Hello fluters! Welcome back to another blog post. Today I'll be going through how you can structure your flute practice. Splitting each practice session into sections can ensure that you aren't spending too much time on certain aspects of your playing, and encourage you to become more efficient with the time you have.
Remember this is only my personal advice so if you already have a flute teacher, you should consult with them for suggestions tailored to your specific situation. These tips can just be some extra information for you to consider alongside the advice you receive from your teacher.
Let's get started!
1. Beginner Flute Students
I usually recommend that beginner students start with 15-30mins of practice a day so to avoid injury and to develop their strength and stamina organically.
Here is an example of what a complete beginner student's 15-minute practice session might look like:
5-minutes: practise making both a high and low sound on just the head joint
5-minutes: practice holding long notes on the flute for 4 beats a time
5-minutes: practice short tunes or a short piece of music
Students who have been playing for longer than a couple of months can start to increase the duration of their practice to 20 or 30-minutes depending on how they are progressing.
Here is what a 30-minute practise session might look like:
5-minutes: practice long notes on the flute (for at least 4 beats a time) as a warmup
20-minutes: practice short tunes or short pieces of music
5-minutes: practice 1-2 one octave scales and its associated arpeggios.
2. Intermediate-Advanced Flute Students
Older students who have more experience in playing the flute, especially those who are aiming to take exams or prepare for performances should be generally be practising around the 45-60-minute mark.
Intermediate students will begin to have more skills and aspects of their flute playing to focus on so dividing their practice session into sections is a great way to help manage their workload.
Here is an example of what an intermediate student's 45-minute practice session might look like:
10-minutes: Warmup and Tone
15-minutes: Technique (scales, technical exercises and/or studies)
20-minutes: Repertoire (music pieces)
And here is an example of what an intermediate-advanced student's 60-minute practice session might look like:
10-minutes: Warmup and Tone
20-minutes: Technique (scales, technical exercises and/or studies)
30-minutes: Repertoire (music pieces)
And those are my suggestions on how flute students can structure their practice. These are very broad suggestions so you can always tweak the specifics to best-suit your practice goals. Remember to also speak to your flute teacher if you have one to receive a tailored practice plan specific to your situation.
For more flute tips, please feel free to check out my 5 Ways for Intermediate-Advanced Flute Players to Improve Their Practice and 5 Tips for Beginner Flute Players blog posts. Happy fluting and see you in the next post!