Dales Story

Dale Halsey from Indiana in the USA learnt the flute in a few weeks.

Here he tells his story of how it improved his health, his happiness and changed his life.

"What advice would I give someone who is considering learning the flute? If you're considering it, give it a shot. If I can do it, ANYONE can! I played for the Senior Citizens Banquet - we eat out once a month - and they wanted me to play. I really wasn't, didn't think I was ready to do that. I said "no I've only had [the flute] for 3 weeks!", but I played it. It sounded pretty good! I'd only been playing about 3 weeks there because I didn't sound very good there - I'd sound a lot better now. But that goes to show what you can do in a few weeks... I started then really practicing, because I like the flute, I LOVE the flute. It's a beautiful instrument and I found out later the flute is more like the human voice of any instrument out there. What I love about playing is that it takes my mind off all the troubles and stuff of the world. And I think about the GOOD things, and I just love the notes, and I just love the music. And there's so many wonderful pieces written for the flute that I didn't even know existed. Just like me, if you're retired and you don't have a lot to do, it takes your mind off of maybe problems that you're thinking about and so on. And you can get with other folks maybe that play the flute, or play a violin, or play anything that goes with [the flute], or somebody who just plays the piano, and go along and play with them. I'll tell you - it will make you happy. It will make you happy. Another thing, health-wise, I found out from my doctor when I had cancer (and I've been over it now for 4 years). He said one of the best things I am doing is playing the flute, and I said "well... why?!" Breathing in deep helps you health-wise. So I thought I'd throw that out there, because the doctor, my cancer doctor, said "Dale that's one of the best things you can do because cancer cells cannot survive in an oxygen-rich environment. So you older folks out there, you can do it. You just THINK you can't! And for you younger people, Jane has got... from what I have seen of her videos, she really starts down at the grass roots level. And you'll be able to learn from her, and you'll be able to play a flute. You'll find out you'll have a good time and especially if you can find somebody else to play with. Well, I like the sound of the flute. It's got a nice clear tone (when you play it right!). As I said before, don't be afraid to fail. You're going to goof up at first - we all do. We all start from the beginning. And we're all going to goof up. And that's just normal. That's just part of being a human being. And you don't have to be a really super master at the flute. Yes it'd be nice to master it like Jane has. My favourite piece is the William Tell Overture. And why, is because as a kid I used to listen to the Lone Ranger and it has a flute solo in it - just before it goes into the fast part. Jane's got, I know she's going to have some videos that tell you how to start out real simple. And I think if you follow her step by step, you won't have any problems. You'll have a blast, I guarantee you. You'll have a blast. It is just FUN."