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Flute
Scale Information
Quote
from Angelita Floyd from pg.123 of 'The Gilbert Legacy'
According to
Gilbert's teaching there is a definite distinction between
facility (ease of playing) and "technique"; facility being the
ability to move just the fingers quickly, whereas technique
includes quick fingers in combination with proper sound and
musical expression. Consequently, when practicing for scales and
arpeggio facility, flutists should concentrate on the technique
of sound and musicality as well. In Flutetalk articles, Gilbert
explained:
"Almost
every student aspires to be a virtuoso but they don't have
virtuostic technique. Too often students try and learn the flute
by just playing pieces. If they would spend more time acquiring
technique by playing articulated scales in all possible forms
and arpeggios BEFORE they come to a piece, it would save them
hours of time. Then rather than wasting extra time learning a
difficult passage, they could spend more time on improving tone
and intonation."
Flute scale kit and scale links
Jen's
flute scale practise advice:
Use
The Tuning CD to
drone the tonic of the scale you're playing (choose a different
one each day) and add the metronome at your own chosen tempo.
Create your own patterns and rhythms. Use great tone quality.
Add articulations. Check for finger evenness and lightness.
Check for clarity of articulation. Mix creativity and listening
to great tone in tune with the drone, and then add a sprinkling
of "discipline" to find out whether scales are getting more
even, more musically interesting, rhythmically exciting. You can
even record yourself to hear your improvements in scale quality
and to capture great musical improvisational ideas. Stay
creative!
Other
questions:
Q: My high
register is particularly bad when I play two octave scales. What
do you suggest?
A:
High register
longtones (of course, only after low and middle registers
are ringing and clear) and
Filas 90 Top Register Studies. These Filas etudes for high
register are fabulous done slowly with tuning CD!
Q: I'm running out
of ideas for improvs over the tuning CD's drone. Any
suggestions?
A: I use
The Brooke Method Complete Method for Flute simply because
it has some of the most creative scale patterns that I've ever
found, all in one book. For example, if I'm practising a certain
key signature, I look up that key in the Brooke and use tuning
CD and metronome to play it evenly and cleanly. I improvise, I
play at my own tempo, and create pauses over various different
natural pausing points (moving them around for variety.) After
several run -throughs of a pattern, I play it as written.
Q: How does scale
practise fit into an overall good practise routine?
A: In the
Brooke Method
you'll
find this excellent page, where all the best practise plan
advice is all in one place.
Question:
'Help, I've never really understood or practiced my flute
scales. What do I need to know about majors and minors, and
where can I find them for flute, online?'
Flute Scale Kit:
Here's
what you need:
Flute fingering charts
Jen's Scale Book for
Flute Students (free
40 page pdf)
Creative Scale Practice for Flutists with
examples.
All Jen's free pdf
scales for printing
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James Galway teaches how to play
scales:
Jen's blog articles on
scales including play-along backing track mp3s
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How to practice scales for
intermediate flutists:
How to practice scales for novice
flute students
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Free downloads of flute scales available online
All two octave major and melodic
minor scales for all flute students in PDF
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Teaching Flute Scales for
beginners or novices:
Flute scale books worth purchasing
How to practice flute, article by
Hahn:
Free flute scales from H. Lindholm.
One octave and two octave
[PDF files from his flute basics
manual]
Free flute technique book by H. Lindholm
Still more
flute scale idea links
James Galway teaching scales (free):
Galway teaches scales on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pob8OTZUcvk
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Galway's teaching mp3s on scales and etudes:
http://www.thegalwaynetwork.com/chatfile/chatfile.htm
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Galway video on thegalwaynetwork.com on scales
and etudes:
http://www.thegalwaynetwork.com/scales_studies.htm
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Watch three 20 second short videos of Galway
performing scales - Major, minor, Taffanel & Gaubert's E. J. 4
or 'scale game'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHf2QIMVZik
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3V-J_S6ZSo4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VVkyEMDyVE
Flute scales that are written out for intermediate flutists.
Free
pdfs you can download for printing:
Free scale pdf - I - Chromatics, Whole Tone, Major, Harmonic
Minor Scales.
Free chord pdf - II - Chords of all kinds from Moyse's
Exercises Journaliers
FreeScales in Thirds pdf - III - Scales in Thirds Major &
Harmonic Minor
Samples of variations for scales that make practicing more fun!
Jazzy Modes, Extended Major Scales (C1 to B3), Four kinds of
four note 7th chords
How to understand and Memorize whole tone scales and dom/dim
sevenths
and from other authors:
All two octave major and melodic
minor scales for all flute students
Free flute scales from H.
Lindolm. One octave and two octave
Flute scale books worth
purchasing
[easiest books
listed first]
Intermediate
Flutist's Scale Books:
Mel Bay:
Indispensible Scales, Exercises and Etudes by Mizzy
McCaskill
Omibus Edition:
Trevor Wye ~ Practice Books for the Flute. Volumes 1~5
Progress Press:
The Flutist's Vade Mecum Walfrid Kujala
Cundy-Bettoney:
Brooke's Complete Flute Method: Alfred Brooke
Alphonse Leduc:
Exercises Journaliers; Marcel Moyse
Alphonse Leduc:
17 Daily Exercises; Taffanel-Gaubert
International:
Flute Workout; Robert Stallman
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To learn more
about HOW to practice technique see: Angelita Floyd's book:
The Gilbert Legacy
All the above
books can be found at
www.fluteworld.com
or ordered through your local music store.
For Novice to
Intermediate/Advanced flute players; Herbert Lindholm's complete
manual for free:
Herbert Lindholm's
full bookof exercises, warmups, fingerings, scales, trills and
technical practice ideas are in his FLUTE BASICS manual.
This is the rectangle second from the bottom when you
scroll down on his "free flute sheetmusic" webpage.
Go to:
http://www.kuopionkonservatorio.fi/henkilokunta/hlindhol/
Lindholms manual is in
four parts. The first has one octave and two octave scales,
Blues scale, chromatic scale etc. Part two has patterns to use
as daily scale exercises (uses your brain and trains your
fingers!) lip flexibility exercises, and Parts three has tone
exercises, octave and third patterns, tonguing, multiple
tonguing and vibrato. Part four has both trill and basic
fingering charts. All four parts print out as 41 pages that can
be hole punched and put in a binder. Help yourself: Lindholm is
a smart flute teacher and very generous. :>)
Part One
~
Part Two
~
Part Three
~
Part Four
More of
Jen's Scale Links:
for those
who are bored with playing scales alone :>)
FABULOUS
SCALE PLAYALONGS (free!)
Easy pace flute scale backing tracks for fun practise
Intermediate flute scales with harp accompaniment
The "Scale Game" sheetmusic and playalong backing tracks:
(Note: Scale Game is same as
Taffanel Gaubert Daily Exercise no. 4 from "17 Daily Exercises"
by Taff-Gaubert.)
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