Ok, well I know the title doesn't sound very good but I didn't know how to put it.
First off, I'm going into 9th grade wind ensemble. I played Flute for 4 years, and then switched to Oboe. I rarely played my Flute as I was always trying to keep up on my Oboe.
At my school, Marching Band is required for all band students so I need to remember everything I used to know about how to play my Flute because we're doing the rankings (placements) next week.
I remember the basics, but I've forgotton some of my fingerings in the past year, and my tone quality is a bit suckish at the moment.
I was wondering if anyone had any tips for remembering everything in a short amount of time?
I think that if I do my scales a bit over the weekend, and maybe a few tone excersises from my old book it would help, but any tips are still appreciated.
i would start with a few simple scales and excercises and then start playing some of the peices you used to, playing flute is like riding a bike- you never really forget, it will all come back, just don't try to jump in at the deep end as it were, start simple then work back up to what you used to play. Also make sure you still keep playing oboe as you don't want to be in the same position again when marching season is over.
Know what "perfection" is, otherwise you cannot strive for it. Listen to recordings of great players.
Never play a passage faster until you you can play it slowly with good tone, good response, good tuning, immaculate finger coordination, an,d immaculate tongue and finger coordination. Every time you play something poorly, you get better at playing poorly!
Critically listen for and get rid of fuzzy, airy, hissy sounds of wind... a faulty airstream.
Never pull lips firmly around teeth, or have teeth or tongue tip in the way of air getting to the lips (except tongue VERY briefly during tonguing.)
Apply very high, constant, critical concentration during all practice sessions, attempting the above. You should be exhausted form the concentration after 1/2 hour.
Practice means perfecting, not just playing. Focus with effort.
Sometimes forget the sheet music, and just play, by yourself or with a recording of any music you like... long notes, slow scales, hymns, with country music recordings, or pop music, flute recordings, whatever. Instead of using your concentration reading music, use it being a very critical audience, with bio-feedback to the player to make corrections. This is how my tone improved most.
For learning how to make music speak and flow, listen to good singers, say Mozart arias for soprano, eg Voi Che Sapete, from Marriage of Figaro. Utube helps...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvApyWY9B7k
When you know the music, play along with the singer. Copy style.
Well, I'm not really a beginner. I've been playing for 5 years. I just need to get back to where I was as I'm behind a bit. I sight read a bit today during band camp. Surprisingly I can still remember quite a bit. Anyway, I will work on my scales and re-memorizing the fingerings. I will also try to work on a few excersises to get me back to where I used to be.
I agree with Micron, quality practice and a good teacher and a working flute are the most important, you need quality and quantity both...go slow at first and build up your endurance
Yeah, I know what you meant. I've been working my way through my old book... It seems to be working as I can get the higher notes that I never bothered to learn before now. I've also re-memorized all my scales so it seems to be going good.
searching...
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