Move those flute fingers!

Playing flute music (also known as flute literature) will be more enjoyable if you can move your fingers smoothly and quickly.  Flutists of all levels have tricky note passages at times requiring special attention so those parts will become smooth and musical. These tricky sections are described as technically hard, and when we work at technically hard passages we say we are developing our flute technique.

Signs of a technically difficult piece for you: 

1. You have to slow down to play the notes correctly, evenly, and musically.
2. You stumble a bit but keep barging through until you get to a place that’s easy for you to play.
3. You don’t like this section and would rather not play it.
4. When you play, or imagine playing, this section for someone else, you get nervous, anxious, scared.
5. You don’t like the flute piece mainly because of a certain section.
6. You want to give up.

There are flute method books that will provide daily exercises to develop your finger movement so you will be prepared for similar sections in some of the fun flute pieces you play.  You can find flute books with etudes (also known as studies) that will contain note phrases that will build your technical abilities.  You can also take a difficult section from a piece you’re trying to learn and turn that into a technical exercise.

Try this:  Work on a technically hard section of your flute piece

Find a tricky passage from a piece you’re learning.  Your goal is to make this section smooth and comfortable by studying it and playing it in different ways.  When you’re done and ready to perform, you want your listeners to think it sounds easy!

This section is going to become a stand-alone exercise for you.  You’ll play it as a separate study without playing from the beginning of the piece or going all the way to the end. 

Did you find your tricky passage? 

Here are some things you can do:

1.  Before you pick up your flute, say the names of the notes, including any sharps, flats, or naturals.

2.  Repeat the note names (as above) but try to say them (or sing them) as close as possible to the written rhythm.

3.  Now you can pick up your flute.  Play the written rhythm slowly at a tempo (speed) where you can play correctly.  If you use a metronome, write down this starting tempo. (During later practice sessions you’ll gradually increase the speed as you practice and it will be handy to know at what tempos you’ve already worked.

4.  Play the passage using different rhythms (don’t worry about the real written rhythm).  See the example in the photo.

•      Long-short pattern
•      Short-long pattern

5.  Now try playing the passage using different articulations (starting notes with your tongue “t” or slurring with air between the notes, no “t” ) See the example in the photo.

•      Tongue slur-tongue-tongue    (T-uh  T T )
•      Tongue Tongue Tongue-slur   (T  T  T-uh)
•      Tongue Tongue-slur Tongue   (T  T-uh  T )
•      Tongue –slur Tongue-slur       (T-uh  T-uh) 

6.  Next, try that passage again at the tempo you want and with the written articulations.  Not there yet?  Put it on your list for practice work tomorrow and go through the same type of technical strategies.

7. Finally, if you’d like to play through the whole piece and see how it fits, go for it!


Please remember that you will make progress over time- it won’t happen right away.  But if you keep working you’ll get there.  And you’ll feel great about it!