Natalie Morris

Ms. Bennett
MU 252B
February 28th, 2019
Flute Visual and Aural Diagnostic Assessment
Junior High Student:
Ms. Worth is demonstrating several habits that would be detrimental to her success on
flute in the future if they are continued. However, several of these habits can be broken very
easily. The first is her posture. Ms. Worth is slouching in her chair and resting her arm on the
back of the chair. This position does not promote air to flow through the body and flute to
produce the best tone possible, rather, it causes her tone to decline in quality. Ms. Worth should
sit up straight towards the front of her chair and bring her flute to her, rather than coming to it.
She may try sitting in a chair without a back to get used to this feeling of supporting herself and
her flute.
Additionally, Ms. Worth could work on her hand and finger position. Her left hand is
bent at an unnatural angle, which may not be uncomfortable now, but will later cause many
issues. Fixing this now will help her in the future. Her fingers are not curved on the keys of the
flute, causing the notes to be harder to play. If she ever upgrades to a flute that has open holed
keys and still has this poor habit, she will find playing flute impossible. Keeping her fingers
curved and close to the keys will help her agility and ease of motion.
Lastly, a focus on articulation will assist Ms. Worth in creating a better tone quality. She
is demonstrating a solid foundation in how articulation works, but a quick lesson on how to end
notes gently with air rather than articulating will assist not only tone, but also musicality. Ms.
Worth may find different styles of articulation beneficial as well (such as legato, staccato, etc).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHk1TlRm92U

High School Student:

Ms. IHSA is doing well with her musicality and expression in her solo piece. However,
even at this advanced stage, there are a few details to be ironed out.
Currently, Ms. IHSA is moving her fingers very quickly onto the keys with a lot of force.
This is causing an audible clicking sound when she fingers her notes. She should attempt to press
the keys down with less force and think more gently with her fingering to aid in her goals for
smoothness and connectivity. Additionally, she can focus on her technique in her left pinky, as
this finger is completely straight when she plays her flute. Bending this finger will aid in quicker
playing with more ease.
While the overall melodic contour is coming across well in her playing, Ms. IHSA could
do more to make these notes clearer. By slowing down what she is playing in her practice and
concentrating on hitting all the notes (specifically lining up fingers and tongue) the runs in the
piece will become clearer. She should also try breathing deeply rather than on the surface. She
can do this by imagining her air going all the way down to her stomach when she breathes.
Having better breath support will help her achieve the faster passages.
On the note of breath support, Ms. IHSA should work on her airstream when she ascends
into the higher register. She is getting the notes out, but having a faster, more focused airstream
will help improve the tone of the notes in the upper register. Currently, the notes sound slightly
out of tune and breathy. This is especially noticeable when she has a large leap going from a
lower register to a higher register. Faster air is necessary here. Breath support should also be
focused on in the legato section, as overall the tone sounds breathy rather than rich and lush.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efux-f-mRqk