Tips on self-teaching / practicing

danieltaller · Post by **danieltaller** » Thu Sep 04, 2003 8:46 am

Hello all, I am trying to find the
time to practice every so often... work keeps me very busy. I was wondering if
anyone has any tips to practicing. My biggest intimidating factor is that I just
don''t have any good way to practice the fingerings. I have a chart which
lists the finger arrangements for all the notes in all three octaves, but I find
myself looking at a staff, reading a note, thinking for a few seconds until I
determine which note it is, then going to the chart and looking up the finger
arrangement! Are there any cominations of songs that are simple and only use a
few notes so that I can practice a few at a time? What methods should a total
novice use to start remembering the finger arrangements? I don''t have time
for classes, and I want to do this on my own. I started out with a beginner
video but that was only about 1 hour lesson and that is it! They only did a few
notes, and that was all. Any advice? Thanks.

fluteluversmom · Post by **fluteluversmom** » Thu Sep 04, 2003 8:59 am

Hi~ I would recommend picking up a
beginner flute book such as Essential Elements Book 1. It teaches the notes a
few at a time and then gives exercises and songs using those notes. This is the
book that my daughters school district uses for band students. It is very basic
and easy to understand. Then they have Book 2 of the same series. I know there
are others out there also but this is just the one that I have experience with.
Kim

danieltaller · Post by **danieltaller** » Sun Sep 07, 2003 9:30 pm

Thank for the info. I looked on
amazon.com. They carry that book, but I happened to notice a reviewer suggested
it is not very appropriate for self-teaching. Do you think it would be adequate?
I am not taking lessons, just trying to learn on my own. Thank for any
advice.

fluteluversmom · Post by **fluteluversmom** » Sun Sep 07, 2003 10:31 pm

Daniel~ I have also heard that
Essential Elements may not work well for some people self teaching. It is
working well for me but then I did play some 20 years ago so I have most of the
basics down. Also I thought it was handy since I already had the book here since
my daughter had used that in school. I guess I like it for myself as it makes
understanding fingerings easy and it gives me exercises using each new note
introduced, so that I have an easy way of mastering them. I am not crazy about
the Rubank books for myself but they might work well for you. You might also
check out the Trevor Wye series. I think they are geared more to the individual.
Whichever you get I would suggest trying to find something that comes with a CD
so you can work on playing along. Kim

lyndia · Post by **lyndia** » Fri Sep 12, 2003 4:40 pm

Hello, I have just started playing
the flute again after 25 years of raising a family. One website that I have
found that is helping me practice is www.musicnotes.com. They have digital sheet
music for a small fee but the great thing is, you download a midi file that
plays along with you . You can adjust the tempo as you are learning a new piece.

minsmusic · Post by **minsmusic** » Wed Feb 04, 2004 3:25 am

Daniel, perhaps you could pick three
notes at a time, practice writing them on manuscript paper, arranging them
differently, giving them different values etc and then just play those three
notes you've written yourself. When you feel confident, just add one. Do the
same things. Repetition is the key to retention. If you'd prefer, download the
finale.com/notepad site. Not only can you write your own melodies, it will play
it back to you. You can play along. The best bit is it's free! I'm sorry I
don't have the exact address but it's been mentioned quite a few times on this
forum. Are you learning to read music yourself or do already know how and it's
just the finger combinations that you need to learn?

woof · Post by **woof** » Wed Feb 04, 2004 2:33 pm

[quote] ---------------- I was
wondering if anyone has any tips to practicing. My biggest intimidating factor
is that I just don't have any good way to practice the fingerings. I have a
chart which lists the finger arrangements for all the notes in all three
octaves, but I find myself looking at a staff, reading a note, thinking for a
few seconds until I determine which note it is, then going to the chart and
looking up the finger arrangement! ---------------- [/quote] I have been using
the book "How to play the flute"– Howard Harrison. It seems OK and like other
books suggested you learn several notes then practice them in a melody. There
are other study books that offer progressively more difficult snippits of music
(e.g. Modern Course for Flute Vol I & II -Robin Hegvik). Obviously repetition is
going to be the way we learn all of this. I am in somewhat the same boat as you
so I appreciate the dilema. By practicing with actual music rather than just a
fingering chart I have been able to learn the fingering for all the notes
without knowing or thinking about the actual name of the note. Of course that
makes me have to stop and do the Every, Good, Boy, Does Fine thing when I have
to figure out the notes for sharps and flats. I am still too slow but getting
better. I also have problems finding a place to practice that won't drive the
rest of the family crazy- sometimes our dogs "sing" along so at least someone
appreciates the noise.

MvAuMsPrInCeSs06 · Post by **MvAuMsPrInCeSs06** » Wed Feb 04, 2004 5:33 pm

DOES ANYONE HAVE ANYTIPS ON WRITING
MUSIC IN MINOR KEYS?