Joshua H  
Instruments: Flute, Piccolo
Styles: Classical, Pop, Musical Theater, Electronic, Marching Band, Avant-garde

During both my doctoral and masters degrees, I worked as a Teaching Assistant in the flute studio. Along with teaching private lessons to undergraduate students, I have experience leading studio classes/group lessons, technique/scale classes, and I designed a semester-long class titled, Teaching Technique through Repertoire, which I later presented as part of a pedagogy project. In Texas, I had the opportunity to provide lessons at a middle school through the Lubbock Independent School District, where I taught both individual and group lessons. I was also part of the Lubbock Symphony Orchestra Woodwind Quintet, and we performed many outreach concerts at elementary schools, during which we would give brief demonstrations of our instruments. I've taught elementary, middle-school, high-school, college, and adult students, and I always look forward to meeting new students who are drawn to the flute!

For students beginning in an elementary band program, I like to use the same book (such as Essential Elements) that they are using in school. With students learning outside of a band class, or if it won't interfere with what they've already learned, I start with just the headjoint of the flute, making sure the student is comfortable producing clear sound before adding the body of the flute. Because the flute is not like the other woodwind instruments in that you do not blow directly into it, it can be challenging for students to learn how to form an embouchure. As such, I like to have students play around with making sound on empty bottles, and with tools such as the Pneumo-pro. As a big believer in scales as the building blocks of good technique and music itself, I provide basic exercises as early on as possible. For intermediate and advanced students, I like to use the first lesson as an opportunity to hear a piece or two that they've played before, then work on some of the things they've already learned so I can determine what sorts of ideas they respond to and what they can work on improving. At all levels, I balance technical and sound exercises with repertoire that aims to both challenge and satisfy.