Boston Flute Academy

The first stop on the BSO's European tour is Royal Albert Hall in London. At well over 5,000 seats it's one of the largest indoor concert halls I've ever played. (Boston's Symphony Hall seats 2,625.)

It's my job to fill the hall with my playing — all the way to the very last seat in the house. But even the most glorious flute sound can seem pretty darn teensy in this giant space.

𝗜𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗵𝘂𝗴𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹, 𝗜'𝗺 𝗿𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗹𝗲 𝗮 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲:

𝗜'𝘃𝗲 𝗴𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘆 𝗕𝗜𝗚.

And — just like in life — “playing big” doesn't necessarily mean what we think it does.

In a vast acoustical space, it's tempting to force and push to be heard. The louder the better, right?

𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝘀𝗼 𝗳𝗮𝘀𝘁.

Forcing makes the sound louder, sure. But it also gets tighter, more strident, and (ironically) smaller. It's like sending a tiny focused laser beam out into the audience.

This isn't very successful. And it's not particularly pleasant to listen to, either.

The better way — the way to truly fill the hall — is to allow my sound to expand, deepen, to become richer, more resonant, to let it multiply and magnify. I want my sound to fill the hall 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 360 𝘥𝘦𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘴.

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘆. I have to start with a clear concept of the sound I want to create (and not be tempted by the “quick fix” of forcing.) Then I have to relax, expand my body and my mind, give my sound time and space to develop … 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗹𝗲𝘁 𝗴𝗼 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁.

𝗣𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗶𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗹𝗼𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀, 𝘁𝗼𝗼. When we step into a bigger space — a higher level of visibility, leadership, or risk taking — it's tempting to grip too hard, to become strident, to force and to push. It 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 powerful, like we're rising to the occasion.

𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆, 𝘄𝗲'𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴.

Truly playing big in life asks us to release that tight grip on control. It asks us to develop ourselves, to visualize a deeper, richer, more expansive version of ourselves. 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗲𝘁 𝗴𝗼 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁.

𝗕𝗼𝘁𝗵/𝗔𝗻𝗱
For me, I'll get to practice playing big in Royal Albert Hall.
I 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 get to practice as I continually ask myself to play even bigger in my coaching work.

It turns out that if we choose, playing big can become a life-long practice.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂? 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗶𝗴 𝗳𝗶𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝘄?

𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗢𝗨𝗥𝗖𝗘: Check out Tara Mohr's must-read book on this subject. While it's written for women, I know many other folks for whom it resonated just as well.

https://a.co/d/5vHRTjI

Today @ 4pm! Let's get out and support our friends in the Willow Flute Ensemble. Their performance will also be streaming on the Willow Flute Ensemble page.

Don't forget about our upcoming concert on Saturday, 4 PM, at Flutistry Boston! We'll also be streaming here on our page.