Definition of a Masterclass

My idea of a master class is to give the participants my view on making music and to help the participating students to make better music when they play as well as becoming better executants on the stage or in an orchestra.

This is what I try to achieve in a one day masterclass and it is very difficult to do in a short time. It is for this reason I like to spend time, at least and hour with each participating student.

In the case of the class being a week long I take the auditors and active students through a daily warmup which includes singing, scales, vibrato, tone development, studies and velocity. This all occupies the first hour or so of the morning. We then get on to teaching individuals and when the piece is not too demanding I will ask the entire class to play a part of it in order to understand a musical point.

In the middle of the week I will play a recital just to give them some idea of how to do it. I think it is most important for a teacher to play the pieces and studies that are being played by the student. I can hear everyone saying that would be teaching them to copy. Well I wish every student of Mr. Baker, who always played in his lessons, could play as well as he did. I am sure they would agree with me too.

Let me make a few points here to give you some idea why I do all this.

Singing. Why teach singing? If you cannot sing how can you relate to singing? We learned in school in Belfast how to sing and and I think it is one of the strongest cornerstones of my music making. I would love to have singing lessons. Here I would urge every music student to take singing as a second study or have some lessons from a friend who is a singer.

Scales. The whole-food of music. You can sightread better if you know your scales and arpeggios. Your performances will be more solid too. I personally do not play the Moyse scales or the Taffanel but have developed a method of scales which has brought my own playing to another plane.

Vibrato. Control of vibrato helps your musical expression. Learn is and you suddenly have a multicolored palette to use in your playing.

Tone Development. Through a series of exercises I have written I can help you develop your tone and a flexible embouchure. I no longer play "long tones" as I find my mind wanders just at the thought. I have developed a series of exercises which has given me a greater control and flexibility.

The studies I use are written by Boehm and Taffanel. I use the Boehm 12 studies and 24 Caprices. the Taffanel studies are the 24 studies in all major and minor keys and the 12 Virtuoso studies found in the complete Method.

Velocity. How to get the most out of your technique. I think too much is spoken of playing things slowly. how about playing at a reasonable intelligent speed? I also have some good exercises for getting a better control of the right hand in the lower octave and of getting the most out of the high notes.

Now I know you are all going to ask when I am going to do a class. so here it is.

In August I will host a class for a week in Switzerland between the 8th through 14th of September. The details will appear soon on my flute chat. The active participants will be required to play one Boehm and one Taffanel study as well as a piece of their choice.

I am also considering a class in the USA in August 2005 but this is still in the think tank.

Best wishes,
James Galway