flute
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Harmonics for flautists
Harmonics are our best teachers! We can learn so much about how we are using (or not using) our airstream, intonation, note beginnings and endings, legato, and more! Because the flute has many keys and fingering possibilities, we can sometimes neglect what actually creates sound: ourselves! When we play harmonics, however, the fingers are left…
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Five charming flute pieces to play before grade 5.
It’s always good to explore new repertoire prior to taking the next exam. These gems are wonderful at any time. Emile Kronke: Five Miniatures for Flute and Piano Op 92 Here are some more delightful pieces from Emil Kronke. He writes so well for developing players, keeping the technical challenges simple but adding sumptuous harmonies…
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Five fabulous study books for flute
Need a practice re-set? Look no further than these imaginative studies guaranteed to get you thinking! Aleksey Igudesman: Magical Spells for Solo Flute These ten short pieces are really quite difficult and they are certainly different. There are some that require good tonal inflection, such as ‘Open Sesame!’ others like’ Izzy wizzy, lets get busy!’…
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Saint-Saëns Romance: practice tips
The Romance by Camille Saint-Saëns is one of my absolute favourite pieces – full of warmth and charm and not without its challenges. I recently did a warm-up video for the British Flute Society‘s Warm up Wednesday series and used some simple warm-up exercises centred around this piece. So, here is a blog to give…
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Finding resonance on the flute
“How do I get a big sound?” is often a question students will ask. Indeed, developing one’s sound and dynamic range is part of a musician’s daily practice. So, apart from blowing more, what can we do as flute players to get a bigger sound? Well, it’s all about resonance. Resonance is the quality in…
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Chaminade Concertino – Practice Tips
Following on from my Taffanel blog, here is a practice guide for another great French work: Chaminade’s Concertino. This piece is played a lot, but quite often with some important details overlooked. As I say to my students, “don’t be an overlooker”! I will also give some tips for practising some of the tricky passages.…
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How to organise a flute event
Flute events can be a great way to bring together flute-loving people in your community, or from further afield. As an organiser of several masterclasses, workshops and concerts, I thought I’d share how I usually go about organising such events, which might give you some ideas. When I was a student at Royal Academy of…
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“What Should I be Practising?”
Learning the flute (or any musical instrument) is not always a smooth process of steady improvement. We all learn in different ways with our own strengths and weaknesses, so there will be times when things can get frustrating if one feels they are not improving as much as they would like. Other factors also affect…