Flute for Dummies

I first encountered the for Dummies books almost twenty years ago when I worked at Pitney Bowes. I forget which of us stumbled across them, but our department head ordered a set for us: Word for Dummies, Excel for Dummies, and PowerPoint for Dummies. Those books were a godsend. They gave us a great working knowledge--a PRACTICAL working knowledge--of the software programs we used every day. Since then the series has grown beyond anyone's wildest expectations and now includes a web site.

So when I learned they came out with Flute for Dummies, I figured I should at least take a look at it. Finding it locally turned out to be a little more difficult than I anticipated. For an instrument that is played by a lot of people (most amateur ensembles have to turn flutists away!), you don't see many books on the subject in local bookstores, even the big chains. Guitar, yes. Piano, yes, though slightly less. Flute, no. When I finally found it in stock at one of the nearby Barnes & Nobles by looking online, I drove over to pick it up.

I looked in the Instruments section and found the relative multitude of guitar books. I found the many piano books. I couldn't find Flute for Dummies. I looked amongst the new releases. Nope, no flute. Where else do you look? When in doubt, try the Information Desk. Ah, they found it shelved in the Classical Music section.

I've been spot reading it, and I've been pleasantly surprised. I don't know why I was surprised, given my past positive experiences with the for Dummies series. Karen Evans Moratz has provided a good overview of the basics and then some. I even learned something new: There's a third way to play B flat.

This is a book I wish I'd had during my brief stint as a teacher. I think it's a book that should be given to every beginning student!

Jennifer Cluff has written a short review. And I will probably write more as I read it more thoroughly.

You can also check out the book's Facebook page.