Etudes

[fluteguy18]

So I've been playing for a solid 6 months now (after a year off). I literally spent a whole month on long tones and embouchure work, another month on long, slow scales, and another month on combining the two (etc. etc.)

I'm finally working on etudes and a scale regimen (I don't want to over-stress my hands). I guess it's because I hear flute music all day, or maybe the time off removed the cotton from my ears, but I hear so much more now! I've been playing Andersen Etudes and they're BEAUTIFUL. I don't know why I never appreciated them earlier.

Today was the first day I recorded myself playing since January and I must say.... big improvement in so many ways. So many things are even better than when I was playing 12 hours a day.

I never expected that to happen!

Does anyone else feel similarly about etudes or have I officially lost my mind?

[pied_piper]

Yes, some etudes are really quite lovely both to play and to hear. Others just seem like an exercise, some an exercise in futility. Those seem written just to drill home some particular oddball pattern, which occurs occasionally in performance works, but are repeated ad nauseum in the étude.

The Piazzolla Tango Etudes are particularly nice, IMO, and are often performed in recital.

[cflutist]

Yes, I like the Andersen much more than the Jean-Jean or the Bozza.
I guess I'm a traditionalist and like their melodic lines more.

[James_Alto]

Yes - another Andersen enthusiast!

I came across them on the free domain and got hooked.

Also a fan of the romantic Koehler - his 12 Etudes sweep and soar beautifully. They are perhaps less popular than the Andersen Etudes, not because they are not free, but because he had to go and entitle them "12 medium difficulty studies"

[Morne]

I too am and Andersen etude enthusiast
I recently bought the etude books here in Korea and WOW... when I got home and played some I was hooked.
I am so glad I bought them. They are fun and challenging to play.

I also like the Kohler etudes - also fun.

MStar