What do you do when you’ve practiced that one difficult section over and over and over again, and it still isn’t right? It’s not fast enough, or smooth enough, or loud enough, or … It can be really frustrating when you’re making an honest effort to improve but you aren’t seeing results. Next time you …
Often, when you have been doing a considerable amount of practice, you suddenly feel like you’re getting much WORSE instead of better. In my experience, this is actually a good thing. You aren’t getting worse. It’s just that your ears are now more acutely aware of the things about your playing that could be improved. …
I will readily admit that I’m a bit of a nut when it comes to playing B-flat on the flute. I’m always very deliberate when it comes to which fingering I choose for this note. It’s really important to make sure that you’re using the most advantageous fingering for the passage you’re playing to make sure …
To follow up on my last blog post, Practicing: run-throughs vs. small chunks, here are some ways to break down your practice to get more work done in less time. I’ve chosen an example from the Rubank Elementary Method for Flute, but these ideas apply to all music at all levels of difficulty. Copyright by …
I was never taught how to practice, but I remember the point at which my practicing became much more efficient. And this is really what we want, right? To get the most out of the limited practice time we have? Often, I find that my students only tend to run through music during their practice …
It’s really important to establish some kind of practice schedule. Many times, I have new students (college or private students) who realize they have to practice between lessons but just never seem to get around to it. Before they know it, a full semester is over and they really haven’t made any progress, which is …
The book “17 Daily Exercises” (or 17 Grands Exercices Journaliers de Mécanisme) by Paul Taffanel and Philippe Gaubert is the flutist’s bible. Since its publication in 1923, it has become a standard method book for all flutists. Taffanel began writing this book, and it was finished by his student, Gaubert, after Taffanel’s death. I start my …
After reading Dr. Noa Kageyama’s excellent article on how much musicians should practice (“How Many Hours a Day Should You Practice?, www.bulletproofmusician.com), the question occurred to me: besides measuring quantity when it comes to practicing, how do we measure the quality of our practice? Dr. Kageyama begins to address this in his article. He makes …
Basic flute maintenance (from the flutist’s perspective) Having taught flute for fourteen years now, I’ve taught a lot of folks. I’ve decided to compile a basic maintenance checklist for flute students. I’ve found that, usually, each student has a few habits that could cause damage to their instrument. Any damage is going to adversely affect …
For me, the summer means working on flute technique. With a substantially pared-down teaching schedule, I transfer the time I would normally spend driving, preparing lectures, and grading exams into practice time. And while I do explore repertoire during this time, I primarily focus on technique. I normally don’t have recitals scheduled until the middle …
