In my opinion, this book would not be a successful tool for a beginning flutist. The first half of the book is completely read-only, whereas Takahashi has assumed that by reading such the student will understand and formulate his/her own way of playing. For a student new to music, text-only is very difficult to comprehend, especially when there are words that both the child as well as the parent may not know. This is coupled by the fact that the original book was written in Japanese, so the translati

There are many strengths in Takahashi Flute School, as well as many weaknesses. The strengths include the explanations of technique, the continuity of ideas, and the new thoughts that aid in teaching. However, in my opinion, the weaknesses overpower the strengths. This is mainly because of cultural differences between the orient and the Americas, but weaknesses nonetheless. These include difficult language, lack of explanation for each selection, and the rapidity of difficulty progressions.

This section brings to light Takahashi's technique. He explains, in detail, the way not only his book, but flute in general should be taught. First you will need a student, and an apt teacher.

The next section covers the basic ideas of flute playing. Takahashi covers posture, breathing, whistling, embouchure, assembly, and balance in very short paragraphs. After reading over this section several times (and finally getting a picture of what is really going on,) I realize that this section is for the teacher, not the student. It is to aid the teacher in explaining to the student. I come to this conclusion due to the language and brevity of each explanation. However, even though the paragraphs are short, many are not concise and to the point. I believe this comes from the translation of Japanese to English. (Maybe if I could read/understand Japanese it would make more sense, considering it was originally written in Japanese.) The difficulty of the language and lack of continuity between sentences requires that a teacher be present for the explanations of each section.

5. Observing Lessons. "Mothers and children should always watch private lessons of other children." This motivates both parties. The child being watched has a reason beyond his own will to play well, and that is to impress his kin. The child observing sees how well (or not so well) his sibling is doing, and either becomes interested in helping his sibling or catching up to his/her level. The length of lessons should only be a little longer than the pupil's attention span as well. If the child can not maintain focus, then no work is being done and should therefore call it a day.

Coined many years ago to apply to sting playing, it is designed to mimic vocalization as directed to vocalists. Not only do the students hear quality sounds and tones, but they are taught how to reproduce them on a regular basis.

The very first couple of exercises are simple in nature, covering basic quarter note/eighth note rhythms and a very small range of the flute. Very quickly, however, the difficulty of each selection nearly doubles for each melody. Within one page turn, beginners are left behind. The range becomes higher and lower, and there is no real progression, merely selection after selection with more intricacies.

This is arguable in my opinion, but obviously works. At a very young age, listening would be the way to go, but as the pupil gets to older starting ages, music on a page can be used as well.

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Approximate Word count = 2192
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)