flutepicc06 wrote:I have only one suggestion to make...The health section you posted seems excellent, Fluteguy, but relates mostly to the hands/wrists. However, flutists are also at risk for TMJ and other ailments. I would suggest adding a section relating to such injuries. I would do it myself, but my personal experience of playing related injury is almost nil. Perhaps someone else on the board could help broaden the health section?
Also, I seem to have forgotten my promise to write a practice tips section, but I will have it finished and ready for revision/editing by the end of the weekend. I'm very sorry for the delay.
That is a great suggestion. However, I havent had any experiance with TMJ related injuries, or any unusual physical problems with my mouth whatsoever [my teeth are naturally straight, and braces werent needed, the only 'injury' I have had in my mouth was when I got a dry socket from the removal of my wisdom teeth].
Any additions related to TMJ injuries or braces, or anything that someone wants to add, feel free to make edits/additions!
Last edited by fluteguy18 on Fri Aug 31, 2007 1:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Hey guys....I know I was supposed to type something up about injuries but unfortunately i'm struggling with a problem right now that my doctors aren't able to explain. i've got burning nerve pain shooting from my shoulder all the way down to my fingers in my left arm. It usually goes either down the back of my arm to my pinkie and ring finger or down the front of my arm to my thumb and first finger...or both....I've been to physical therapy which made it much worse and to now 2 different orthopedic surgeons. I have stopped playing for a while to give my arm a break but they still don't know that that is what is causing the pain. I'm in a limbo situation. If you can't figure out the problem then you can't fix it. Anyway...that's why I haven't been posting much at all lately and I haven't gotten around to typing up the injury info for the FAQ.
Sorry to hear of your situation. Have they checked you for possible problems in your cervical spine? Like and MRI or something like that. The symptoms you describe may be indicative of a problem there.
Yes....i've had an MRI of my cervical spine. I have 3 bulging discs....obviously not flute related (due to old car accidents.....I was a stupid teenage driver once upon a time) and they say that I have degenerative disc disease....but that none of that is causing the nerve pain down my arm....it's very frustrating because I was so sure that that was the problem....i'm now right back at square one....
The long-awaited practice tips section! As with all the other posts in the FAQ, if there are things you want to add, or feel need clarification, please feel free to speak up!
I will still be glad to communicate with the Admin and be sure it's stickified....Just let me know when we're done adding to it! I believe the injury section (still being worked on) and this one about practice were among the last additions to the FAQ, so once we have them in, I would suggest that we set a time (perhaps a week?) for any last minute edits and additions anyone may wish to make, and then have the admins stickify it for us!
Practice Questions and Tips
How long should I practice?
This depends entirely upon your musical goals and current level. The general answer is that you should practice long enough to go through everything that needs work. Many top professionals practice in the area of 4-6 hours per day, and in some cases more. Of course, not all of us can do this (or even have the desire to), so set goals for yourself, and practice long enough to accomplish them. Generally, you'll want to include both technical and tonal exercises in your daily regimen, along with some repertoire. From a technical standpoint, scales and arpeggios in all of their different forms are very important exercises, so be sure to include them in your daily practice. You don't have to play every scale in every permutation, but pick at least 3 or 4 (rotating through the various keys), and do Major, minor (natural, melodic, and harmonic) scales, and major and minor triads. For more advanced players, whole tone scales, pentatonics, and others may also be useful. Play the scales throughout your full range so that you become comfortable both with the top and bottom octaves. For example, a Bb Major scale should be played all the way to C4 (D4 if you are able), and then all the way back down to C1, and back up to Bb1. Along with scales, etudes can help you overcome technical problems, so set aside time for an etude or two as well. There are many collections of such exercises currently in use, but some of the more popular include those by Berbiguier, Boehm, Andersen, Karg-Elert and others. Technicality is only one part of playing, however, so tone work is also very important. The exercises found in the Moyse books (most notably De La Sonorite), as well as those in Trevor Wye's practice book on tone, and even simple longtones are great for improving your sound. However, it's very easy for the mind to wander when performing such technically simple exercises, so change up articulations, or combine two different exercises into one to prevent boredom. Once you have gone through your daily exercises, start working on your repertoire pieces/band music/whatever else you're trying to prepare. However long it takes you to complete all of this is how long you should be practicing. Keep in mind that quality in practice is far more important than quantity. You may be able to finish in 1/2 an hour what it would take another player an hour to do, or vice versa.
Where should I practice?
You'll need a nice quiet, low traffic area to practice. Find a room in your home where you won't be disturbed, and set up your music stand in there. Preferably this room will be acoustically dead. Live atmospheres (such as bathrooms, where there are lots of hard, flat surfaces for sound to bounce off of) may sound nice, but they won't give you an accurate impression of your playing, especially in comparison to what you'll hear in a performance situation. A concert hall, once filled with an audience is often remarkably dead, and it's best to become accustomed to that effect while practicing, rather than when you walk out on the stage. Every once in a while, it may be beneficial to practice in a live environment, but it should not become the norm. Aside from dead spaces giving a clearer idea of how you sound, they can encourage you to project more (which many flutists struggle with) in order to hear yourself. If you have no such space, area rugs, wall hangings or tapestries, furniture and other objects can help to absorb sound waves, deadening your practice space. It may also be useful to have a mirror hung at about face height so you can observe your embouchure and hands, and make any necessary adjustments.
What should I have with me when I practice?
Aside from your flute, music, and music stand, you should always carry a tuner and metronome. Both of these tools are invaluable during practice. A pencil is also necessary to make any marks in the music. Also highly suggested, particularly for younger players (though more advanced flutists can benefit from this as well), is a practice journal, in which you can note your goals for the day, and any difficulties you encounter. This makes discussion with teachers much easier, and progress easier to monitor.
What if I can't practice several hours per day?
As noted earlier in this section, quality is far more important than quantity when it comes to practice. In an ideal world, you would be able to do your whole practice routine every day, but in the real world, that is not always the case. Even 20 minutes to half an hour can be enough time to work through some of your daily exercises. If you have only a few minutes, work on tone exercises and perhaps an etude. If you have additional time left, work on some repertoire, but stick primarily to difficult spots rather than playing through the entire piece.
How can I get good fast?
Practice is the key! Efficient practice is very important for the busy musician, so aside from daily exercises, work out difficult spots in your repertoire rather than simply playing through as much music as possible. It's best to address these difficulties starting at a slow tempo, and gradually speeding up (which may take several days) to the written tempo. You might also consider changing rhythms and articulations (try swinging a 16th note run, or playing it in triplets, or slurring three notes and tongue one) to help get your fingers around the notes. It is very unlikely that simply playing through a troublesome section will help you improve or learn the music, so get creative! Don't be afraid to write your own exercises that deal with issues you're having with your playing.
I have a flute for school and a flute for practice and performances. Is this okay?
It's OK, but certainly is not the best way to go about things, particularly if one flute is of significantly higher quality than the other. Part of learning to play really well is becoming comfortable with the instrument you're playing on, and constant switching between two or more flutes makes it nearly impossible for you to learn to play as well as you could potentially. It's important to know all the pitch tendencies, as well as how your flute responds to what you ask for musically, and any minute corrections that might be necessary to give your best possible performance, and as every flute is different (even among flutes with the same maker and model stamped on them), this switching only confuses things. Of course there are instances (mostly emergencies when something unexpected happens to your primary instrument just before a performance) where using a back-up or borrowed flute is necessary, but this should be avoided if at all possible.
Honeybee wrote:what do you use to polish your flute so that it maintains shiny, since silver polish cannot be used?
IF you have to polish your flute, do it rarely, as most new flutes have a protective coating that inhibits tarnish anyway. The best prevention is to wipe the flute down after each practice session (Microfiber works wonders), as the fingerprints are made of oils which attract tarnish causing substances in the air (and sometimes sulfur itself). IF you decide to polish it, use a polishing cloth designed for use on silver instruments, but be aware that polishing actually strips away a thin layer of metal, so stay away from the embouchure hole when you do polish it, and generally go easy on the cloth...If you have a plated flute, over the years you can strip the plating.
P.S. Since this is the rough draft of something that will be turned into a "sticky" let's try to keep questions and answers to other threads just for simplicity's sake.
I hope things get sorted out very soon.
