How much do you practice?

[asoalin]

Just curious...how many hours a day do you dedicate to flute practice? And is your practice highly structured? Relaxed? Or something in between?

[cflutist]

I try to practice an hour a day, but with a full time job, and a household to run, that isn't always possible. My practice is semi-structured, as I try to play the T&G, Reichert, Etudes, solo pieces, and orchestra music. I'm performing the Cimarosa Concerto with the 2nd flute in the spring, and haven't really worked on it yet. That's a piece that I can sightread, but do want to work out some of the phrasing and articulation with the other flutist.

Back in the days when I was a student at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, I practiced about 3 hours a day, plus did all my homework too.

[Arlee]

As much as I can possibly squeeze in... though I work a full time job outside of music and have a pretty active life so not always as much time as I would like.

If I have a very limited time to practice I will do a few long tones and one exercise from Taffenel and Gaubert book. Then I will work on whatever is giving me the most trouble at the time 99% of the time it is sight-reading

[Arlee]

Accidental double post

[Fox]

I practice an hour a day, but I do take a day off every three or four days. My routine is highly structured:

20 Minutes Long tones
10 Minutes Scales and arpeggios
5 Minutes Technique
5 Minutes Tonguing
10 Minutes Beginner book
10 Minutes New music

[Bo]

An hour a day, but I also practice the piano (3 hours) and the classical guitar (an hour too, sometimes reduced to 45 minutes...) + occasionally other instruments.

[fluteguy18]

I used to practice 3 hours a day PLUS 4-5 hours of time in ensembles. That was my life as a music major. That however led me to 'burnout' which was ultimately triggered by the awful experiences I had at a summer flute camp this past June. I didn't play for six weeks. I realized at the end of that six week hiatus that I had let myself become consumed by music and allowed myself to be identified by it. Bad mistake. I now find time to have a life. I have activities outside of music that I do for fun and venting frustrations. (I'm a paid actor for the largest haunted house/haunted theme park in my state... FUN!!!!!! I'm also Principal Flute in a local production of Sweeney Todd.)

I now practice about 2 hours a day plus rehearsals. If I don't have the time or quite frankly don't feel like playing... I don't. Last school year I would sacrifice sleep and food to get my practicing in. Flute is what I do, not who I am. It's important to remember that when practicing, and not let yourself get carried away.

As for structured/unstructured. I'm in the middle. I do warm up stretches/activities to get the blood moving. I then do tone exercises, scale exercises etc. I then do etudes and literature. I don't have a set amount of time. I just make sure that I achieve solid progress (in some shape or form... even if it means playing it cleaner but slower) before moving on.

[MissyHPhoenix]

I usually play between 2 to 4 hours a day -- I break them down by morning and afternoon/evening so that I don't overdo, especially when I'm working on the high octave. I always start with about 15 minutes of warm-up doing arpeggios and finger exercises on the lower & middle octaves. Then I do another 10 to 15 minutes of scales. After that, it depends on my mood! Some days I want to work on Baroque exclusively, then other days I work on more contemporary etudes or exercises. If I am having a bad embouchure day, I pull out a couple of my all time favorites and try to relax and enjoy the music.

[ciuineadas]

I usually get in about six hours of practice a week. Wednesday and Sunday are dedicated rehearsal days for my ensemble, and reviews of technique and basic scores are broken up throughout the rest of the week. Since I play multiple flutes, this system gives me the flexibility to work on what needs to be worked on at any particular time without burning myself out, especially during the holiday concert season.