Why Do My Slurs Sound Sloppy?
We have this really fun way of hiding sloppy technique with… articulation. It seems counter-intuitive that articulation could be a way to hide anything, considering articulation is often a source of headache for wind players, but it is.
The short answer is that your slurs sound sloppy on flute because your fingers simply aren’t lining up and closing the keys together. The fix is quite simple, but it will take time and commitment to fix the issue.
What does sloppy technique sound like?
Sloppy technique on the flute often sounds like flubs, hesitation, or simply notes not speaking during runs. The reason this happens is that your fingers are not making contact at the exact same time, therefore giving you flubs or absence of sound. It’s easy to hide these things with tonguing and articulation, which is how lots of students get by with sloppy technique for a long time. It’s not until we start playing pieces like Bach and Telemann that, while they may seem unchallenging to the naked eye, require pristine timing, technique, and varied articulation. It’s pieces like that that tend to uncover technical difficulties, which is one reason that they’re so important in our repertoire.
Why are my slurs sloppy?
Your slurs are sloppy because of the aforementioned sloppy technique. If your fingers aren’t perfectly in sync, it will be extremely noticeable during fast slurred passages such as runs. Don’t worry! This can be fixed. Read on to find out how.
How do I fix sloppy technique?
Sloppy technique is completely fixable with some time and effort. Dedicating specific practice time to technique work is extremely valuable to fixing this. It’s also important that you practice slowly to start. I recommend, first of all, picking pieces in the Baroque era that can highlight those technical issues to work on for now. Technique-centered etudes as well as exercises (such as Trevor Wye’s Technique Practice Book) will be helpful. I recommend spending 20-25 minutes of practice time strictly working on these exercises. Scale work is also incredibly helpful for curing sloppy technique. Since all of our music is comprised of different scale patterns, learning and practicing your scales backward, forward, arpeggiated, with neighbor tones, etc. will be extremely valuable to you and will help to cure sloppy technique.
Spending time every day working on technique will build your chops quickly, but also remember that if you’re practicing technique exercises too quickly and unevenly, you will reinforce bad habits. Practice them slowly, deliberately, and most importantly, practice them EVENLY (I’m looking at you, metronome) and without a doubt, your slurs (and your articulated notes) will no longer be sloppy. Get to it!
Final Thoughts
Your slurs are sloppy because your technique is sloppy
Your fingers are not making contact with the keys simultaneously
Practicing Baroque-era pieces will help uncover sloppy technique
Spend 20-25 minutes every practice session focusing strictly on technical exercises
Learn and practice scales and scale variations consistently
Practice slowly and notch up the tempo as you master things
