Restart the flute today with these powerful technical practices

[@TheFlutePractice]

Tell us in a comment below: what is your flute story? When did you start or restart? Why did you pick it up again and what do you love about it?

[@anamartins3749]

I’ve started playing the flute about 6 months ago, I’m 46 and feel like couldn’t have made a better decision 🎉😊

[@TheFlutePractice]

Wooohoooo! Welcome to the flute family 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 I hope you continue to just have so much fun with it!

[@anamartins3749]

@@TheFlutePractice 😊tysm

[@stephkeys]

I started playing flute on my 35th birthday. we should start our own marching band. 😅

[@anamartins3749]

Have you ever listened to Brazilian Choro? It's my favourite music gender@@stephkeys

[@ulflundberg5029]

One of my favorite exercises is to play a simple melody that I like in all keys and in all registers. Great for sound, great ear training and great for giving you a more intuitive relationship to your instrument. Start with very simple melodies, a four or eight bar nursery rhyme is perfect.

[@TheFlutePractice]

Yes! Absolutely brilliant exercise!

[@copenh21]

Played for two years now and at an intermediate'ish level (not least thanks to your channel). It often feels like you are restarting the flute every day you pick up the flute 😀

[@TheFlutePractice]

So so true! It can be so frustrating sometimes but I think knowing that can be so important.

[@379val]

Great advice Tatiana! I am about start my flute journey again, take 4😊. I first learned to read music and play flute 37 years ago, took lessons and played for three years. I stopped for about 7 years , after joining the navy. From there, 1997, I began practicing and taking lessons for about a year. Then, I went was working full-time and going back to school, and I stopped after four years. In 2006, I bought a used flute and tried to practice on my own and due to being too busy with work and home, I stopped again. I sold that flute in 2009. Now almost 55, I am planning to get back to playing again. I have been watching a lot of your videos and others. There's so many great resources that did not exist years ago. I am about to purchase a very good condition used student model Yamaha 225sii flute-same model I purchased new in the late 90s. I plan to follow your 5 tips for relearning. I plan to start slow and commit to 15-20 minutes 5-6 days and keep a journal. At some point, when I am ready for some structure, which I really need, I can start up lessons again. My plan for my 15-20 minutes self study is 5 min long tones, 5 minute 1 scale, 5 minute site reading, 5 minutes of fun learning a song I really like to play? Any thoughts? Btw, I do have the Trevor Wye Tone and Scales books along with some sheet music of fav songs, including christmas carol songs.

[@apearson79]

I have a BfA in Clarinet, and haven't played in a decade. Now I'm learning flute 😂 it's a fun experience! I'm doing a lot of harmonics work to learn and build my embouchure. I actually love scales, I used to go into my clarinet exams and kill all four octaves and arpeggios 😂

[@mahendrawardhana3189]

Thank you for this post. I'm a retired finance executive. I first learned to play the flute back in 1977 during high school in the UK. The flute I have is the same flute I used to learn back in 1977. It is a solid silver Muramatsu, closed finger. I stopped playing in 1985 when I started working to earn a living. In 2011, I picked up the Saxophone. I started with the Alto and now also play the Tenor, mainly playing Jazz, Blues, and some popular. Recently I decided to restart playing the flute again. I found your post when looking for fingering chart for the high E, F, F# etc. I find the tips you share very helpful, especially those relating to improving tone. I am somehow unable to increase the volume of the lower notes. Like with the saxophone, I find practicing long tones really boring. So, tips on effective practice routine to improve tones valuable. Thank you.

[@johnnyjames7893]

This is me! Fifteen years not playing. I have a question too. I’ve noticed a metallic taste in my mouth after starting. Could that be from my flute? I just had it serviced. Maybe the polish? I started playing in 1981. It is like a natural instrument for me. I’ve tried guitar, voice, and mandolin, but flute seems to fit me most. I love it! I will turn 68 years this June.

[@vincescuderi]

Love the flute. I'm primarily a saxophone and clarinet player. My teaching position required that I finally learn to play. Your videos have helped quite a bit. I'm trying to get my students to stop thinking of practice as punishment or icky homework. Not easy. I advise all my flute students to do long tones in octaves. Punishment. Thanks for the videos! They do help.

[@janicerobert2002]

I love your scale book. I use it all the time. I guess I’m one of the weird people I love doing scales ❤

[@helledegagne2706]

I love practicing the scales and exercises. The scale book made all the difference and taught me what to do and how to do it. It is fun actually.

[@TheFlutePractice]

😃😃😃😃👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

[@justanotherpiccplayer3511]

I found the way for me to make scales fun was to pick something to focus on, like actually use scales for a reason not just playing scales for no reason. So like focusing on tone, work on changing articulation etc

[@TheFlutePractice]

Absolutely agree! It makes such a difference when you use it as a tool for practice rather than this boring thing you feel you have to do!

[@chengsisi6197]

Thank you so much for making this video, it encourages me to pick up my flute and practice😊

[@TheFlutePractice]

👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 I am so glad!

[@Marie-qr9hg]

I have the scale book and I love it! It makes scales so much more fun. As a side note… what kind of flute do you play? I would love to see the engraving up close!

[@TheFlutePractice]

Thank you! I will post a photo on the community tab of my engravings 😁 it’s a Muramatsu Platinum Clad SR. I absolutely love it!

[@Marie-qr9hg]

@@TheFlutePractice Yay! I will watch for it there. I’ve been shopping for a new flute the past month and trialing some for the past week. I think I’ve settled on a Muramatsu DS. They make beautiful flutes. Also, your flute purchasing guide has been super helpful. Thanks for sharing all your knowledge!

[@LittleBoBlue]

I am struggling with the scales and arpeggios because: I learned those things on guitar. (I've been playing blues for a very long time.) For instance, with respect to the major and minor scales, on a guitar there are 5 boxes which all link together. Once I learn ONLY TWO scales, let's say, A Minor Pentatonic and C Major Pentatonic, the shapes are the same. The root tone is located differently but the finger motions are the same. Once I learn the 5 boxes, I can move the root tone up and down the neck to produce scales in every key. I don't really go by what the notes are, but by what the finger pattern is. I can't do this with flute (nor with saxophone), because each key starts in a different place. I can see no 'pattern' as I do with guitar. This makes the difficulty of the learning process way more complicated. Are there patterns on the flute (and sax) I'm just not seeing?

[@TheFlutePractice]

Unfortunately not! It’s such a pain. I played the violin for many years and had a similar experience. You can rely on finger patterns with the violin but not the flute! I have a video on how to master your scales on the flute that may help you with some ideas but here my favourite tips: learn a few at a time, make sure you understand them, do just the fingers saying the note names (so without playing), repeat repeat repeat.

[@TheFlutePractice]

Here is a playlist. The last video in this list is the one I mentioned: All about Scales! kzbin.info/aero/PLg66Jjfuwi_3RXDAWmogL4f3kMHhnWMNr

[@dadomilosevic9662]

You should check a book by Chris Potter titled "Flute aerobics" scales. There you can find a lot of pentatonics and blues to. 15:08

[@ofiterpunte]

Joanna of @JustAnotherFlutist was just mentioning your practice book in her last stream as her favorite exercise book. Guess I'll grab one while the stock lasts.

[@TheFlutePractice]

Wow! She is just the coolest but what high praise from her 😱😃

[@janicerobert2002]

Sight reading basics? I have been playing since 5th grade in 1976 but was never taught how to sight read or to use a tempo meter. It was always by listening. Advice please because I would love to sight reading better.

[@TheFlutePractice]

A good video topic to do! Here is my advice: 1. Get more comfortable with rhythm. So much of sight-reading is about counting and rhythm! 2. Keep working on your scales and the patterns. Those are the corner stones of sight -reading 3. Learn how to read Patterns rather than individual notes. You want to train the eye to read and play groups of notes rather than individual notes. 4. Learn to read to slightly ahead. This can be challenging but you always want to read just a little ahead of yourself so you know what’s coming. I’ll make a video! This would be a fun one ☺️

[@thesilenceisdeafening]

​@@TheFlutePractice A video would be fantastic!! Also being able to understand what patterns even are will make them easier to learn? At the moment "pattern" is just another word in my own music "vocabulary" and I'm not sure if I already am recognising and using it and not knowing there is a word for that too😊😊🤭.

[@thesilenceisdeafening]

There seems to be a missing link to air speed and air direction video😊

[@TheFlutePractice]

Oh dear! Thanks for letting me know. Adding it now.

[@thesilenceisdeafening]

​@@TheFlutePractice I am many days late, but thank you very much😊

[@theclassicalady]

hiii! ive got a question.. so, i’ve been thinking to upgrade my flute, and i thought of the Gemeinhardt 3OB, i wanted to know if you think its a good model, or what other student/intermediate model would you recommend that’s not too expensive, but also not too cheap! thanks!

[@TheFlutePractice]

Great question, what is your budget? We actually have a guide to buying a new flute that may be useful. I can link you to that video. Will check out the 3OB as well. Don’t think I have played on it.

[@TheFlutePractice]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/p5_YdYKja7-tpLssi=JzCJ5K_0dn3dSDmX

[@theclassicalady]

@TheFlutePractice i’m looking for something that doesn’t cost me much more than $1500, since i’m getting a cello too, so it’s a lot haha. but i feel like i need to upgrade my flute cuz it’s old, and i mean OLD. i will check your video right now, thank you so much for answering!!

[@DhruvJain108]

I play bamboo flute(with lip plate). I played flute quite well a few months back. But now my lips become stiff I unconsciously start using my tongue to push my lower lip and support the flute. This has destroyed my flute skills and i am suffering to get back on track. Any tips?

[@anneross1021]

I took up my flute again at the start of the pandemic and after having my flute serviced and being given in to trouble for not playing it enough 😂 I am in my mid 50s now and I have various medical conditions such as asthma...multiple sclerosis. Last may I broke my left humerus..so any progress I made during the pandemic got knocked backwards when I broke my left arm. Now I have been cleared by my physiotherapist to slowly start to play again I am basically back at square one again but still determined to play again.

[@TheFlutePractice]

Welcome back!!!! I hope it brings a you so much joy, even as you get restarted!