Hi Jen,
When Jethro Tull was starting, Anderson's bandmates thought he was a lousy guitarist so he picked up the flute. So, yes, he is selft-taught. I suspect he got a lot of ideas (flutter tonguing, singing into the flute) from Jazz flutists, notably Rahsaan?Roland Kirk (a very early Jethro Tull recording includes "Serenade to a Cuckoo").
Later, however, he did take lessons to among other things, use correct fingerings.
Hope this helps
?--Louis
------- Original Message -------
On Thursday, August 3rd, 2023 at 12:27 PM, Jen Cluff <jen@...> wrote:
Dear Flutenutz,
I've had a shock reaction to the idea that Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull was (according to one post yesterday) "Classically Trained" as a flute player.
Do people who say this know how long Classical Training takes?
It isn't just one year of lessons at Mrs. Smith's house down the street.
It's six to ten years of very difficult exams and recital performances in the style of "Classical Music" which, like "Classical Ballet" or "Classical Languages" (Greek/Latin) take many many many years to perfect because they are "classic" and have lots of historically correct RULES of style etc.
No, Ian Anderson was entirely self-taught, and in one interview said he got a fingering chart from his daughter who was in Grade 8 at the time, and played flute in band.
There's a huge amount of difference between "classical training" and taking a few lessons.
Training is very serious, like training in a sport for the Olympics. You don't just make up your own way of doing something and then claim to be "classically trained".
Those two things are opposite.
Mind you, to be a true innovator, and to invent something entirely new (like Anderson did) is a different skill than taking training.
Jen
