Recently, I published my children’s book (or book for the young at heart) called “Flutie’s Family Reunion”, introducing the reader to some of the many different types of flutes, both concert flutes and world flutes. Writing a book has been quite a rewarding journey! It has made me contemplate how we all come to start playing flute and consider the different ways to spread the love of flute-playing in all its various forms.
What inspired you to start your flute journey?
For me, I heard a Jean-Pierre Rampal recording and then couldn’t wait to start playing flute in my school band! I was 10 at the time and like most people new to flute-playing, I thought I was going to learn “the” flute, as if there was only one. Of course, when we say flute we are usually referring to the concert C flute, probably the most popular flute in western culture, but it was a little while before I realized just how many flutes in the flute family there are in the world, even in just the concert flute family alone.
Within a few years I started playing other flutes, first piccolo but later low flutes like alto and bass and world flutes like Native American flute, Irish whistle, and the dizi. I have gradually and steadily been adding more and more flutes ever since then, with some of my latest acquisitions being shakuhachi and contrabass flute. Every few months I continue to learn a new flute, and my list of instruments to learn only grows! Never allow yourself to be made to feel guilty about “just” playing flute, if that is your main instrument. I am proud to be a flute specialist! The flute is one of the oldest and most wide-spread instrument families in the world, and there are hundreds of types of flutes. So being knowledgeable about flute in even a fraction of all its forms is no small task!
I also think that it is wonderful how really young children can now start playing the flute. When I first started learning to play, most flutists really couldn’t start before they were in the 4th or 5th grade due to small fingers and not being able to bear the weight of the metal instrument. But now there are small and plastic flutes making starting the flute possible for a child of almost any age to play. I have taught flute students as young as 4 years old, and it is such a fun and fulfilling experience! Not only do we work on music, but we get to play educational games and read books!
Most of these flute books have cute tales with morals or are educational stories about flute among all the other instruments in the orchestra or band. But I want to make sure that my students and other flutists out there are aware of the beautiful diversity within the flute family itself. So I wrote this book to demonstrate all the different instruments in the concert flute family, including piccolo, concert flute, alto, bass, and contrabass flute, as well as several world instruments including the Irish flute and whistle, dizi, shakuhachi, panpipe, and ocarina.
I also wanted to make sure that these flutes were not just seen but heard too! I composed and played music for each of the flutes, and at the end there is a grand finale showcase concert where all of the flutes in the concert flute family play together as a choir. These recordings are found in a digital version of the book which can be read by itself or accessed with a QR code link in the paperback book.
I greatly enjoyed working on this book because it combined three of my passions. I had wanted to be a writer as a kid, and in college, I studied both flute performance and music composition. So being able to do all three things in one project has really been special! And it has been so rewarding to help spread the love of flute-playing among the next generation of flutists. I can’t wait to do it again as I have some more projects lined up and in the works.
Of course, it is always fun to have a good excuse to buy and learn more flutes!
Erika Skye Andres is a flutist, teacher, composer/arranger, and writer from Savannah, Georgia. She is the founder of Skye Flute Music which provides educational and performing resources for flutists including books, original compositions and arrangements, activities, digital courses, and a blog as well as fosters an inclusive flute community. Erika is also the founder of the Savannah Area Flute Association and director of its flute choir, and she also performs with Savannah Baroque and The Goliards early music ensembles and the Silver & Strings flute and cello duo. She greatly loves teaching and runs her own private lesson studio.
Erika holds a Master of Music degree in flute performance from Florida State University where she studied flute with Eva Amsler and a Bachelor of Arts degree in flute performance and music composition from Armstrong State University where she studied flute with Lorraine Jones and composition with Randall Reese.