Technique Archives - Page 3 of 6

A Guide For Playing Music From the Heart

There are people who play musical instruments, and then there are ‘musicians’. They aren’t the same, and your heart knows the difference even if your ears aren’t quite sure. Today I’d like to start a conversation intended on being a part of a guide for playing music from the heart. You, too can become a real musician. When I was much younger I remember feeling a bit of jealousy that my older brother had adventures […]

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Facts and Myths About Dynamics on Flute

Technique / By Rebecca Fuller

The word ‘dynamics’ refers to the varying levels of actual volume of sound. Dynamics are used to create emotion in music, so as you can imagine they’re quite important! Let’s discover and debunk some facts and myths about dynamics on flute. There are different dynamic levels from very loud to very soft. In musical terms these are noted like this (from loud of soft): Fortissimo, Forte, Mezzo, Piano, Pianissimo. There are varying degrees, but you

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Everything You Need to Know About the Flute Etude

Everything You Need to Know About the Flute Étude

Technique / By Rebecca Fuller

At every single stage of development, whether beginner or professional, we should find ‘études for flute’ as a part of many of our practice sessions. So what is an étude anyway? I’ll put it plainly here for you, and you’ll start down your ‘yellow-brick’ of enjoying them right away. As I write this article, I checked the dictionary definition to find out what it had to say; |ey’tood| NOUN A short musical composition, typically for

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How To Breathe Quickly Between Flute Notes

Technique / By Rebecca Fuller

If there is one thing that is certain, it’s that it is imperative for a flutist to learn everything possible about breathing. Many times there simply isn’t space enough between notes in a passage to take a breath, and this is a real problem. Learning how to breathe quickly between flute notes becomes an art in itself. The trick is all in the ability to get enough air into last until the next space available.

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Articulation For Flutists

Technique / By Rebecca Fuller

The way certain phrases are set with joined or separated notes is just one way to start an expression. Articulation for flutists is a set of rules that include tongue placement and knowing where to join or separate a set of notes. It’s important to understand that a flutist separates their notes with the tongue. How hard or soft the tongue touches is just one part of setting the style of the piece. There are description

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Arpeggio Explanation for Flutes

Technique / By Rebecca Fuller

What is an arpeggio for flute, and how do you play them? This is a really great question because every flute player will come across arpeggios. Here is a really simple, but descriptive answer. Perfecting the respective arpeggios is the best way to become as awesome as you can be! An arpeggio is the same thing as a chord. The difference is that we flute players only have one mouth, so we can only play the

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Alternative Fingerings for Flute

Technique / By Rebecca Fuller

Alternative fingerings for flute are also called ‘fake fingerings’. Here’s a short guide that will help you start to know when it could be appropriate to use a fake fingering or not. This type of information isn’t usually presented to a beginner flutist. It is crucial that you are super solid with all of the traditional fingerings for these notes before even bothering with these notes. 99% of the time, we will use the regular

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Tone Color For Flute

Reading Music, Technique / By Rebecca Fuller

What is ‘tone color’ for flute, and why do you need to know about it? Tone color is the quality of the sound you are either hearing or creating. Basically it is what helps you decide what adjective to use to describe the sound. This is beyond whether or not someone has a good sound that is well supported. It is what you choose to do with the sound once you have learned how to

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Elbow Pain For Flute Players

Technique / By Rebecca Fuller

Elbow pain for flute players is actually not as uncommon as you would think. But I can tell you that it is completely preventable with this one tip. This causes a condition very similar to elbow tendonitis! Have you ever seen a flutist who plays like the image on this page? Notice how the elbow is raised high and possibly she thinks this is a ‘proper’ and formal-looking position? We see this positioning often in

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What Does Texture Mean In Music?

Performing, Technique / By Rebecca Fuller

There are lots of things we need to think about when we play and perform. Tone, air, notes, as well as staying together with our pianist, recording track or other people. One thing that sometimes we forget is that texture is an important thing to think about too. If we are supposed to think about this, in the words of one my students “how can [we] learn to understand “texture” as musician[s]?” And why do

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