My Full Flute Story
Where did I come from? Why did I choose flute?
My parents immigrated from Mexico back in 1995. My parents come to the US to only $20 and had to start from scratch. My two older sisters and I were born in California, and immediately moved to Idaho after I was born. I watched Tom & Jerry as a kid and had flashbacks of the orchestral sound track playing along to the chasing of Jerry. I was intrigued by all the characteristics of the orchestra. HINT: I didn’t even know the flute was playing and I didn’t really care for it. My bad! I didn’t grow up with any other musical background other than a mariachi band that would always play at my family gatherings. They would often put traditional music to dance to.
Now fast forward, when I chose an instrument in the 5th grade, I simply asked myself “What instruments are there?” I did not understand the names of any instruments. None. I was put on the marching baritone and absolutely hated. I hated walking with my instrument because I was a skinny kid who could barely hold the case up. In my beginning band class, there were about the 10 of us and our elementary school is title 1. Meaning, 50% of my elementary school receives free or reduced lunch, thus, low income community.
I cried to my dad about how much I hated the marching baritone and how the flute caught my attention. Why? Because I was sooo curious on my why the flute had so many keys. I loved the complexity of the instrument and the pretty buttons on it. Meanwhile, the marching baritone had 3 buttons and did not instruige me. FAST FOWARD. I bought a flute from Craigslist for $20. This was the most happiest I have ever been because I finally had a moment to play something that I truly wanted to play instead doing it because “We don’t have enough low brass in our band.” I drove 45 minutes from my hometown to Emmett and this lady sold my her offbrand flute that was pulled from her garage… I WAS SO HAPPY! I tried making a noise on my way back home and didn’t get a sound out.
Eventually, I started practicing on both instruments in the 5th grade, but I would only play marching baritone at school. HATED IT! It was the winter concert until my dad came up to my band director, begging him to let me switch to flute. My band director was reluctant, but heard me play one day and I switched! From there, I only played flute and quit the marching baritone! YAY! I would recall watching so much YouTube as it was in its starting stages and had no algorythm. I watched Greg Pettillo play flight of the bumblebee and the Mario Bros theme. What caught my attention was when Emma Resmini started to pop up. She’s a prodigy who was ahead of me by 6 years. She performed Chaminade Concertino and it was the most beautiful thing I have ever heard. Therefore, I took out Chaminade Concertino under a year of playing the flute. I tried to mimic every detail she did. The advanced techniques I haven’t learned made me love the flute even more and I would watch just anotherflutists videos. She would teach vibrato, meter, the flute mechanics, but especially HER STORIES. I’ll get to her stories later.
