I am currently accepting new students in Salem and Eugene, Oregon. Please contact me for more information: celine.thackston (at) gmail.com.


Lessons are taught either in 30 minute slots (recommended for beginners and younger students) or one hour slots (recommended for advanced students). The majority of my lessons are taught either at my home in the South Salem neighborhood, or at various studios in Eugene. Other lesson sites may be workable, please contact me for details.

Payment for lessons is due either on the first of each month or can be paid per lesson. Cancellations should be made 24-hours in advance to avoid paying for the lesson, although in emergency situations, less notice is acceptable.

My youngest student is 8 years old, and my oldest is an adult - I welcome all age and skill levels. I generally recommend that young students either start out on the recorder, or expect to spend the first few lessons focusing solely on the headjoint. I do not recommend that students start on piccolo instead of flute.

Starting Lessons

Beginner materials: a quality beginner instrument (please see this guide, for more information), with closed holes and a C foot, a flute method book, a music stand, and a metronome. Depending on the age of the student, we may also do lessons on the Yamaha fife, which can be purchased through amazon.com.

A word of caution on buying flutes! The $49.95 specials that you find on ebay or at Wal-Mart are NOT worth it. These flutes are poorly made, will break easily and fall out of adjustment quite soon, making it a very frustrating situation for your child. As a student, it's very discouraging to be putting in much more effort than is necessary just because you have a stinker of a flute. If you're curious about good, inexpensive flute brands, please contact me! Your local craigslist (and ebay, but buyer beware) will occasionally have good deals on a flute - just do your research!

The "lesson plan"

A typical half-hour lesson will consist of warming up with tone development through long tones, harmonics, singing and playing, and lip exercises. We usually go through scales or some sort of technical exercise, a weekly etude, and will work on repertoire. I LOVE to play duets and try to squeeze one in every week, if possible. I am a huge fan of improvisation, and if students feel comfortable with it, we do try improv exercises from time to time. I also ask students to compose their own melodies and technical exercises. An hour long lesson is an extension of all of the above, typically with more time planned for repertoire. Lessons with beginning students will usually involve exercises with the fife and the flute headjoint, some rhythmic games and fun, easy improvisation exercises. I pride myself on having a studio environment that is friendly, positive, warm, and above all, supportive!