i was wondering if anybody could give me any comments on my playing,

but please don't say about the mistakes, and the rather large breaths i seam to take about every bar or s4o (i know about them)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bKMnZOOZ4s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjBNQywWOx

I watched your videos, and your doing great for only playing two years!
Just a couple of little things.
In the Memory piece, it's just a little flat in places, more so at the beginning, but it could just that your instrument was cold, so no worries there.
After watching Memory I felt you needed a little bit of work on your high notes, but then you hit them fine in the second video so never mind :P
Here's a link to some pieces that I think you might like, and also a great way to improve sight reading and playing to accompaniment!
http://www.youtube.com/user/VideoSheetMusic
have a search through some of the videos, and continue to play! :D
Practice makes perfect!

I'm no teacher and my opinions are very relative. I see no answers yet and I'm sure that if you were brave enough to post your playing live for such a long and rather difficult piece you may be interested in all kind of comments.

I find that your playing is nice, considering you have only two years of practice. I can only compare with what I was able to achieve in my second year (much less than that) and also of what I see my colleagues at the music school can do with a similar experience.

You have the advantage of your age, (while I have the burden of it), so this comparison is also very relative.

You manage low notes quite well, not so well at the higher range and the tuning issues (I believe) are normal for a second year and probably for a few years to come if you were me.

Keep working and I am sure you will be a very good player quite soon.

I expect you will get more professional and experienced replies to your post, because you deserve them.

very nice!
I too, had problems hitting the high notes. What really helped for me was teh addition of braces. I had an overbite, and now that it is fixed, I can hit those high notes like they were nothing! It is a shame that all the years I had to go through of being the worst in my class becasue I could not go above a G was because of the way my teeth were set up. I really like your low notes! They sound very full. I heard some (was it vibrato) in there, and I was amazed that you could do that well with it in two years. It is a liitle shaky and jerky though, so maybe that is something to work on. =)
Overall, extremely impressive! Good luck with your future musical performances.

thankyou for all the loverly comments.

Flute_and_bassoon- i too have a rather huge overbite, and the fixing of it is a work in progress, i can get the high A but it is horrible i can go reliably any higher then F but i am glad it is more my teeth and the fact the braces are there.

Just a note they were both recorded with no practice before recording them(i do play the songs regularly but i hadn't practise them the day i recorded them) and i had just took my flute out of its case so it was cold.

how long until it is fixed? It really makes an amazing difference.

This is very nice for a second year player. I especially like the tone you have achieved.
In the first video, (Memory), at about 11 seconds in, there is a big wowee dip in the pitch. This looks like it is due to your flute making a big move- I can see the whole flute roll waaaay back. Keeping the flute stable will definitely keep the pitch more stable.

I would also suggest that you practice a lot with a metronome. The 6/8 time in the Memory piece has a few spots where you don't give the notes, or rests, their full value. Practicing with a metronome is really an excellent tool for becoming consistent and even, so that when you WANT to vary tempo slightly, it will sound like a good musical interpretation.

I think your breathing, at this level, is showing a good ear for phrasing. Being able to go longer between breaths will be a good thing, but for now I don't see a problem with it.

The link is broken to the second piece.

Keep up the good work!

I was really impressed with the tone quality you have achieved... at least as far as I could tell as it came across in the recording, it sounded pretty mature. Your low register sounds pretty stable and solid, and your upper register doesn't sound forced and airy like a lot of young players tend to get. What you have to work on now is evenness. Somebody said you were playing a vibrato here and there - it just sounded like uneven breathing to me. Also, your fingering of the notes is also uneven, but you know that. Now that you've accomplished the difficult task of getting a decent sound, you need to work on a consistent airflow. Trying playing long tones, low notes, mid-notes, and high ones too - hold a note out for as long as you can go and hold it steady so that it doesn't waver. Then learn to finger the scales while doing this once you've gotten good at it. You're doing very well, congratulations, and good luck!

Leighthesim, I have been playing for a year and a half and it is so much fun to see someone at a similar level. I loved both pieces. Your low notes sound much nicer then mine, so I will go practising right away.

Leprachaun, thanks for the link! I'll definitely try the playalongs.

Hey, I can tell you for sure, you are 10 times better than me when I was 2nd year on flute!! Your tone support is good, it will lead you to be a good player some years later if you continue practise, forget about the mistakes, notes and everything, just watch out for tone and support...

This is my first attempt too tonight (6th year)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1EWF3imRsA
with my precious Yamaha 211

Leprachaun, thanks for the link 2!

Pyroni- that was very good flute-ing. =)
I really liked the depth in it, but sometimes it almost seemed like something was "off" when you played low. I'm not sure exactly what it is. Most of the time it was very nice though!

thanks every one, i have tried practising with a metronome and they drive me insane but i will definitly try to keep better track of some of the note lengths and rests (i will play along to the cd next time i do it and that should help), thanks for all the comments on my tone, i have been trying to pratice longer notes but some times i leave them till the end of practice and then forget them so it doesn't quite work, and i am working on breath control aswell- i am a lot better then when i first started, i will record some more later and let you know when i have posted them, oh and i don't get my braces off for at least another year, and but my tone is better since i got them so i will just wait till then and record the difference as well.

Long notes practising should be made before each practise session, not after. At least a full deep breath for each note, the whole flute range or the part you know/can.

Boring, it is, so take it easy. Stop if the room starts turning around...

Mark the places on the score, where you should breath and try to obey your marks (not always possible, yes). Try to focus your embouchure, if you run out of air too quickly. I doubt that you need much breathing exercises at 16, but they could be useful.

Metronome drives everybody crazy, but it is a very good way of learning tempo keeping and also, as it puts a lot of pressure on you because it does not tolerate slight tempo variations to fit our playing problems, it forces you to correct the difficult parts.

For this reason, always start slowly and only increase the speed when you master the piece at that slower speed, make no errors and have a reasonable good tone for every note (very difficult, I know).

I hate it but in fact it is more a love-hate relationship that proved to be extremely useful in my learning.

As for your tuning/pitch issues, my teacher keeps recommending me to avoid gazing electronic tuners while playing and use it only for the initial tuning or in case of doubts. And she is right.

I find that the best way to tune OK is to play with another person (but one that plays right in tune!, as the teacher) or with a CD or with self-made midi/mp3 files. I use this last technique most of the time.

i only generally tune when i am playing with others(and then it is sliding the head joint out or in a little) but while i have my braces because my teeth are moving on day i am in tune the pulled out about a mm the next i am way out so i am just not fiddling with my embrochure until i have my braces off