Even though I am retired from colligate teaching I still try to keep my flute chops up as best as I can. I don’t put in as much time practicing as I once did, but I try to keep a base line level of flute fitness so that I can still perform when asked (as a guest soloist or sitting in on a professional gig).
I perform with two local college bands as part of trying to keep my performance level at a certain standard. At the last rehearsal, one of the college flutists asked me how much I practice. So, I told her that I put in between 2-3 hours each day for maintenance practicing. After she picked herself up off the floor, she stated that I practice more than any of the music majors at her college.
She then asked why I practice so much. At that point I informed her that we would need 10-15 minutes where we could sit down and talk about practicing. When we had a moment, I began to tell her what I do when I practice. This is what I do every day for maintenance practice:
- 15-20 minutes of tone studies
- 30-45 minutes of single/double/triple tonguing exercises.
- 20-30 minutes of scale studies (major/minor/arpeggios) OR jazz scales (harmonic/melodic minor modes, and pentatonic scales).
- 10-20 minutes of slurring exercises involving intervals and octaves
- 20-30 minutes of sightreading (depending on what else I need to be working on at the moment)
- 1-2 hours of solos (either solos for live performances or recording for my YouTube channel).
What is really important for me is that I practice EVERTHING, EVERYDAY with a metronome!
I typically break this up throughout the day. I might do the tone, tonguing, and scale studies in the morning and then the rest in the afternoon or even spread this out into the evening.
After the poor flute student caught her breath, she said that she was beyond belief that I do that every day! I told her, in a joking way, that this what a professional must do to have and keep up their flute chops. Even though we both laughed she knew I was being serious and walked away in total disbelief.
A student who is serious about their flute should include in their practice several different areas. I would suggest:
- Tone studies
- Scale/arpeggio studies
- Vibrato studies
- Tonguing studies (single/double/triple)
- Etudes
- Solos
- All-State (if applicable)
- Band/orchestra literature (if applicable)
The most important thing about practicing is not how much you practice at one time, but how many times you practice in a given week. So, because of that fact, this is what I suggest:
I would break each category down to time:
Intermediate Level
- Tone studies 5-10 minutes
- Scale/Arpeggio studies 10-20 minutes
- Vibrato studies 5-10 minutes
- Tonguing exercises 10-20 minutes
- Etudes 15-20 minutes
- Solos what time is left (at least enough time should be given so that you reviewed/practiced what you did previously and start in on some new material) 20-30 minutes
If you are an advanced high school flutist that is striving to make All-State and win some concerto competitions with area orchestras, and are looking to win a major college music scholarship then your practice schedule might look like this:
- Tone studies 20 minutes
- Scale/Arpeggio studies 20-30 minutes
- Vibrato studies 5-10 minutes
- Tonguing exercises 20-30 minutes
- Etudes 30-45 minutes
- Solos 1-2 hours
- All-State preparation 30-60 minutes
- Concerto competition preparation
With this schedule, you will need to break up your practice time. I have had dozens of former students that would practice before they went to school, during the school day (if they had a study hall, band class, lunch period, etc.) when they got home from school, and after supper. I even had students that would practice in the back seat of their car while their mother was driving them to their flute lesson (I kid you not!).
I strongly suggest that you DO break up your daily practice schedule so that you don’t over-fatigue your hands, arms, and body overall. I have had students that practiced so much their body would just ache. One student had to take time off from practicing because of tendonitis in both wrists and arms.
The important thing is to be regular, and then gradually build up as you strengthen you muscles and tendons. Go slowly!
As far as flute material goes, there is a lot of it out there–over three hundred years’ worth of knowledge. What I have listed below is but just a smattering of what is available for flutists. This is what I have used over the last fifty years with my own students.
Flutists Just Starting Out:
Level 1-2:
- I use their band method books through the first three volumes
- Solos
- Soloist Folio for Flute-Rubank
- Concert & Contest Collection for Flute-Rubank
Flute Material for Level 3-6:
- Tone Studies
- Trevor Wye-Practice Book for The Flute Volume I-Tone
- Marcel Moyse-Tone Development Through Interpretation for The Flute
- Scale/Arpeggio Studies
- Rearick-The Fabric of Flute Playing
- Interval Studies
- Marcel Moyse-19 Daily Studies
- Single/double/triple tonguing studies
- Gaubert/Taffanel-17 Daily Studies for The Flute
- Etudes
- Rubank
- Beginning Method for The Flute
- Intermediate Method for the Flute
- Rubank
- Advanced Method for the Flute, Vol 1 & 2
- Cavally-Melodious and Progressive Method for the Flute (Vol 1-3)
- Solos
- S. Bach-Six Sonatas for Flute
- Handel-Six Sonatas for Flute
- Mozart-6 Sonatas for Flute
- Flute Music by French Composers (collection of selected works)
- Mozart-Concerto in C Major, D Major, G Major
- Concert & Contest Selection for Flute-Rubank
I have probably had dozens of former flute students (over the years) that completed most or all of the literature I just described by the time they graduated from high school. Believe it or not!
Again, this is just a sampling of what is available. The important thing is to just get started and do it regularly! Good luck!