Lip angle -page 67

Buying the book:  The book may be brought online from Jonathan Myall (UK) or Carolyn Nussbaum (USA) or from the Music Room (International Online Music store), and from agents at Amazon UK and Amazon USA. It can also be bought from good flute shops. See the buying page for more details

Details of book:  81 pages, size A4 (11.75 by 8.25 ins), paperback.  ISBN 0-9511240-2-1. Price £16-£20 or $40-$45 US.

Illustrated Fluteplaying Robin Soldan & Jeanie Mellersh
This book will help you play the flute better or learn the flute faster whether you are a beginner or a top player.

If you'r a beginner you'll learn how to hold the flute, how to position your body, how to start the embouchure and you'll get it correct from the very beginning. If you're an expert you can learn more about how to master breathing and vibrato, how to vary the dynamics and much more. It has all been brilliantly analysed and described by Britain's best teacher. No wonder Sir James Galway, Atarah Ben-Tovim and lots of other top players and teachers rave about it. In the words of James Galway "It is a manual no one who is serious about the flute should be without."

Hundreds of beautiful illustrations and crystal clear authoritative text make this a book that you will love. Explore pages of the book on this site and discover what others say about it.. Then buy it for yourself or for an aspiring flute player.

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Links

Sample pages
Downloadable
PDF pages
Endorsements
Review in Pan
About the authors
Contacts page
Buy the book

Flute angle - page 19

Sitting position - page 24

Lip press ups - page 7

Contents: There are two parts. Part 1: Basics. Part 2 more advanced techniques.Details of contents:

Part 1 covers the basics: assembling the flute, cleaning, getting a note, holding the flute, hand positions, shoulders and elbows, tonguing ... everything the beginner needs to know and the serious flute player may like to have an authoritative reminder of.  
Part 2 Covers breathing, dynamics and tuning, vibrato and blowing from an authority on these matters, Robin Soldan..  The book has a comprehensive index helping you to quickly find whatever you are looking for. In addition the memorable pictures help you find the section you need.

Sample Pages and Downloadable PDF Pages. You can get the flavour from the Sample Pages . There is also a complete downloadable section in PDF format for you to view, print, and use as you wish. This gives a taste that we hope will encourage you to buy the complete book.

Review in Pan December 2006. There is a flattering review of the third edition published in Pan, the journal of the British Flute Society. Click here to see a reproduction of the review and for links to Pan and the British Flute Society.

For self instruction: This is the ideal book for self instruction as it really shows you how to do things.  How to hold your flute.  How to practice getting a note.  How to exercise the mouth muscles and so on.  “Clarity is such that this is surely the next best thing to to a personal demonstration from an expert teacher” says Wally Harwood in the Journal of the British Association of Symphonic Bands and Wind Ensembles.

For teaching:  Teachers find this book a wonderful teaching aid.  Whether it is the amusing ideas like rabbit exercises or crystal clear pictures of hand positions, a teacher can turn to a picture and make the point in an instant.  One general woodwind teacher approached Jeanie Mellersh in New Zealand and almost fell on her neck “This book saved my life!” , she said.  She was a clarinetist working as a general woodwind teacher and she found the book a lifesaver when she came to teach the flute.  

Experienced flute teachers love it too.  Lesley Hatcher, one of the most successful flute teachers of school-age children, said "From the very first lesson to Grade 8 and beyond, I have yet to find a pupil who has not benefited from these brilliant illustrations and the authority of the text .....Who would have thought a guide could be so informative and yet so amusing.  Even students beyond Grade 8 are happy to start sessions with "rabbit exercises" and "hamster cheeks". I cannot praise it enough.  It is my flute teaching bible!"

For advanced techniques. Robin Soldan is an acknowledged expert in dynamics, tuning and the art of breathing. He has succeeded in analysing what he does and this book shows it all in clear text and informative pictures,

For pleasure: This is a lovely book full of artistic and amusing drawings. Most people who own it cherish it.

As a gift: Every flautist from beginner to expert would like this book as a gift.

Explore the sample pages and discover for yourself.

Tortoise neck page 23

Three controls - page 14

Rabbit exercise - page 6