Tuesday 30 April 2019

My Flute Practice Routine 2019

Hi everyone,

I'm not sure if you know or not, but I'm currently in the process of learning on how to play the flute. I have been learning the flute for around five years, and during that time the way I practice has actually changed. At the moment I'm currently working towards the ABRSM Grade 3, but I'm also working on pieces that fall around the Grade 6 standard. Also, during my practice sessions I will analyse what I'm doing, and by doing this it will help me to figure out were I'm going wrong, and if anything needs work. Then I can come back to it at my practice.

Scales & Arpeggios (30 minutes)
Before I even start working on my scales & arpeggios I warm up my flute by doing Harmonics on C; which is starting from the low C and without moving your fingers you go up the next octave, then to G, C, G, B, and then finally C. It's taken me the best part of 16 months to get to the 7th Harmonic with practice and patience.

Once I have warmed my flute up by using Harmonics and tuning her to A I then start with my scales and arpeggios. 
The scales that I'm currently working on are D Major 2 Octaves, Bb Major 12th & E Harmonic Minor 12th.
The arpeggios that I'm currently working on are G Major 12th, D Major 2 Octaves, Bb Major 12th & E Harmonic 12th.

I don't practice these all within one 30 minute session, as I like to rotate and change things up a little bit as I like a bit of variety within my learning. But, just as they all practiced that's all that matters, as scales and arpeggios form the basis of all musical learnings and it's important that they are learnt and practiced.

Exam Pieces (30 minutes)
I'm currently working on three pieces from the current ABRSM Grade 3 flute exam pack, and again I will rotate all of these pieces just to give myself a bit of variety.
The pieces that I'm currently working on are: -
- The Irish Washerwoman
- Study in D Minor
- Cinq Sets

All of these pieces have there own hurdles to get your head around, but it's really nice to hear the progress that I have made during my next music lesson. The first piece that I took to was the 'Study in D Minor', and I more or less sight-read it within the first lesson that I picked the piece. It wasn't perfect, but I thrilled to bits that I had actually sight-read a piece during a lesson; as it had never happened before.

Additional Pieces (30 minutes)
These are the additional pieces that I have chosen to learn with the help of my music teacher. The pieces I'm currently working on are the Chopin Nocturne Op 9, No 2 & and 'The Swan' from 'Carnival of the Animals' by Saint-Saens.

With these additional pieces I like spend around 15 minutes on each piece, and by doing this I can focus on working out my little "niggles", while having a bit of fun. I've actually taught myself how to sight-read 'The Swan' without my teachers knowledge up until recently, as it was a piece that I really wanted to learn; and I have been learning this piece since just before Christmas last year. It's still not perfect, as I have a bar that keeps tripping me up every time I practice it.

For the Chopin Nocturne Op 9, No 2 I'm currently working on quite a few 'runs' that take place towards the end of the piece, as I need to train my fingers up to do them. It's taking a bit of time to get these right, but progress is still being made even though it may be in form of 'baby steps'.

Music Planner
I have an A5 ring bound planner which is dedicated to my music learnings/ practice, and within this planner I keep the times I have practiced, flute lessons, what I have been set to do by flute teacher, a condensed practice log, a more in depth practice log, and also any goals. Alongside my music planner I also have a 'Music Journal' and this is what I take to my lessons; and within this is where I also log my more in-depth music practice.



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