Jingle All the Way to Virtuosity: The Ultimate Guide to Gifting Flute Lessons this Christmas
Music education is so much more than just learning an instrument. Learning to become a musician is something that sticks with you for a lifetime. Every single day, I see so many “former musicians” jumping back into playing their instrument because they miss it, they love it, and they want to spend more time with it. Learning an instrument can help build cognitive skills, emotional intelligence, and mental health.
Now that the Christmas shopping season is here, it’s time to consider what your favorite flute player might like to have this year. It’s important not just to gift something generic, but to find opportunities to gift something meaningful and long-lasting.
If you haven’t already considered it, flute lessons are a meaningful gift for any flutist who may want to build their skills. It’s a unique and thoughtful gift for a loved one (or yourself). The gift of education will stay with musicians for years and years to come, and you could change their lives for the better by gifting them time with a teacher.
Why Gift Flute Lessons?
There are so many benefits to learning the flute, including improved cognitive skills, self-expression, stress relief, and enhanced discipline. Not only that but working with a teacher can help students get further ahead than they can using YouTube or band class and trying to self-teach. A teacher can see things about a student’s playing that they can’t see themselves, make suggestions on repertoire, and even challenge students in ways they would struggle to challenge themselves. It’s also great to have context when it comes to playing an instrument. A flute teacher can help add historical context to music, teach music theory, and help build their students into well-rounded musicians.
Flute lessons can be a fulfilling and enjoyable experience for people of all ages. Students as young as 5 years old find joy and build skills while learning a whole new language, learning to harness and describe their feelings through music, and building discipline through practice routines, while adults can find similar benefits including mental health focus, emotional intelligence, and even career benefits such as increased focus. Building music into your life not only helps you build lifelong connections with people, but it also helps build soft skills like attention to detail, emotional intelligence, interpretive skills, and more. These skills can help open doors to all sorts of opportunities inside and outside of music.
Choosing the Right Flute Lesson Gift
Before jumping into purchasing flute lessons for your loved one, take a few minutes to ask some questions. It’s important to gauge interest before you dive head first. Of course, if you already know that this person would love lessons (because they’ve brought it up before), you can modify or skip this part altogether. That said, consider asking these questions first:
Are you really enjoying playing flute still?
If the answer is yes, maybe follow with “Wow, that’s awesome! I bet you practice a lot, huh?”
Have you ever considered studying with a teacher?
What’s stopped you from finding a teacher so far?
You could take this time to probe as to whether or not they would have the time for weekly lessons, biweekly lessons, or more flexible options such as FlexFlute Lessons.
Consider factors like age, previous experience, and level of commitment that your loved one way have towards learning the flute with a private instructor. Also, consider whether they may do better in a 1:1 or group environment. Group environments tend to provide more social opportunities than private 1:1 lessons, and can be better for students that need more socialization. 1:1 lessons are often better for students who get easily distracted or act up in groups. Consider the fact that private flute lessons do require extra work outside of typical school music programs, so gauging the younger students’ willingness to practice more than just their band pieces. Adult students should consider their work schedule, school schedule, children, and overall ability to dedicate some amount of time during the week to lessons and practice as well.
It’s also important to find a reputable teacher, either online or in your community, that teaches in a way that’s compatible with your loved one’s style of learning. Consider the priorities of your loved one - whether mental health, virtuosity, or both, are the main reasons behind wanting to play the flute, and find a teacher that matches up with those priorities. Online flute lessons are a great opportunity to find a teacher that doesn’t reside close by that lines up with those priorities. To learn more about online flute lessons specifically, click here.
How to Present the Gift
Presentation matters! It’s so important to build some hype around the gift because this is a big one! It’s easy to just throw a gift certificate into an envelope and hand it off on Christmas morning, but creating a memorable experience can make it so much more fun. Try making a music-themed gift basket full of accessories, music books, pencils, a water bottle, and treats. You could also try recording a personalized video message. Lean into being creative and thinking outside of the box to make the moment memorable. Just because flute lessons aren’t a tangible gift, doesn’t mean they don’t have to be the highlight of Christmas morning!
Preparing for the First Lesson
For the first lesson, it’s important to remind your loved one that they need to have all their supplies ready to go. The teacher may send out an email or give a packet outlining the things you’ll need. If you’re taking or gifting online lessons, keep in mind that the teacher may send out specific instructions on how to prepare for the lesson, such as downloading a specific app, adjusting settings, etc. That said, be sure you have your flute, cleaning supplies, and any required lesson books handy. If your teacher doesn’t give you a list of required books ahead of time, bring whatever you’re working on currently and they’ll likely give you a run down from there.
There are lots of extra accessories and pieces of equipment that can help enhance your experience in lessons such as a microphone, headphones, a metronome, and various books. You can find suggestions for other accessories and essential parts of your flute lesson experience in my Resources page or in this article about gifts for flutists.
It’s important also to make sure your flutist has the time and space to have a consistent practice schedule and an environment conducive to learning and practicing. You’ll want to make sure they can get the most out of this investment, so be sure to provide them with information on how to do so. Check out this article if you want to know more about encouraging great practice for online students.
What to Expect from Flute Lessons
If you’ve never taken flute lessons before, it’s good to know what to expect. Often, flute lessons are going to include repertoire outside of your current ensemble (band or orchestra work). Many teachers will help you with those pieces if you need it, but they don’t primarily work with you on that repertoire. You’ll begin learning more challenging solos, playing scales, working on tone and technique exercises, sightreading, and even going over practice strategies to help you improve.
For beginners, it can be challenging to get used to the load that flute lessons require on top of your regular practice priorities. It’s important to communicate this to your instructor if you’re finding it to be too much. It’s okay to have to lean back a little bit, especially during things like marching band season, the holidays, etc.
It’s so important to prioritize patience (with yourself and with your teacher), perseverance, and consistent practice. Finding a routine and being kind to yourself in the process of building your flute skills is going to propel you forward and allow you to get the most out of your lessons. Read more about this here.
Conclusion
Flute lessons are a fantastic option for a thoughtful and meaningful gift this holiday season.
Becoming a musician can help build so many useful skills.
Be sure to ask questions to your loved one to gauge their interest and time to dedicate to flute lessons.
Research the right teacher before making a commitment.
Present the gift in a creative and fun way.
If you’re considering giving the gift of online flute lessons, now is a great time! For a limited time, new students in my studio get 30% off of online flute lessons for the first 3 months. Click here to learn more.
