A lot of flute players seem to spend a ton of time, almost an inordinant amount of time, practicing technique. Technique is a very important part of flute playing, so here I tried to discuss some practice suggestions for improving technique and ways to make technique practicing more efficient so you can spend less time practicing technique and more time making music.
What to Practice
1) Scales. Practicing scales is the single best way to improve your technique. Composers will often use patterns from major and minor scales, chromatic scales, or thirds in their music. If you can play all of these scales in all key signatures, you will have learned about 90% of the really scary looking runs composers like to put in their flute parts, so for the most part, it will just be a matter of analyzing each run and figuring out what scale(s) it is. Plus, you will need to be able to play the scales for almost every major audition/chair challenge/playing test for the rest of your flute-playing existance.
2) Etudes. Etudes are technique studies, kind of like solos but generally less melodic and more technical. Practice gradually increasing the speed that you play an etude, and over time you will be able to increase your technique. For specific tips on how to practice an etude, click here. There are tons of great etude books out there; ask your private teacher for a recomendation or browse one of the stores linked here.
3) Sight reading. This is when you take a piece you have never played before, spend a minute looking at it without playing, and then play all the way through. Sight reading is definately an art form all in itself that takes time to perfect, but by practicing sight reading you will improve your technique and your ability to play something well on the first time through. As your technique improves, you will also become a better sightreader, so this is a good indication of your improvements.
Practice Tips
1) Practice technique every day. The saying goes like this: If you don't practice for one day, you will know it; if you don't practice for two days, your teacher will know it; if you don't practice for three days, the world will know it.
2) Don't get discouraged. Stop practicing if your hands start to hurt or it's just not going well. Sometimes, you will reach a technique plateau- it just doesn't seem to be getting any better, no matter what you do. If this happens, try increasing the metronome marking by just one beat per day.
3) Make technique interesting. Playing scales doesn't have to be boring. Try alternating and playing different scales every day, or try changing the rhythm or articulation patterns to add interest to scale playing. For etudes, you can try making up a story. What's going on in that etude? Is it a space ship blasting off or a frantic chase scene, etc. Then try to make your dynamics and expression match the story.
4) Take a sightreading break. It doesn't matter what music you are playing for sightreading, as long as you are sightreading it. This is a great excuse to get out that book of Disney songs or classic show tunes. Libraries also have great collections of music; piano scores can be played on flute too by transposing up an octave- and they are all free too!
5) Play as much as possible. The best way to get better at flute technique is to spend time playing and practicing. The more time you spend practicing and the more groups you are involoved in, the better you will get. Groups like the pit orchestra for a musical are especially great for practicing technique because you will get lots of practice in sight reading.
