Let's be honest, we all have ideas about what good lip care looks like and what it doesn't look like. My lips are more prone to chapping and peeling than most people I know (probably related to some hydration issues....). So what works for me may not be right for you. With that in mind, I'd like to share a few tips that have made a big difference for me:

1. Stay Hydrated  Are you anywhere close to eight to ten 8 oz. glasses of water today? (Me neither....)
   
2. Use a Humidifier at home or if you have a private practice room during the winter months.  Want some nerd points?  Keep a small hygrometer in your flute bag for feedback.  If the humidity is less than 40% it may be time to turn on the humidifier. Aim for room humidity of 45% - 50% (for fun!).
3. Exfoliate Gently Lots of sugar scrub lip products are available if you want to go that route. I prefer gently wiping my lips with a clean cloth after a shower and then sealing in the moisture with a good lip balm.
   
4. Reapply Lip Balm before your lips get dry again.
   
5. Remove any excess if your lips feel slick or weighed down before practicing or performing.
6. Reapply Lip Balm after practicing or performing.
7. Talk to Your Doctor if over-the-counter lip balm isn't cutting it. They will have more options for you to consider.  Discovery Health has an interesting compilation of lip issues here.

               Products I Like:

Fresh Sugar Rose is my favorite lip balm for flutists.  It has long staying power and feels lighter than most lip balms I've tried.


Pros:

• Light
  
• Doesn't Irritate My Lips
  
• Good Variety of Lip Products with Fresh
  
• Cool Tube Design

Cons:

• Tube runs out more often than I'd like
  

Philosophy makes great lip balms in a wide variety of colors and flavors.  They last a really long time for me.  I haven't tried their more heavy duty lip repair since the regular lip balms/glosses work well for me.


Pros:

• Long-Lasting
  
• Don't Irritate My Lips
  
• Lots of Colors 
  

Cons:

• Thick
  
• Slick
  

Aquaphor Lip Repair is designed to help you deal with more of a painful chapping issues.  It's not something I use every day, but it's available at most drugstores. It's thin and lightweight and easy to find in a pinch.

“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies, said Jojen. The man who never reads lives only one.” 
― George R.R. Martin, A Dance with Dragons


“In the case of good books, the point is not to see how many of them you can get through, 
but rather how many can get through to you.” 
― Mortimer J. Adler

The Inner Game of Music by Barry Green is a little bit crunchy, but packs a punch.  Read it if you want to gather ideas on how to combat performance anxiety or if you're working on your musical interpretations.  The reviews on Amazon offer a great peek into the content.  

How do you work on performing with more confidence?  Are you playing the way you want to play?  Are you making musical choices that you want to make?  In other words, are you asking yourself the tough questions?  Etc....  

The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron takes you on a step-by-step creativity trail.  It's time-intensive and I think you'll enjoy it more if you use it as part of a weekly book discussion with friends.  

This book offers a lot of ideas for helping you find your artistic voice and/or get yourself out of the dreaded creative slump.  I'm planning on skimming it again this Spring and then revisiting some exercises this summer.  (Disclaimer: She calls it A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity.  In general, this means she invites you to take your beliefs and use them as part of your process, but overall, it's pretty low impact on that front.)

And now for something completely different.....   Jesuit Priests in Space!

I just started reading The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell and hope to finish it up before the end of the Spring Semester.  I'm not sure what to expect, but it got great reviews from my friend David Taylor.  (Check out Number 10 here.)

Anyway, I'm inspired to read something that's a little bit deeper than self-help books.  If you have any recommendations (before the next installment of A Song of Ice and Fire comes out), please send them my way.  :-)

Extended Techniques are (to oversimplify) ways of playing your instrument that are unconventional.

For flutists they tend to be multiphonics (playing two notes at the same time or playing + singing two notes at the same time), harmonics (overblowing a traditional fingering to get higher pitches that have a different sound than their traditional fingerings create), key slaps that create a percussion effect, beat-boxing, flutter tongue, whistle tones, etc....  Many more extended techniques exist, but usually flutists will start with one of these.

Aside from the new sound opportunities, extended techniques give flutists exciting ways to develop embouchure flexibility and breath control.

If you are trying to learn extended techniques without a teacher, it can be more difficult to begin.  Here are some resources you may find useful when you get started:

• Flute Music by Robert Dick - A Pioneer of Extended Flute Techniques.  These are fantastic for advanced flutists.  His Tone Development book is a must have item to start your journey.
  
• Extended Techniques: Double the Fun! by Phyllis Avidan Louke  This small collection of duets is perfect for a flutist who is at an intermediate to advanced level.  If your teacher has experience with extended techniques these duets allow you to play together in your lessons or try some new things with your friends.  I use these duets with my middle and high school flutists regularly as a "first taste" for extended technique practice.
  
• Tuberama by I. Clarke and S. Painter  This solo with CD accompaniment is a lot of fun if you want to try some extended techniques that really cross over into the rock genre.  Bonus points for dressing the part!
• Papierbluten by Ulrich Gasser  This collection of etudes combines extended techniques with advanced rhythms to give flutists a real workout for modern flute pieces that do both.  I keep one of these etudes in my practice rotation regularly.