Welcome! And.... Are there hardboiled eggs in your cheeks?

Hi there! Welcome to the blog.

I’m excited to have a space where I can share the kind of ideas that come up all the time in lessons — the little ah-ha moments, body-awareness tips, and personal insights that I hope will help you feel more connected to your instrument and your sound.

Whether you're a flutist, another kind of musician, or just curious about the way our bodies shape the way we play, this is a space for you.

After a great lesson today, I’ve been thinking a lot about how our body is not just a tool for making sound — it’s a resonating space. Like an echo chamber.

For flutists especially, the shape and openness of the mouth, jaw, and throat has a huge impact on our sound. When we're tight or collapsed, the resonance gets cut short. We limit the richness that could be traveling through us.

One silly (but useful!) image I like to give students: imagine you're holding a hard-boiled egg in each cheek, near the back by your jaw. Strange, I know, but it gives your jaw and face a cue to release and make space. Suddenly, things begin to open up.

Another exercise I use is having students puff out their cheeks with as much air as possible. It helps show just how much room we have in our mouths — and how often we collapse or shrink it without realizing.

The trick is to keep that openness and volume while refining just the part that needs precision: the muscles that form your aperture. We want support, not tension.

It’s wild how small changes like this can completely shift your tone, ease, and presence while playing.

Thanks for being here. I’m looking forward to sharing more as I go and if this sparked something for you, I’d love to hear about it!