It's been about 5 weeks since I last had a flute lesson I'm currently dividing my time between where I now work and live and going back to see my husband every fortnight. I really miss my flute teacher as they were fantastic but they don't teach at weekends and I can't find a teacher in my new area that doesn't involve needing a car.

At the moment I'm having occasional lessons with my violin teacher but now they have suggested that I should finish with them and find a new teacher in my area, which they've offered to help with. So at the moment I'm not doing anything. Violin wise it's just playing some simple tunes which is now starting to really annoy me. I can totally see my teacher's point of view and I know they are acting in my best interests but I don't have any sense of direction anymore as we're just plodding along.

I feel totally lost at the moment and I don't know how best to resolve this. Has anyone had a long break between lessons and if so, how did you stay focused?

Hey BB77, stay cool!

I haven't been exactly where you are now but I do get the blues between lessons whether music or other stuff I've tackled over the years. At least for me, the lessons provide discipline that otherwise I lack. When I'm on my own I just do the stuff I like and eventually I get bored with it, hopping form one thing to another without really pushing myself on anything.

Have you tried setting yourself specific goals?, e.g. by June I want to be able to play X scale slurred 3 octaves. There are plenty of youtube vids which show you how to do stuff. I'm studying this one right now http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djrxJLwYiS0 to help me with something I just want to be able to do and it's outside of current lesson content.

I restarted piano three years ago but only started lessons last November. In between, I motivated myself by working on things that I wanted to play. Most of my deficiencies were in the area of technique - I obviously didn't do that well working on this on my own or I wouldn't have needed lessons, but I did make some progress. I was able to break down the bits of pieces that I wanted to play but couldn't.

Is there an orchestra that you can join to give you that extra motivation?

There is an orchestra in my new area but I can't get there on public transport. Violin wise - my teacher has given me some new stuff to work on but it's very hard being in limbo as my progression is now very slow.

Flute wise - I'm getting very despondent without a teacher to guide me, I'm having a lot of problems finding a new teacher as I don't have a car but I will keep trying.

Do you know Jennifer Cluff's website?
www.jennifercluff.com

It's got weeks' worth of reading, dozens of ideas on how to work on technique, tips on repertoire, links galore, an interesting blog. Hopefully you might find things there to inspire you and keep you going. I find it very helpful in the teacherless summer holiday.