Product Description

Drawing from his highly praised French work, Une simple flute, distinguished flutist and teacher Michel Debost has compiled a useful and imaginative introduction to playing the flute. This alphabetically arranged compendium of advice and insight covers essential topics such as breathing, articulation, and tone, but also explores "jawboning," "finger phrasing," "the little devils," and other quirky and vexing aspects of flute playing. Full of practical advice on technique and axioms that lend moral support during tough practice sessions, The Simple Flute will be a welcome addition to any serious or novice flutist's library. In addition, the book includes original exercises such as "Debost's Scale Game," making it an excellent resource for flute teachers. Debost concludes each essay with "In a nutshell" and "Please refer to" boxes that make the book easy to browse, dog-ear, and return to again and again. Offering concise, common-sense solutions for flutists of all levels, this book is an ideal reference guide on flute performance.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #521525 in Books
• Published on: 2002-01-24
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 288 pages

Review
"Finally, after too long a wait we have the English version of Une Simple Flute....I urge every flute player, every flute student, and every library to get this book, devour it, relish its practicality and freshness, and savor its savoir faire." --The Flute Network

"Debost's writing style is refreshingly candid and reaches flutists of all levels. His quotes and footnotes reflect an inquiring mind, broad knowledge, and a superb intellect, all of which are inspiring to encounter. His wisdom is shared simply and directly. Other points are made with great humor or with thought-provoking metaphor, or poetic simile." --Leone Buyse, Professor of Flute and Chamber Music at Rice University and former acting principal flute of the Boston Symphony

"It should be required reading for every student of the flute. Debost has excellent ideas and expresses them clearly and interestingly. Certainly a must have on the book shelf." --Patricia George

"Michel Debost used to tell us in his classes at the Conservatorie de Paris that his methods were not the Bible, but rather a 'gospel according to Saint Michel'....This is a new kind of reference, resting on more than fifty years of experience, full of sensitivity and good sense, with little dogmatism and lots of intelligence....The curious student as well as the established teacher will plunge into the book, and raise their head three minutes later having learned something new that they will want to put to the test immediately. The book is a delight to read, handling language with ease and pertinence, capable of surprising us with each turn of phrase." --Emmanuel Pahud, solo flutist with Berliner Philharmonicker

About the Author

Michel Debost is Professor of Flute at the Oberlin Conservatory. He succeeded Jean-Pierre Rampal at the Paris Conservatoire National and served as principal of the Orchestre de Paris under music directors Munch, Karajan, Solti, and Barenboim.

Customer Reviews

Simply the Best Flute Book!
I have gone through about 20 flute books in my quest for inspiration and tips about this wonderful instrument. This one is the best by far because Debost LOVES FLUTES, and he loves to play the flute. He refers to the sound that comes out of the instrument (when played well) as a "sensual pleasure" for the player (and listeners). He thinks "No pain, no gain" is unrealistic, and that more comfort equals more pleasure. Good point! When it comes to the rules of fingering, he maintains that if it isn't the "correct" fingering but doesn't hurt the music, and feels better or makes it easier, one should go ahead and do it. The idea that sticks out most is that playing the flute should be fun and richly rewarding. The A-Z layout of the book is totally reader-friendly. One can look at the list of topics and easily find exactly what is desired. I love this book. :)

Amazing! Inspiring!!!
This is a must for any flutist who trully cares for his craft! This book is trully a work of art! It explains everything from the reality of a sustained note to finger phrasing. It isn't one of those old texts that has absolutely no revalence to music. If you wish to play music it is one of the books you must read. With plenty of new ideas to try as you turn each page. It is trully mind-opening!!!

A Simple but Necessary Correction
I'm not a flute player, and it would be wrong to detract in any way from the esteem in which other reviewers clearly hold this book, but I felt it necessary to point out a simple error which came to light while I was searching the Net and found the following reference: on p.135 the author states that the Pythagorean and Just scales are the same - this is simply not true. The Just scale contains intervals which accord with harmonic ratios, eg. a fourth is 4:3 and a major third 5:4, while all the intervals in the Pythagorean scale are derived from multiples of the fifth 3:2 ratio by octave transpositions. Therefore, starting on note C, the difference between Just E and Pythagorean E is 22 cents, almost a quarter-tone!