Talking Flutes

What it's like to be told you'll never play the flute again!   In 'Talking Flutes' this week, Jean-Paul and Clare talk about the devastation that Coronavirus has impacted on the arts and music in particular.  Clare also opens up about the loss and grief that she has felt since being told by the Doctors that she will never be able to play the flute again!  They also talk about taking time out to 'r...

Recharging our inner batteries with the same effort as we do our mobile phones! How guided mediations can lead you on a journey to new focus and relaxation. This week Jean-Paul takes a different route with 'Talking Flutes' Extra as he looks at meditation with music and guided meditation with voice.  With tracks from www.thehappyflutist.com  website, he shows us that just by taking 10 minutes a day...

To the frustrated few, it's an "evil twig and to non flute players it is affectionately referred to as firewood.   The piccolo however in the right hands can be one of the most beautiful instruments to listen to. "Playing the high register on the piccolo is totally down to our familiarity with playing up there.  You must think of the timbre of the note and not just squeeze and hope". This week on...

Flute teachers and students are both learners which is why teachers also need to be constantly learning how to teach, and when to pass their students on.  This week in 'Talking Flutes', Clare muses about music teaching after a long hot walk along the beach near her Sussex home. If you'd like to send us any flute or music related questions for use on future podcasts, then we'd be happy to hear from...

"Be happy to break boundaries for the love of your instrument...' "I didn't choose the flute, it chose me" Recorded before the Covid lockdown in the UK and social distancing introduced, this week on 'Talking Flutes Extra' Jean-Paul catches up in a noisy London coffee house with musician, flutist, soloist, teacher, Chair of the British Flute Society, Lisa Nelsen. 'Talking Flutes' and 'Talking Flute...

Listening is not just listening?  How deep are you listening and how are you listening?   How to be in tune with the rhythmic pulse when you are layering and creating music with another player.  in 'Talking Flutes Extra' podcast this week, Emmy and Grammy award winning musicians José Valentino and Gualo give listeners an interactive lesson on how to layer during an improvisation. 'Talking Flutes'...

"The best in the world at what he does...- NY Times" "if Mozart was around today, he would definitely be a 'cat', and most definitely playing Ibiza" and "...all musicians should have a seat ate the improv table and learn to improvise in a loving way." In 'Talking Flutes Extra' this week. Jean-Paul gets some 'Beatboxing' tips from the one only Greg Pattillo.  With over 100m YouTube views, Greg has...

"The self destructive nature of my inner judgement" This longer than usual podcast splits naturally in to two parts.  The opening dialogue between Jean-Paul and flute player / author Elsa Nilsson speaks about her profound despair at lockdown.  The second part is hard hitting, honest and open where Elsa speaks about  "...deserving to like myself..." and how for many years, she was using her music a...

'Jethro Tull', 'Moody Blues', 'Focus' and many other rock and pop influences. "Sometimes formal music training can dent or inhibit creativity." This week in 'Talking Flutes' Clare speaks about her early pop and rock influences and how it has shaped her music career. We love to hear from you and if you have any comments or thoughts on a future podcast that we should do, then you can get in touch wi...

"Metronomes and tuning machines should be banished to outer space.." This week I have a really special treat for you as this time Paul Edmund-Davies can’t escape this WhatsApp call with Jean-Paul.  A very special musician, soloist, author, teacher, educator, wine and champagne connoisseur and seriously nice guy. He established his international reputation as flautist and soloist in the 20 years th...

"Its the energy of love that propels you in your musical journey" and "How to perform confidently with joy and not suffering..." This week on 'Talking Flutes Extra' Jean-Paul talks via WhatsApp to flute player, teacher and acclaimed performance anxiety coach Helen Spielman about her wonderfully insightful book 'A flute in my refrigerator'.  During the podcast Helen also answers and gives helpful e...

"When we play music, to be truly effective in communication, we have to take on the character of the pieces we are performing" This week on 'Talking Flutes Extra' Jean-Paul speaks with Dr Cate Hummel from her lockdown home in the USA about her popular 'Flute Tips' online blog, and discuss areas such as practice nerves, vibrato and the 3rd octave. 'Talking Flutes' and 'Talking Flutes Extra' are pod...

"It's impossible to lie through the nose", "Its so important that you treat every day as a gift", playing the flute on a camel in front of the pyramids and the power of communicating through your whole body. Just a few of the wonderful subjects that are covered in this joyful 'Talking Flutes Extra' podcast with Viviana Guzmán.  Described by the New York Times as “an imaginative artist,” Chilean-bo...

"The flute gives me the bravery to become somebody else on stage"   In 'Talking Flutes Extra' coronavirus lockdown podcast this week, Jean-Paul talks to one of the finest flute players in the world, the fabulous Jasmine Choi from her home in Austria. They speak about what it's like to be 'Jasmine Choi' and the attention it brings as she spends her life flying around the world, her early years stud...

Three simple things for you to do with your flute during 'lockdown' In this bonus 'lockdown' episode, Clare gives three very simple exercises to add some spice in to your music making whilst you are in an enforced stay home period. Please send in your questions or subject matter for future podcasts to flutepodcasts@gmail.com 'Talking Flutes' and 'Talking Flutes Extra' are podcast productions by th...

Creating routine during the Coronavirus lockdown is the key to coming out the other side stronger.  In 'Talking Flutes' this week, Clare speaks remotely with Jean-Paul about the importance of keeping yourself mentally and physically in shape, creating a daily routine, binge watching Box Sets on Netflix and growing vegetables. 'Talking Flutes' and 'Talking Flutes Extra' are podcast productions by t...

"Let's embrace the sound of the flute...we're not trumpet players!" In the 'Talking Flutes Extra' Coronovirus Survival podcast this week, Jean-Paul talks to one of the world's busiest flute players Stephen Clark about his fabulous new interactive tutor book 'The Flute Gym' and why you should all have a copy.  We also discuss the fact that nobody should think they can sell you a flute...the flute f...

Use the lockdown as an opportunity to look at music and other areas of our life that we didn't have time to before. In 'Talking Flutes' this week, Clare speaks about the joy of being able to listen to more music during these strange times and how we really can use this to help us to navigate our way during these testing times. During the podcast she lists the many flute players wish should take th...

Life as a flute player inside the Paris lockdown In 'Talking Flutes Extra' this week, Jean-Paul speaks via Messenger app from his own London Covid-19 'Lockdown' to Paris based musician and flute professor Mihi Kim about how she has survived and worked through the first two weeks of hers in Paris. During the podcast Mihi gives some really interesting tips about how to practice silently if you’re lo...

You can only achieve your goals with if you have a plan and truly believe you can achieve them! in 'Talking Flutes' this week, Clare spills the beans on being "an expert in self doubt and self worth" and how in her successful career as a flute player, Flute Professor and author, she has managed to overcome the inner negativity which affects so many musicians.  An enlightening podcast intertwined w...

When you break open your old mindset, you'll find anything is possible. In 'Talking Flutes Extra' this week, Jean-Paul talks to NY based electric flutist and author Melissa Keeling about how the unique 'Glissando' flute headjoint, and the new tutor book on it that she has just written.  How it can open up so many more performance possibilities especially when paired with looping and effect pedals....

"The biggest low I ever had was dealing with rejection....it's how you deal with them thats the key to really moving forward" This week we get to know some of co-presenter Clare Southworth's highs and lows of being a successful flute player, especially as a student and then as a freelance musician and finally as a Flute Professor and author. "It's totally natural to have fluctuations in success an...

The new female "Springsteen flutist?!" "I'm not interested in being put in a performance box.  We have to have a relationship with rhythm which is not just the melody..." In 'Talking Flutes Extra' this week Jean-Paul speaks with new York based Elsa Nilsson about her new album 'Hindsight' which is based around social issues composed from her feelings of turmoil over subjects such as the election of...

A genius of a multi-instrumentalist, if there is a top London show or recording session, then Andy Findon will be one of the first names on the orchestral list! In 'Talking Flutes' this week, Clare catches up with Andy for the first time in ages via Skype and talks about all things flutey! 'Talking Flutes' and 'Talking Flutes Extra' are podcast productions sponsored by the Trevor James Flute Compa...

"Surround yourself with people who inspire you...Be original and be yourself as let's face it, nobody can be a better you than you!" In 'Talking Flutes Extra' this week, Jean-Paul is at an outside café enjoying a double espresso on a warm evening in Santa Monica, California with flutist and social media influencer Gina Luciani. During the podcast, which has some 'happy' interruptions by a constant...