Talking Flutes‪!‬ Jean-Paul Wright & Clare Southworth

Do you cause your own performance, practice and goal setting problems?
In Talking Flutes Bitesize podcast this week, Jean-Paul briefly looks at the importance of getting out of our own way to succeed in our musical life.
Many of us have faced situations in our lives where we have felt stuck, unable to move forward or achieve our goals. Sometimes, the biggest obstacle standing in our way is ourselves. We often hold ourselves back with limiting beliefs, negative self-talk, and fear of failure. In this podcast, we will explore the importance of getting out of our own way and the strategies we can use to achieve success.
'Talking Flutes', 'Talking Flutes Extra' and 'Bitesize' are podcast productions by the TJ flute company.  For more information visit www.tjflutes.com 

Bringing Berio's Sequenza to Life!
This week on Talking Flutes, Clare and Jean-Paul will be addressing additional questions sent in by podcast listeners.
To cultivate and enhance your musical growth, it is crucial for you to consistently venture beyond classical music and delve into the diverse music of other cultures and styles. The profound impact of this exhilarating exploration into different rhythms, melodies, and musical expressions on your own music and interpretation cannot be underestimated.
Do not confine yourself to being solely a flute player. Embrace the essence of being a musician!
Talking Flutes, Talking Flutes Extra and Bitesize pods are podcast productions by the TJ flute company.  For more information visit www.tjflutes.com 

As musicians, we all want to deliver the best possible performance, but sometimes nerves or distractions can get in the way.
Creative visualisation is a technique that involves using mental imagery to create or recreate experiences in our minds. By visualising a particular scenario or outcome, we can help prepare ourselves for it and increase the chances of it happening in reality.  Creative visualization is a powerful tool that can help us overcome inner obstacles and give us an additional tool to ensure that we have the chance to perform at our best.
 
One of the key benefits of creative visualisation is that it can help build confidence in our abilities as musicians. By visualising ourselves performing at our best, we can create a positive mental image of ourselves as capable and skilled musicians. This can be especially helpful for musicians who struggle with self-doubt or negative self-talk.
When we believe in ourselves and our abilities, we're more likely to take risks and perform with conviction.
Another way to use creative visualisation is to mentally rehearse challenging performance situations. For example, if you're nervous about playing a solo in front of an audience, you could visualise yourself playing the solo flawlessly and receiving a positive response from the audience. By doing this, you're preparing your mind and body for the actual performance and increasing your chances of success.
Visualisation can also be used to improve our physical technique on our instrument. By mentally rehearsing difficult passages, we can help train our muscle memory and make it easier to execute those passages accurately and effortlessly. This can be especially helpful for musicians who struggle with tension or physical discomfort while playing.
In addition to using visualisation on our own, we can also use it in collaboration with our teachers or coaches. For example, a coach might guide us through a visualisation exercise that helps us overcome a specific technical challenge or mental block. Alternatively, a teacher might ask us to visualise ourselves performing a piece in a particular style or with a specific musical expression, helping us to better understand the musical intent and communicate it through our playing.
When using creative visualisation, it's important to make the mental imagery as vivid and detailed as possible. Try to engage as many senses as you can - imagine the feel of the instrument in your hands, the sound of the music, the sensation of the stage lights, and so on. The more vivid the mental image, the more effective the visualisation will be.
It's also important to practice visualisation regularly, ideally incorporating it into your daily practice routine. This will help you build up a strong mental image of yourself as a confident and skilled musician, and make it easier to access that mental state when you need it during a performance.
One of the main benefits of creative visualisation is that it can help reduce anxiety and nerves before a performance. If we can mentally rehearse the scenario and feel confident in our abilities, we're much more likely to feel calm and collected when the time comes to perform. Visualisation can also help us develop a sense of control over the situation, which can be especially helpful in high-pressure performance situations. In the case of musicians, this might mean visualising ourselves performing flawlessly on stage or nailing a difficult passage in a piece we're working on.
But creative visualisation isn't just about reducing anxiety. It can also help us improve our technical skills and musicality. By visualising ourselves playing a piece with perfect technique and musical expression, we're training our brains to recognise and replicate those qualities in our actual playing.
 
Visualisation can also help us identify areas where we may need to focus our practice, such as difficult technical passages or tricky musical phrases.
Another benefit of creative visu

Yes you too can fall in love with playing the piccolo!
This week on Talking Flutes, Jean-Paul speaks with Egor Egorkin, the Principal Piccolo player of the Berliner Philharmonika.
In this insightful episode, Egor speaks about the process of creating a balance of pitch and emotion, how practicing whistle tones can really help your piccolo practice,  and the importance of finding the right colour in the intonation process.  
For Egor, being constantly curious with the piccolo and searching for new sounds, colours and feelings keeps him excited about the instrument.
Talking Flutes and Talking Flutes Bitesize are podcast productions by the TJ flute company.  For more information visit www.tjflutes.com 

Creativity is a key component of human experience. It enables us to approach problems and challenges in unique and innovative ways, to see the world from different perspectives, and to express ourselves through various forms of art and self-expression. Unfortunately, many of us believe that creativity is a rare talent reserved for artists and musicians, or that it's something we're born with or without. However, research shows that creativity is a skill that can be cultivated and developed over time. In this Talking Flutes bitesize pod we will briefly explore some of the strategies and techniques for unlocking our inner creativity and cultivating a creative mindset.
Talking Flutes, Talking Flutes Extra and 'Bitesize' are podcast productions by the TJ flute company.  For more information visit www.tjflutes.com 

Memory, tablet or sheet music?
Do you need to study music theory or can you focus solely on your practice?
In 'Talking Flutes' podcast this week, Clare and Jean-Paul begin a 5 part discussion around many questions which have been sent in by listeners over the past few months.
Follow us on social media at FB and IG @talkingflutes and please give us a 'Like' and a rating on whatever podcast provider you're listening to this on.  After nearly 6 years of doing this very popular weekly podcast, we still need your help in getting these pods out to an even bigger audience. 
'Talking Flutes', 'Talking Flutes Extra' and 'Bitesize' are podcast productions by the TJ flute company.  For more information visit www.tjflutes.com