As some of you may know, I have spent the past several months working on a book. While my writing and transcription skills have improved tenfold, my flute playing has unfortunately fallen into a sad state of neglect. One of my New Years’ Resolutions for 2020 is to get back into proper flute playing shape! I have devised the below plan as my own personal four-week Flute Boot Camp. On this program I will review some of the basic fundamentals, revisit etudes with which I previously had a love/hate relationship, re-ignight my passion for practicing pieces that I love, re-memorize pieces I have forgotten, and learn new repertoire to take me well into the new year. If you are in the same boat, you may want to use this plan as an example to devise your own four-week Flute Boot Camp. There are no “right” or “wrong” ways to organize your Boot Camp. Simply select exercises and repertoire that you know you will practice (and love) and new pieces that will inspire you.

 

FOUR-WEEK FLUTE BOOT CAMP

WEEK 1 – Back to Bach

Long Tones – Trevor Wye Practice Book on Tone. All lower register exercises.

Scales/Articulation  – Taffanel and Gaubert Exercise #4. Alternate continuous slurs and single tonguing every other day.

Flexibility Exercises – Taffanel and Gaubert Exercise #12. Have rememorized by end of week.

Etudes – Bachstudien (Studies on Bach), Select 1-2 etudes

Excerpts – Polonaise and Badinerie from Bach’s Orchestral Suite #2 in B Minor

Revisit Repertoire – Bach Sonata in C Major (rememorize first movement by end of week)

New Repertoire – Bach Sonata in E Minor (not a “new” piece, but one I will be programing on a near future recital)

 

WEEK 2 – Missing Mozart

Long Tones – Trevor Wye Practice Book on Tone – All middle register exercises.

Scales/Articulation – Taffanel and Gaubert Exercise #4. Alternate “coos” with chirps (or “air puffs”) every other day.

Flexibility Exercises – Taffanel and Gaubert – Exercise #10. Practice 1 new page per day.

Etudes – Karg Elert 30 studies, Opus 107 (select 1-2 etudes)

Excerpts – Beethoven Leonore Overture No. 3 (Opening-mm. 36, mm. 328-360)

Revisit Repertoire – Mozart Concerto in G Major. Work to have first movement rememorized by the end of the week.

New Repertoire – Poulenc Sonata (another not so “new” piece, but one I would like to program for an upcoming recital)

 

WEEK 3 – French Frenzy

Long Tones – Trevor Wye Practice Book on Tone – Transitions from middle to high registers

Scales/Articulation – Taffanel and Gaubert Exercise #4. All double tonguing, alternating days between “too-coo” and “duc-ky”

Flexibility Exercises – Trevor Wye Practice Book on Tone. Flexibility exercise #1.

Etudes – Furstenau Bouquet Des Tons (edited by Moyse) (select 1-2 etudes)

Excerpts – Debussy Afternoon of a Faun, Daphnis and Chloe

Revisit Repertoire – Faure Fantasie. Work on rememorizing by end of the week.

New Repertoire – Dutilleux Sonata. Another piece I would like to program on an upcoming recital.

 

WEEK 4 – Twentieth Century in 2020

Long Tones – Trevor Wye Practice Book on Tone – All high register exercises.

Scales/Articulation – Taffanel and Gaubert Exercise #1. Change articulation with every new scale from single tonguing, “coos,” and double tonguing

Flexibility Exercises – Trevor Wye Practice Book on Articulation. Flexibility exercise #2

Etudes – The dreaded Jean Jean etudes. True Flute Boot Camp material! Select 1 exercise.

Excerpts – Hindemith Symphonic Metamorphosis – Movement III, Peter and the Wolf (all excerpts)

Revisit Repertoire – Nielsen Concerto. Work on rememorizing first movement by the end of the week.

New Repertoire – Lieberman Sonata. Another piece to program for my next recital.

 

Are you also trying to get your flute playing back on track in 2020? What does your Flute Boot Camp program look like? What exercises do you find essential? What pieces do you revisit from time to time and what new repertoire are you adding to your 2020 practice list? Please comment below.

 

Happy Fluting!

 

 

Happy Friday! I’m baaaaack. One of my New Year’s Resolutions for 2020 is to get back on my Flute Friday game. I may not post EVERY Friday, but in the coming weeks I will have short (or not so short) posts covering various topics relating to performing, teaching, repertoire, new products, and general fluting tips and tricks. With that said, I welcome any suggestions for topics. Please comment below or send me a private message.

If you haven’t checked out your flute horoscopes in a while, please visit https://thefluteview.com/2020/01/dr-gs-flute-horoscopes-january-2020/ to see what January 2020 holds for your flute playing.

For those of you that follow my Facebook or Instagram pages, you will likely know that my husband and I are Disneyland fanatics. At a recent visit to the Happiest Place on Earth, I noticed a number of representations of characters playing the flute on the It’s A Small World ride. Way to represent, Disney! However, there seemed to be a bit of inconsistency in the position of the flute relative to the body. Perhaps this was intended to add to the playful and whimsical nature of the Disneyland environment or maybe we are meant to face our preconceived judgments of what is “correct” and “not correct” and simply co-exist with the “not correct” for a while. Of course, they may have just had it wrong. But what is “right” and what is “wrong” after all? Okay, I’m getting too philosophical on a Friday evening… For the purposes of this post, I am going to classify the flute positioned to the right of the character as “traditional” and to the left as “non-traditional.” What do you think? Do you think these inconsistencies were created on purpose? Comment below!

It’s a Small World – Photo #1, Traditional (flute to the character’s right)

 

It’s a Small World – Photo #2, Traditional (flute to the character’s right)

 

It’s a Small World – Photo #3, Non-Traditional (flute to the character’s left)

 

It’s a Small World – Photo #4, Non-Traditional (flute to the character’s left)

 

Do you have any photos of Disney characters playing the flute? Have you noticed these inconsistencies before? Do you think these characters add to the whimsy of the park? Please comment below!

 

Happy Fluting!