let me show you a little sumthing sumthing. today i taught. today i passed on my knowledge of the flute to someone who had never played one before. today i was a flute teacher. you ask of course, "jon what do you know about the flute that qualifies you as a flute teacher?" and of course i would say, "nothing." because quite honestly, even though i've played the flute for many years, and i've been around flutes recently, i know nothing about the flute. but here i was, being asked to teach a ten year old girl how to play flute. i refused of course, because i felt like if you wanted a child to learn something, especially something like music, you should look for the best of teachers. the teachers with knowledge, experience and passion for the subject. and i have none of those things.



but i allowed myself to be coerced into teaching. and i didn't mind it, because i like the kids, but i saw my role as more of a glorified babysitter who happened to be teaching some flute. and so at four pm today i put my flute together, checked to make sure it was in good working order, and grabbed some basic flute books and set off to educate.



the results were mixed. it's a strange thing, when a child looks at you with unchallenged authority. like i could say anything about the flute, and it would be law. at least until they know better. i could say, "the flute works because magic faeries react chemically when you blow into the hole." and they would believe it. or be inclined to believe it, because i am the "flute teacher." so it was difficult, to be entrusted with this much respect, especially when i'm not really convinced that what i know is correct or proper.



i can't remember what my earliest flute learning experiences were like. the hows mainly. stuff like what order i learned everything in, what was i exposed to first. did i start with the history of the flute? the basic blowing technique? the notes? i can't recall. so today i ad-libbed and led with small talk. "how's school? did you go swimming yesterday? you look tan." i figured i might as well go with something i know, namely, how to interact with small kids. after that it was a total crapshoot. i was learning just as much about my instructional abilites as she was about the flute.



we spent alot of time in the bathroom. we stared at ourselves in the mirror. me trying to study my lips, her trying to study her lips. this sounds like something on the verge of illegal doesn't it? but we were merely blowing. at first she couldn't make a sound. and i was starting to get worried because i had never tried to teach anyone how to make the sound of a flute before. people who touched my flute either could or couldn't blow into it and make a sound. when i first picked up the flute, i was able to make sounds right away. it's one of my blessings, natural flute lips. but how do you explain that to someone? carrie was trying so hard to make a sound. she was breathing in and out, trying to blow as hard as she could. i stopped her once in awhile to analyze her "technique" but i had nothing really constructive to say other than "keep trying."



i was beginning to think that this would turn out to be a debacle. my first student and i couldn't even get her to make a sound. i didn't know how to get a sound out of her. my preparations had dealt with issues like how to hold the flute, how to read the music, how to learn the notes. i had forgotten that the first thing involved in a wind instrument is wind. luckily she bailed me out and started figuring it out and got a few notes out.



with that small success, my time as a flute teacher had taken on a new meaning. i was ready to instruct. she could make a sound and i could see some sort of progress. i can't say that i was inspired or suddenly motivated to teach more, but it was comforting that we accomplished something in our hour together. i am still not convinced that i should be teaching anyone anything, much less the flute, but her mom insists that i should teach "to the best of my abilities." and so i'll try. it's gonna be interesting to see how far i can go with this. excuse me, how far we can go with this. i'm hoping to take this teaching flute thing semi-seriously but i have this fear that i will soon be exposed as a fraudulent flautist. but then again, i am a fraudulent flautist so i guess it's not that deep.