Why Practice Etudes?
Flutists are often so wrapped up in learning new repertoire so they can show off their skills and virtuosity, that they often overlook the process of playing etudes and what it can do for their playing overall. Etudes play a fundamental role in the process of growth and development not only as a flutist, but as a well-rounded musician. Keep reading and I’ll tell you how practicing etudes WILL grow you as a musician quickly and without fail.
Building Technique
Etudes are specifically targeted exercises that are designed to help build technique. Often, they’re designed to target specific areas such as finger technique, breath support, musicality, articulation, and intonation. Often, etudes are designed to target these things while also building musical skills and working to play fun and beautiful pieces! Etudes are not always strictly melodic, but they can also be very technical in nature, such as the Taffanel and Gaubert 17 Daily Exercises, which are considered etudes. For melodic studies and intermediate students, I like to use Melodious and Progressive Studies compiled by Cavally.
Practicing etudes regularly will build technical expertise, tonal control, and overall musicianship. They’re also a great way to break up the boredom of working on the same piece for months and months!
Developing Musical Expression
Etudes often have a distinct musical aspect to them. They have structure, phrases, and dynamics that allow for musical interpretation. Etudes such as the ones compiled in the Melodious and Progressive Studies or Moyse’s 24 Melodic Studies have a lot of musical structure and often end up being great solo recital pieces for intermediate and advanced flutists alike. Working through these, you have the opportunity to be very musical and learn a lot about interpreting lots of types of pieces written in different styles. By working on etudes regularly, you can learn to experiment musically and adequately express yourself through music, which is a really beautiful thing.
Overcoming Challenges and Expanding Repertoire
Etudes are designed to be a challenge for you. So, if you’re able to master advanced etudes, it’s very likely you’ll be able to learn lots of standard repertoire with relative ease. Because they’re designed to be so much more difficult than repertoire and designed to be studied for much shorter amounts of time, they teach you to move through pieces swiftly and with precision. You can learn to not be intimidated by a piece at first sight if you’re working through etudes often. They’re designed to push a player outside of their comfort zone and they’re designed in such a way as to leave intimidation in the dust.
Many etude collections are built in a progressive fashion to build skills over time. Melodious and Progressive, for instance, has multiple books, each designed to where the next etude is more difficult than the last. Building on those difficulties will help build your confidence as a flutist.
Building Discipline and Consistency
Etude practice requires discipline and consistency. It requires systematic work, chunking, and building of a practice regimen. Having a consistent etude workflow is a great way to build those types of skills in your practice. You can design an etude practice for an entire year in advance along with the rest of your practice plan, and provided you hold true to that plan with discipline and consistency, you will find improvement in your flute playing.
How To Practice Etudes
I believe it’s important to find a book or series of etude books that work for you, starting right from the beginning and working on each etude for roughly a week at a time. The idea is that you practice seeking perfection for a week - but even if you don’t reach perfection at the week, you move on. You have the option of spending 2 weeks on an etude if it’s just too far from good to justify setting aside, but after 2 weeks, if it’s still not perfect, it’s time to say “I’ll see you later.” Working towards perfection, but understanding that perfection may not be reached is an equally healthy practice. After 2 weeks, however, you’ve learned all that you are able to currently learn from the etude, therefore it’s time to move on and come back to it when you can learn more from it. Recently, I revisited several etude books before beginning a new one. After several years of growth in my playing, I decided it was time to revisit old etudes to see what else I could learn from them through the lens of a much better musician. It’s a great practice and, for advanced flutists, I highly recommend it!
Key Points
Etudes are incredibly important for growth as a flutist.
Etudes can help you build technique.
Etudes can help you build musical skills and interpretation.
Practicing etudes regularly will help you learn to overcome challenges and not be intimidated by standard repertoire.
Practicing etudes can help build discipline and consistency in your practice.
Build practicing etudes progressively through books either of your choosing or your teacher’s recommendation.
Practice etudes over the course of the week, aiming for perfection, then move on.
If you haven’t reached adequate levels of perfection, you may practice for two weeks, but after two weeks, it’s time to move on.
