Current page : CONCLUSION
PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS
A professional film song flautist is one who can :-Find the notes of the flute portions in any song on his own , notate these notes on his own and exactly reproduce them on stage .
A professional recording artist is one who can : Play a new tune as per the requirements of the composer with the least number of takes in a studio.
RECOMMENDED PRACTICE METHODS AND TIPS
Practice makes perfect is the old adage . Correct practice modes are equally important as the time spent on practice
or "Sadakam" . Many artists waste their time during practice using wrong methods of practice .The correct practice
mode for flautists aiming to be professional stage artists would be like this :-
(1) Play your flute pieces imagining that you are participating in a live show and play along with the original film song
along with the original flautist . This will help boost your confidence and improve your tone and sense of "thalam".
(2) Play those pieces after hearing the original and make comparisons .
(3) Purchase an amplifier and a dynamic microphone and play under it without a delay or windscreen. Simultaneously
play the original song in the background at a low volume .
(4) Ask a third person to review your performance and you will be shocked at the review.
(5) Practice till you are able to play like the original flautist .
(6) Keep an eye open for the style of each recording artist . Imitating the style is more difficult than playing the tune .
(7) Create a data base of all the film songs in which there is a flute piece .Copy (flute pieces only ) into a CD or cassette . Play along with the original tunes in a continuous chain . This will help you memorize these tunes and will empower
you with the ability to change flutes in a moment .
(8) Try to find the notes on your own . It may be very frustrating in the beginning . But once you develop the ability to
find the notations then it can be very fulfilling .
(9) Never abandon your carnatic flute .Play the carnatic style when ever you can . Practicing on both the Carnatic and
Hindustani flutes will help your fingers become more dexterous.
TIPS FOR FINDING NOTES ON YOUR OWN
(1) Find the basic octave of the song :--
There is a simple trick to find it . Take a G Base flute and if you close all the holes and blow and you will be making Octave C. If you open the last hole (rest closed) then you will get Octave D . Open another hole and you will get E and
so on . However it is not possible to find # octaves with this method. So when you play the original song and the base G along with it and if the pitch seems correct when you open the last three holes then the song is in octave E. ------It is as simple as that .
(2) Listen to the flute pieces and try to figure out the probable combinations that can be used .
(3) Remember that recording artists seldom use half notes and they usually pick up the "easiest" playable combination .
For example if the song is in C then they can play the same tune either a C , D, F, G or D# flute .
The usual practice is to play on the flute that produces the least of 1/2 notes . So keep a watch out for this practice .
(4) If you are unable to diagnose the introduction piece then try to find the other pieces .You may not get the desired
piece but you may get other pieces further down in the song .Notate what you get .When you come back later to the
song you may get a little portion of the introductory bit . Notate what ever little you get . Over a period of time you will
be able to piece together the full song .Once you are a professional you will be able to notate a song in half an hour .
Don't worry .
LEARN TO "THINK LIGHTLY "
Many of the flute bits that we hear in a film song are very simple to find and play . However unless you change your psychological approach you will find it difficult to do so .As mentioned earlier never approach the "Film song Arena "
with the typical carnatic classical mindset .Light bits are in fact either Carnatic , Hindustani or Western classical tunes
played in a different style altogether . Try to analise the difference .A bit in Sree -Ragam is Sree-Ragam of course .
Listen to a bit is Sree-Ragam . Is it played in the classical style ? No . The fingerings are different , the style is different .The "gamakas" are different . Find the first note and watch how that note is connected to the next note . Is
the finger brought slowly to the next note ? Is it closed in a different manner ? Does the note taper off? Is the
volume reduced or increased . Are the notes played in staccato style . Watch out for these "Gimmicks " .Once you get
going things are easy . After all it is all made up of SEVEN notes .Is it not ?