How many of us are guilty of treating practice as a chore or just yet another thing to accomplish on the daily to-do list? I know I’m raising my hand! I can’t even count how many times I’ve pulled my flute out begrudgingly, immediately hurried through etudes, or just blazed through whatever piece I’m working on at the time. Who’s with me? Well, for that reason, I decided to take a couple of weeks to wax poetic about all things practicing. I don’t necessarily care to offer advice–anyone can access hundreds of practicing tips, philosophies, and techniques with a simple Google search. Rather, I’d like to share some of my own experiences and offer you to do the same.
Warm-ups: who needs ’em?? Okay, okay, we all do. But why? Is it to avoid injury? Establish the proper mindset? Develop techniques? I would venture to say all of the above! For me personally, I have found that warming up with scales, harmonics (more on those soon) and long tones is the best way to ease into my playing and become more physically comfortable. I have struggled with tendonitis and inflammation-related issues since my mid-20s, and I have definitely noticed that the times that I start playing a piece right off the bat are the times when I am the most uncomfortable and have to take a stretch break sooner. (Just as an fyi, I will be addressing common pain and injury issues for flute players in just about a month or so!) I also love warming up with harmonics because I feel like it prepares both my physical body (breath and lungs) and my mental state for making beautiful music with the best tone I can. Karen Moratz, principal flutist of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, has a wonderful chapter about establishing a practice routine–including a super helpful section on harmonics–in her book Flute for Dummies.
Lastly–and I know this will probably sound like a no-brainer–but let’s all take a minute to admit how incredibly helpful scale practice is to our everyday playing! Now that I am an adult and begrudge them *slightly* less than I did when I was younger, I can constantly find excerpts in pieces from all ability levels and time periods that incorporate some form of scale pattern. How easily they fly under the fingers when you are comfortable with them just from dedicating a few minutes each day!
Keep watching the blog over the next month or so for more practice musings, tips for teachers–and maybe even another video thrown in there sometime soon!