I believe that anyone can learn to achieve greatness when they are given the space and motivation to discover their own game plan for success.

I believe that learning should be exploratory. We learn the best when we feel safe to try, fail, and try again. Learning is not a straight line or a yellow-brick road pointing clearly to the Land of Oz. Learning is walking barefoot through the woods with nothing but a compass and a canteen for survival. We are meant to fall. We are meant to walk down the paths that may not look inviting at first but turn out to be clever short cuts to awesome worlds. When we allow ourselves the space to explore, we often learn what to do and what not to do. The greatest lessons I have ever learned in life happened when I was given permission, either by myself or others, to try something out without judgment. If it works, it works. If not, make a note, and try a new approach or try again later armed with more knowledge and experience than before. I believe exploration is how we find our own unique voice and the trail leading to lasting success.

I grew up as a tree farmer’s daughter in rural Northern Idaho. Nobody ever expected me to be great at anything. Normal was the goal – Although I had no idea what normal meant. I did not have a lot of resources, but I was surrounded by constant love and support from a large family that valued laughter, peace, and of course a decent plate of mashed potatoes. When I found music, greatness found me, and I suddenly entered this strange and wonderful new world where I was thriving 24-7, which surprised many people. I took any skepticism as an opportunity to show folks that I was the real deal and totally unbreakable. When you know who you are, and what you love, skepticism falls flat. Love for what you do is stronger than judgement.

I arm my students with a toolbox of techniques. One technique may work really well for one student while another may resonate perfectly with another. Students are asked to try all of the tools in the toolbox to find the ones that work best under different performance scenarios. One of my most popular tools is called Feet Beats. Sometimes we lose where the beat is because we are so focused on where the fingers need to fall. Marching while playing helps us find the beat in our feet. And our feet can tell no lies! If you notice that your feet are in one tempo and your fingers are in another, it is time to bring both to the family table. Agree on a tempo that works for your fingers, your feet, and of course, your brain. Students love this technique because they become their own teacher (and, of course, enjoy marching all around the studio).

I encourage my students to enter all the competitions and masterclasses available to them. I firmly believe in Action TNT (today not tomorrow). Competitions and masterclasses offer valuable opportunities to challenge ourselves, face our limitations, strategize new plans of attack for next time, and rinse and repeat until we meet our goals or transform them into something completely different. This is how we find each student’s idea of grit. Grit means rolling up your sleeves, giving impossible dreams a go, learning from your falls, and picking yourself up by your bootstraps again until you master whatever challenge lays ahead.

In my studio, students are introduced to a number of different techniques, such as marching and playing, buzzing, whistling to practice vibrato, magic trill exercises, crazy loud yet effective finger breath exercises, and creative listening assignments to determine which techniques are helpful and which are stressful. I often ask my students for their High, Low, Through the Snow. Here they must identify one thing that was awesome in their playing, one thing they can work on, and how they may go about approaching their goals to make it through the hypothetical snow (which this Northern Idaho native knows all too well).  This gets the creative neurons firing on all cylinders and initiates the deep dive into our toolbox of techniques. And remember, snow melts! Challenges, like snow, do not last forever. We just need a good shovel!

Students perform for each other in regular studio masterclasses and mock auditions. Other students are encouraged to offer at least one positive thing about each performance and one thing that we can work on. And we all work on those things together! The element of competition is taken out of competitions in my studio. We support each other to show our very best and celebrate each other’s wins, often with a Snap Cup – Offering snaps for all our wins no matter how big or small. Celebrating wins encourages more wins and more opportunities to strut our flute-playing stuff! Dr. G’s Flute Studio is fun, fierce, and at all times, fabulous!