Recently, my flute teacher invited me to Dawkes music shop to participate in an individual flute masterclass with Andy Findon – the most recorded flautist in Europe.

The masterclass gave me the chance to work on my ABRSM Grade 4 flute piece (Holiday Time by Tony Cliff) in front of an audience.

It was an amazing opportunity which I found extremely helpful. I learnt a particularly effective method of how to improve a section of a piece. It involved playing the few notes that needed improving and repeating them correctly until I could add more notes. If I was playing it incorrectly, I learnt to take a break and have another go later.

It really helped me to have another person giving me feedback. During the workshop, I also was taught how to improve my trills between G and A, and was given specific exercises designed to help me increase the speed of the trill. I also was given tips on where my fingers should hover over the keys.

I also got to listen to him play his pieces which was a very enriching and enjoyable experience. I specifically enjoyed that he played a breadth of different music genres, including classical and jazz.I will put what I learnt into practice, explore different genres of music to play and listen to, and watch other professional musicians perform to inspire me and help me perform better too.

Ella, Lower IV