I started to play the flute in May 2020 with Elaine. I was quite nervous and very unsure what to expect, starting as an adult. However, Elaine soon put me at my ease. She is a brilliant teacher who has helped me to overcome many hurdles, due to an adult learning an instrument! She is patient, calm and happy in her teaching, making you feel calm. And in those weeks when things are just not going right, she keeps you going. Elaine suggests extra music resources to practice notes and sounds you maybe struggling with. Her attention to detail is excellent! Even through ZOOM! She enables you to build a firm foundation for future playing. Elaine makes the flute fun to play, motivating you along the way. She has supported and helped me in many ways, as I suffer from ME. Elaine has shared meditation techniques and suggested finger and thumb supports for the flute to support my playing. Elaine has an obvious love and passion for playing the flute. Something which she is keen to share with you. Choosing Elaine to begin playing the flute has been one of the best decisions made this year.
Alison Mitchell
Elaine has been teaching me for two months now and in that time has taught me so many things that I was never taught before. I had flute lessons when I was at school and got to grade 5 and gave up. I recently decided to take it up again 16 years on. Elaine started working on my technique straight away, which is when I realised how many bad habits I had. I wish I had been taught all along by Elaine! She has improved my playing so quickly and efficiently. It really is so easy when you have a good teacher! I always struggled with my high notes in particular and getting my low notes loud. In a few weeks, Elaine has sorted these things out that I struggled with for years. My posture and breathing have also improved. I am now really enjoying playing and am very grateful to Elaine for her excellent teaching and being so encouraging.
Ameer Ali
I started the flute a year ago, and have been having lessons with Elaine for a couple of months now. I would recommend her without reservation to anyone. As a person she is most kind and attentive, and as a teacher she's simply superb. She's immensely patient - something I greatly appreciate as a very senior citizen who really has no business starting a new instrument at the age of seventy five - but at the same time she's very rigorous. She doesn't allow you to cut corners. On the other hand, she instinctively knows when to change the focus of the lesson to give you a break. Most important of all, she makes the lessons really enjoyable. A really fine teacher. I feel lucky to have found her.
Rodney Clark
Elaine has been teaching me to play the flute for several months now. I am totally new to wind instruments, so have been pleasantly surprised by the amount of progress Elaine's tutoring has enabled me to achieve. She has been clear and concise in her instructions and works in a very structured way, presenting a clear path to work along, towards each new step in the journey. She shows me the best techniques for playing well and points out when I am getting it wrong, explaining the hows and whys of these things. Elaine is clearly most knowledgeable in this subject and is an accomplished musician. It is inspiring to hear her playing the flute! Elaine has a friendly, approachable manner and is easy to be around. I enjoy my lessons with her and am looking forwards to making further progress. I would recommend Elaine to anyone wishing to make progress with learning the flute.
Adam Hampton
Elaine is an exceptional teacher. My daughter has been having lessons with her for 6 years now and recently passed her grade 6 with distinction. She has continued to work hard to keep my daughter interested, especially when she hit her teens and like many teenagers do - started to lose interest a bit. Elaine relates well to what interests young people and always keeps things fresh. She achieves a good balance between making things fun, whilst also being very meticulous when it comes to teaching technique and gives my daughter careful guidance with easy ways of achieving good technique in all aspects playing. My daughter also struggled with some personal problems at school and Elaine has been really kind, empathetic and caring and supported her during this time. It comes across that Elaine is really passionate about her job. She is an excellent player with an impressive performance background and I would thoroughly recommend her to anyone wanting to learn the flute.
Lynn Daniels
I have been learning to play the flute, from scratch, with Elaine since August 2019. Elaine is a very experienced teacher with a lot of patience, insight, understanding and enthusiasm. When learning new techniques there is room for discussion and experimentation to find a method that works for me. Elaine is also very good at knowing when I should stop and consolidate techniques and when it is appropriate for me to move on and learn something new. Elaine is very sharp and vigilant: any rhythm errors are quickly picked up on and dealt with; dynamics are expected to be played with accuracy and consistency (no room for slack every now and then!); anything that I forget to practice (such as playing a single note for up to 20 seconds) is usually discovered and I am advised to keep practicing the stuff that is important, but that can be a bit mundane. Elaine is quick to praise and recognises straight away when I play something well. Elaine is lovely to learn with. She has plenty of humour, makes the lessons interesting and lively and is versatile with her approach to teaching. She is professional, honest and clear in her teaching, reliable and punctual with her organisation.
Linda Drewett
Elaine has been teaching my daughter the flute for the last 3 years. We switched from teaching at school, as I felt my daughter was missing too many lessons. She made so much more progress with Elaine, than she ever did at school. I also like that I have a relationship with Elaine and immediate feedback on progress and any issues, which I did not get with the school teacher. The flute is Elaine’s first instrument and clearly her passion and a passionate teacher always makes a bigger impact. My focus has been for my daughter to enjoy her flute rather than focusing on just passing exams. Elaine is very good at keeping her interested and varying the music. As well as the typical classical music you would expect, they sometimes cover pop songs, which my daughter particularly likes. At the moment they are working through the music from “The Greatest Showman” musical. Whilst exams are not a priority, they do provide something to aim for and a measure of progress so my daughter has taken exams. She passed her first grade exam with 98%, skipped the next one and passed grade 3 with a good merit. Clearly, she was well prepared. I cannot recommend Elaine enough.
Elizabeth Holland