Flute Solo Music

It has been a while for me to continue my series on practicing! I have been having a bit of technical problems. So onward we go:

As I continue to struggle with managing to work on multiple pieces all at once, my practice technique continues to evolve. There are so many different ways to practice, and the technique that works for one person, is not always the best for another.

My current project: four pieces of music that fill one hour when played at tempo, from the four eras of music:

Baroque: Handel Sonata in G Major, 5 movements

Classical: Mercadante Concerto in D Major, 3 movements

Romantic: Gaubert Suite for Piano and Flute, 4 movements

Ferroud: Jade, the middle movement of Trois Pieces per Flute

If you count each movement as a piece, that’s 13 pieces to work on at once!

I have explored several different ways to cope with this mountain of work! And remember, I am not a professional flutist, so I have to fit my practice into everything else that life demands. I have tried several different tacks, and here’s the one that is working at the moment:

First I took a sheet of graph paper, wrote the movements across the top. Then I got colored felt pens for the 7 days of the week. I fill in a square each time I practice one of the movements. This way I can see that I am covering everything evenly.

Next I went through every piece, with metronome, and figured out at what tempo I could play through each piece, and how many minutes involved. Now for warm-up, I chose 10 minutes-worth and just play the music..no working, just a run-through. That way I can enjoy making music.

The next step is to select one movement, and WORK on it. I out the effort into fingerings, rhythm, dynamics, breathing .. whatever is needed. As I fill in the colored squares on my graph paper, I put a “W” for work, a dot for warm-up. Now I can see at a glance what I worked on the last time I practiced, and keep moving forward.

Practicing to Perfection: Part Two, Some Real Tips

I have read a number of articles about practice. Most of what I have to say is nothing new. I almost wonder if the world needs yet another article on the subject. I considered just giving you a list of links to those other articles. Then I decided that perhaps I could offer a quick, easy-to-skim list. So here it is:

 1. Claim your space.
Set aside a space that is your practice space, and fill it with all the tools you need. Pencils, erasers, staff and note paper, etc. even if you live alone, and have your home to yourself, this is a very important step. It does not have to be a separate room. But having a space where you keep all that you need helps to focus your attention on practice.

2. Organize your music.
Your music may be in a pile, a backpack, a book bag, on a shelf or table, or on the piano.  But that doesn’t mean it is organized. Part of my preparation for my recital is to take each of the pieces I am going to play and put them in a 3-ring binder with dividers. I use paper clips in my étude books so that I can easily find my place.
 

3. Set goals, and write them down.
It’s easy to say you want to do something, learn a certain piece, or master a tricky fingering, but writing down a goal makes it more concrete. There are many studies that show written goals are more often accomplished.

4. Have a practice plan which moves you toward your goals.
Be flexible, but focused. This means that your plan may change from day to day, but it must always be moving you forward. For example, if you are working on a tricky spot, and you play it day after day at the same pace, and never get any better, then your practice is NOT moving you forward. So you need to change your approach. Here’s a good article on quality practice, from a blog I have found engaging and helpful: Beyond the Notes.

5. Shut out distractions. 
Turn off the phone, put the dogs out, close the curtains, whatever it takes. 

6. You must have some way to be accountable. 
This is often a built-in factor. A child has his/her parent, the student has a teacher, the professional musician has an employer. In each case there is an automatic consequence if you do or practice.  If you do not fall in any of these categories, then you must find some other way to build accountability.

7. Put in the time.
We all know that if you don’t spend time practicing, you won’t improve. It’s as simple as that. How much time? There is no hard and fast rule. The experts all have their own opinion on this one. Click HERE for an article on time. It’s fairly long, and pretty technical, but it also includes more links for articles on practicing.

So there you have it; Seven easy steps toward better practice. Try them out, and see if you can start yourself on the path for better practice habits.

Up next: Part Three: Balancing Many Pieces at One Time

The Background, or Why I Wanted to Write About Practicing.

I am faced with a new challenge as a musician. This challenge has started me thinking about practicing in a different way. When I sat down to write this article, I realized that I needed first to explain where I am coming from. So if you are not interested in the story, and just want the tips, thoughts and links, that will be in Part Two, which will be along in a day or two.

There are advantages to learning an instrument as a child or teen. Children have time. They have someone to push them to practice. There are, (or used to be!), opportunities to be involved in an orchestra or band at school. When the parents are able to, there are, (from the students point of view), free private lessons. By the time the concerns of adult life kick in, you have six or more years of practicing as your background. That’s a lot of muscle memory! 

It’s different when you start your music career as an adult. You have to fit in practice around the mundane: dishes, laundry, errands, yard work, spouse, a day job, family and more. That means making the most of your time.

I have been thinking a lot about this lately, because a few weeks ago my teacher said to me, “I think you should consider giving a full recital.”  This probably won’t sound quite the same to many of you. If you had the privilege of studying your instrument as a college student you knew that you would have to give a recital. You could count on an audience of peers and family to come. You had a free hall to use, and most most of all, time to practice with practice rooms to work in. You also knew that this recital would be part of reaching your goal of a degree..so a big reward was waiting for you.

Don’t get me wrong! I am sympathetic to the fact you may be carrying, (or did carry), a full academic load, with other homework demands. You may have to work to support yourself, or add to the assistance from scholarships or family. You also most likely have an active social life. So you also have to manage your time to get in the practice. 

I don’t have that kind of support. I’m older, and have less energy than I did 35 years ago. My hands ache often, and it takes me longer to learn than it did when I was college age. I have people around me who depend on me to keep the household running. Cooking, cleaning, errands, yardwork all take my limited time and energy.

My friends have busy lives, jobs and children. Even though they support me and enjoy when I perform at church, they aren’t likely to give up their precious free time to come sit for an hour of flute music. And this could get expensive! I will have to find a suitable hall, and likely pay for the rental. I will be paying an accompanist.

I am actually excited about the challenge..to play for an hour, learn the music, be the “star” of the show. I have given myself a year to prepare. And in spite of their busy lives, there are people I can count on to come. If it’s small enough, I can hold it in my own home. 

So that’s the background. I am an adult student, with arthritis in my hands, and a busy life. I’ve been working at playing the flute for 8 years. I am going to pull this thing off, and along the way I am sure I will find other thoughts to share.

Practice is the foundation of being a good musician, and now I must find a way to work on many more pieces at one time. Up until now, it has been a single song, or a single movement of a larger work. I now have what amounts to 13 pieces to work on at the same time. This is in addition to a new song every 3 months for church, and my parts for TwtrSymphony.

That is what has led me to write about practicing. How am I going to do this? How can I keep track of it all? How can I use my limited time effectively? Those are the things to be addressed in Part Two.

Are you preparing a flute solo for a performance? Have you become frustrated? Do you feel like your tone has gone into the trash can, your technique out the window, and nothing seems to help? Are you discouraged and wondering if you’ll ever improve?

The first thing you want to explore is the source of your frustration. Mine is completely self-generated. I am motivated by performance. I want every performance to be perfect, and when I feel like I am not moving toward that goal, I get frustrated. It’s silly, I know, but that’s the way I work! Other people become frustrated because they are trying to meet the standards someone else has set for them.
 
No matter where your frustration comes from, it does not have to be an on-going part of playing an instrument!  Nevertheless, if you struggle with it like I do, and if you’ve answered yes to any of the opening questions, then this article is just for you! I am going to share some tips that help me, including one I just discovered today, which was my motivation to write this article.

Techniques to fight frustration:  
 
First apply your scale study techniques–

• Before you start to play through your solo music, play the scale that matches your key. Play it from the tonic all the way up and down.
• Next play it so that you cover the entire range that your music covers. For instance, if your music is in the key of D, and the highest note is a B, then start on low D, go all the way up to the highest B and back down to D.
• Work your way up and down the scale, staying in the key.
• Work your way up and down the scale, chromatically. ie: D to D, then D sharp to D sharp, now E to E, etc.
• Now play it in arpeggios.

Now use your theory:

• Go through the music and identify scale progressions in other keys, and practice them.
• Break your music into short pieces, say 4-12 measures. Then practice ONLY one section a day. Use a metronome and focus on all aspects of that section, rhythm, dynamics, ornaments, finger patterns that trip you up.
• Go through the piece backward. Start with the last 2 notes. Play them. Make sure they work well together. Then the last 3 notes, then the last 4, and so forth. In doing this you will identify little spots where something is a problem. The fun thing is that usually it will be a surprise where those problems are!

AND HERE’S THE ONE I DISCOVERED TODAY:

• Ignore your solo piece for a day, and pick up music that you played as a solo a year or two ago. Play it through, just like you were sight reading. Listen to yourself. You should be very pleasantly surprised and able to see how much more skilled you are, how much easier it is. This is especially effective if it’s something that you had to work at, or had frustration with at the time.

 
That’s what I did. I played a piece of music from a performance a year ago. It’s not an especially hard piece of music. It wasn’t terribly hard before, it’s just a piece of music I enjoy playing. I didn’t expect anything to happen, and what a surprise!

wow, Wow, WOW!!

All of a sudden, my fingers flowed with ease.
My dynamics (always a struggle for me) were right on target.
I heard myself and the tone was lovely, full of the right expressions.
It was so much MORE in every way than the last time I performed it.
Best of all, I enjoyed playing it–no frustration, no struggle, just making pretty music.

So now I have a new tool for fighting frustration and discouragement: play something that I haven’t played in a while. When I do that, I re-discover the joy of making music. I see my own progress. Once I’ve done this, it is much, much easier to go back and work on the new piece because I know that one day I can come back to it and find it easy!

IN SUMMARY:

These are not all the techniques that exist to fight off frustration. I’m sure you have ones that work well for you. Write a comment and share your own favorite techniques!