the Art of Doing Less. The result is that a clear and consistent approach can be taken by flute players as they develop their tone-production skills.