Bethany Junge is a senior at Pleasant Valley High School. She is a dedicated flautist in the Pleasant Valley Band and enjoys every moment spent playing the flute. Her goal is to keep working and pushing herself to play more difficult pieces of music.
What kind of flute do you play?
Right now I play a b foot Azumi flute, but I started with a c foot Trevor James.
How long have you been playing?
I’ve been playing since 6th grade. So about 7 years.
Who taught you how to play the flute?
My first band director was Ms. Pauley, so I learned from her in school lessons in 6th grade.
Have you ever wanted to stop playing? If so, what did you do to get back into the swing of things?
I’ve never really wanted to stop playing entirely, but I might get bored of it occasionally. When that happens I usually switch what type of music I’m playing so I have something new and different to work on.
What is the difference between playing flute and piccolo?
The piccolo and flute are pretty similar, but the piccolo is an octave higher and it can be more difficult to play. For piccolo you have to use a slightly different embouchure than you would use for flute.
How do you know what flute best suits you?
When starting off everyone usually starts off with a beginner c foot flute and you usually find what flute is best for you when you get a more intermediate flute. When I got my intermediate flute I had West Music order in 3 Azumi flutes and 2 Trevor James flutes. I tried them all out in a room for a little over an hour. I decided which one was best for me based off the sound it produced because every flute is a little different. I ended up getting one of the open hole Azumi flutes, because of the sound quality.
What’s the best thing you like about playing?
The best thing I like about playing the flute is how much variety there is to play. The range of the flute and the music available makes it very fun to play. I could be playing Baroque music for a bit and then I could switch to Jazz music. I just think it’s really great how many different types of pieces are available to play on flute.
What advice do you have for people who wish to play the flute?
My advice to people that want to play flute is to just start. It can be hard at first but it really fun once you get going. When I first started I could barely make a sound out of it but I eventually got there. Another suggestion would be to get a private lesson teacher if you really want to work at it, because they help so much.
What goals do you try to achieve regarding the flute?
My goals I try to achieve are based off the music I’m playing at the moment. I work on accomplishing a price based off of a kind of level of goals. The first goal is to get through the piece which all the right notes. Then the following goals include things like dynamics, rhythm, and tone.
