Checklist

for Practicing
Francesca Arnone, Leonard Garrison, and Katherine Borst Jones
National Flute Association Convention, Chicago, IL, August 7, 2014
Check each box if you:
Reserve enough time in your schedule to practice sufficiently and regularly.
Find a quiet, comfortable, private (if possible) room with good light, and the best acoustics possible.
Make sure your music stand is high enough. Have a proper chair, and even an exercise ball of the
right height for you.
Establish a practice routine including warmups.
Practice in numerous short sessions (as short as five minutes!) rather than one huge block.
Practice the most difficult passages in spaced repetition (repeat every so often throughout the day
instead of in one concentrated session).
Practice at a time when you are energized and alert.
Keep a positive attitude. Assess your playing objectively without a crushed ego. Encourage yourself,
take a break if you get frustrated, and spend some time sight-reading or playing for enjoyment.
Attribute success in music to hard work, not talent. In other words, you can do it if you try!
Devote your whole attention to the music (as opposed to Facebook, E-mail, etc.); practice
thoughtfully.
Research the composer and style period and know the meaning of all terms and notation used in the
music and the background of the piece.
Understand the structure of your pieces, both on a micro and macro level (What elements such as
scales and arpeggios generate the pitch material? Where do phrases begin and end? What is the form
of the piece, and where do sections start and end?). Plan breaths and mark them in your music.
PERFECT THE PHRASE.
Set specific, realistic goals and strategies for each practice session; relate these to your long-term
goals.
Vary your practice strategies and choose strategies that are relevant to your goals.
Practice your music in priority order (most to least difficult passages and upcoming performances or
assignments followed by longer term projects).
Vary the order of passages within a particular piece (in other words, dont always practice from
beginning to end).
YOU ARE WHAT YOU PRACTICE. Devote time to musical as well as technical issues. Always practice
expressively (dont save musical expression for later). Understand and convey the character of the
music by associating it with a story or set of emotions.
Isolate one aspect of the music at a time; dont try to accomplish multiple goals all at once.
Use appropriate tools (metronome, tuner, recording equipment, mirror, pencil).
Are aware of your body while playing and make appropriate adjustments.
Alternate standing (for solos, warmups, etc.) and sitting (for ensemble music).
Practice slowly enough that you dont make mistakes.
Correct mistakes immediately, and make sure to perform correctly many more times than incorrectly.
Make appropriate markings in your music. Persist in working on problems until they are fixed.
Practice according to your learning curve; in other words, have a long-term plan for increasing the
tempo to the performance tempo, and as you approach your performance, you practice larger
sections with fewer stops.
Employ a mixture of physical and mental practice.
Evaluate your own performance and plan for future progress.
Improve during your practice session.
Note: rehearsing and performing, though valuable experiences, dont count as practicing!


A Few Thoughts on Practicing
Francesca Arnone, Baylor University
National Flute Association
42nd Annual Convention Chicago, IL
August 7, 2014

General Advice and Goals:

Sharpen your powers of observation; seek ways to develop your critical listening
Secure a practice buddy to help develop active ears
Be fully engaged in all practicing activities while releasing tension in the body
Develop deeper powers of concentration
Alternatively, explore selective inattention
Create a lesson plan for the day/week/month/performance goal, maintaining a
balanced diet of tone/technique/musical nourishment. Work backwards on a
timeline.
Know your strengths, and know whats working
Seek inspiration: recordings, videos, books, blogs, your journaling
Investigate the powers of reflection

Practicing Techniques:
Understand the double-edged sword of repetition
Displace the beat
Translate to a physical gesture
Image the isolated trouble spot
Audiate regularly
Use technology weekly
Have a list of go-to techniques that help you personally iron things out
Identify the skeleton/touchstone notes = shape the phrase or gesture, always

PRACTICE Thoughts FOR FLUTISTS

Katherine Borst Jones
Practice because you want to. Set goals. Find your voice. Float the
sound. Keep it spinning. Move the air. Practice what you dont know
how to do. Make up your own exercises. Explore. Be a detective. Try
new things. Play without music. Practice what you cant do, not what
you can do. Make music always.
Find a quiet, comfortable, private (if possible) room with good light, and the best acoustics possible.
Provide yourself with a music stand, a chair, a metronome, a tuner, a pencil, a recording device, a
dictionary of musical terms and a practice notebook/planner. Make a practice plan.
Warm-up your body with stretching and breathing exercises. Begin playing easily by improvising
beautiful notes, or ugly notes, or red sounds, or purple or yellow sounds. Make up tunes. Then
practice long tones, intervals, trills, harmonics, whistle tones, scales and technique exercises, etudes,
ensemble music, solos and sight-reading. Play by ear tunes you love. Sing and play, try multiphonics,
spit tonguing. Sing the music, then play it. Study the full score. Listen to recordings.
Practice for 20-25 minutes, then take a break. Stay in the moment. Be attentive. Observe and notice
your body. Practice without tension. Listen carefully. Feel, hear, see, think. Plan for the next session.
Come back often. It is a question of time, patience and intelligent work. Trevor Wye
Use practice techniques , including:
Slowly (if you never make a mistake, you never make a mistake)
Chunking (3 to 7 notes at a time, repeating 3 to 7 times).
Backwards, the last two notes, last three, etc.
Circles (find the pivot note; do three notes, five etc.)
Changing the beat (move the bar line so each note gets to be first.
Play the rhythm on one note. Sizzle the rhythms.
Change the rhythms. (dotted, triplets etc.)
Change the meter.
Finger - Play (finger the note, then play it, on the beat, off the beat)
Tongue slurred sections, slur tongued sections. Use other articulations.
Displace the octave for passages with large intervals.
Use the metronome at different speeds. Up two notches, down one, OR
Practice a passage slowly, then with every imaginable rhythm. Wait 5-6 hours,(8AM, 2PM, 8PM
repeat the process again, sleep. Do this for four days. You will know the passage. (From
Crunelle at the Paris Conservatory (Michel Debosts teacher)
Favorite technique books:
Taffanel and Gaubert: 17 Grand Daily Exercises
Marcel Moyse: Daily Exercises
Trevor Wye: Practice Books
Reichert: Opus 5 Seven Daily Studies

WHAT to do with a NEW PIECE

Consider ALL the markings on the music, the title. composer; key signature, the
meter, the dynamics, style and metronome marking. Be a detective. What did the
composer mean by that marking?
Who is the composer? From what time period are they? What is the style? Look
through the piece and observe the overall form. Note tempo changes and difficult passages. Study the
complete score. Play it on the piano. Sing the piece while conducting it.
As a flutist you must consider the natural tendencies of the flute. They are: long notes are louder than
short notes; high notes are louder than low notes; and slurred notes are louder than tongued notes.
Also pay attention to pitch issues. As we ascend, the pitch goes higher; as we descend the pitch goes
lower. The more fingers are down, the lower the pitch; the fewer fingers down, the higher the pitch.
Now, play through it slowly. Find cadence points. Map out phrases and breathing places. Identify
high points of phrases as you work to pace the piece as a whole. Work out the most difficult passages
using many different practice techniques. Listen to recordings of other pieces by the same composer.
Work every day. Once the piece is under your fingers, perform it. Record it and listen back. Is the
performance convincing?

PHRASING TIPS:
Make me love it, make me hate it, but dont bore me
Sing the line to find its shape.
A motive (a word), a phrase (a sentence); a movement (a chapter),
etc.
Look for tension/release. Contrast lyrical with rhythmical.
Follow the energy of the meter and individual rhythms.
Follow the shape of the line; play rainbows.
Find the skeleton of the melodic line, (often one note per measure!)
Vibrate on the most important notes of the phrase, not just on the last note, or longest notes.
Lean on the first note of a slurred passage. Appoggiaturas must be slurred to its softer resolution.
A two note slur implies an decrescendo.
Find dissonance. Bring it out.
Move across the bar line, 2341 (11234, 2345, 3456, 4567, 5678, 6789, 78910)
Imagination Make up a story or a dance. Compile a list of mood words. Apply one per phrase.

Innovative Practice Techniques

Leonard Garrison, The University of Idaho
National Flute Association Convention, Chicago, IL, August 7, 2014

Mental practice first time, than physical practice second.

Sing or speak then play.
As many times as you want half tempo, then ONCE full tempo.
Record yourself playing at full tempo, then listen to playback at half speed.
Metronome torture: record yourself playing with a metronome at full tempo,
then listen to playback at half speed
Flexible tempo.
Stop on the note that ails you.
Stop on successive notes.
Expand the circle.
Touch the metal.
Watch your fingers (compare to guitarists): especially for learning new
fingerings.
Hear your fingers (hold flute up to flute).
Hands separate.
Practice 1,2,3,4,5,6 per beat (beginning of Daphnis).

The Current State of Practicing Bibliography

Francesca Arnone, Leonard Garrison, and Katherine Borst Jones
National Flute Association Convention, Chicago, IL, August 7, 2014
Alcantara, Pedro de. Integrated Practice: Coordination, Rhythm & Sound. New York: Oxford University
Press, 2011.

Baron, Samuel. Practicing as a Way of Life. Flute Talk (November 1984): 18-19.
Barry, Nancy H., and Susan Hallam. Practice, chapter in The Science and Psychology of Music
Performance: Creative Strategies for Teaching and Learning, edited by Richard Parncutt and
Gary E. McPherson. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.

Barry, Nancy H., and Victoria McArthur. Teaching Practice Strategies in the Music Studio: A Survey of
Applied Music Teachers. Psychology of Music 22 (1994): 44-55.

Blaisdell, Frances. How Do I Get to Carnegie Hall, in The Flutist's Handbook: A Pedagogy Anthology.
Santa Clarita, CA: The National Flute Association, Inc., 1998: 3-10.

Bruser, Madeline. The Art of Practicing: A Guide to Making Music from the Heart. New York: Bell Tower,
1997.

Byo, James L. and Jane W. Cassidy. An Exploratory Study of Time Use in the Practice of Music Majors:
Self-Report and Observation Analysis. Update: Applications of Research in Music Education
27/no. 1 (November 2008): 33-40.

Chaffin, Roger, Gabriella Imreh, Anthony F. Lemieux, and Colleen Chen. Seeing the Big Picture: Piano
Practice as Expert Problem Solving, Music Perception: An Interdisciplinary Journal 20, no. 4
(Summer 2003): 465-490.

Clardy, Mary Karen. Flute Fundamentals: The Building Blocks of Technique. Valley Forge, PA: European
American Music Corporation, 1993.

Colvin, Geoff. Talent Is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else.
New York: Portfolio, 2008.

Coyle, Daniel. The Talent Code: Greatness Isnt Born. Its Grown. Heres How. New York: Bantam Dell,
2009.

Debost, Michel. Warming Up to Cool Down. Flute Talk (July/August 1994): 4.

Drayton, James. A Theoretical Model for Practicing. DMA dissertation, University of Miami. Ann Arbor:
ProQuest/UMI 2013. (Publication No. 3563657.)

Duke, Robert A., Amy Simmons, and Carla Davis Cash. Its Not How Much; Its How: Characteristics of
Practice Behavior and Retention of Performance Skills. Journal of Research in Music Education
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Elson, Margret. Passionate Practice. Oakland: Regent Press, 2002.

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Floyd, Angeleita S. "Techniques for Practicing, chapter IX of The Gilbert Legacy: Methods, Exercises and
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Galway, James. Thoughts on Playing the Flute. Flute Talk (January 1989): 12-16.

Garrison, Leonard. Audio Recording as a Teaching Tool in Applied Music. College Music Symposium:
Journal of the College Music Society 49-50 (2009/2010): 284-286, and National Association of
College Wind and Percussion Instructors Journal 59, no. 1 (Fall 2010): 18-21.

Gilbert, Linda M. The Practice Handbook: A Musicians Guide to Positive Results in the Practice Room.
Redondo Beach, CA: Damore Publications, 1993.

Goodman, Marsha. Rhythmic Distortion. The Flutist Quarterly XIV/3 (Summer 1989): 70-73.

Griffin, Michael. Learning Strategies for Musical Success. Adelaide, Australia: CreateSpace, 2013.

Harnum, Jonathan. The Practice of Practicing. Branford, CT: Sol Ut Press, 2014.

Horsey, Simon. Practice Makes Perfect: The Keys to Success on Any Instrument. eBook. Simon Horsey,
2011.

Hutchins, Timothy. Perspective on Practicing. Flute Talk (September 1994): 12-13.

Johnston, Philip. The Practice Revolution: Getting Great Results from the Six Days Between Music Lessons.
Mawson, Australia: PracticeSpot Press, 2007.

Johnston, Philip. Practiceopedia: The Big Book of Practice Help. Mawson, Australia: PracticeSpot Press,
2009.

Jones, Katherine Borst, and Christopher Weait. Positive Preparation for Practice, in The Flutist's
Handbook: A Pedagogy Anthology. Santa Clarita, CA: The National Flute Association, Inc., 1998:
25-30.

Jrgensen, Harald. Strategies for Individual Practice, chapter in Musical Excellence: Strategies and
Techniques to Enhance Performance, edited by Aaron Willianom. New York: Oxford University
Press, 2004.

Jrgensen, Harald and Susan Hallam. Practicing, chapter in The Oxford Handbook of Music Psychology,
edited by Susan Hallam, Ian Cross, and Michael Thaut. New York: Oxford University Press,
2009.

Jrgensen, Harald and Andreas C. Lehmann. Does Practice Make Perfect: Current Theory and Research
on Instrumental Music Practice. Oslo: The Norwegian State Academy of Music, 1997.

Jourdain, Robert. Music, The Brain and Ecstasy. New York: Avon Books/Bard, 1998.

Kaplan, Burton. Practicing for Artistic Success: The Musicians Guide to Self-Empowerment. Perception
Development Techniques, 2004.

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Kelley, Whitney Reagan. Practice What You Think: Strengthening Musical Learning through Mental
Strategies, in The Flutist's Handbook: A Pedagogy Anthology, Volume 2. Santa Clarita, CA: The
National Flute Association, Inc., 2012: 67-70.

Kemler, Katherine. "Practicing for Performance." Selected Flute Masterclasses (Malibu, CA: Windplayer
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Khaner, Jeffrey. How to Practice, in The Flutist's Handbook: A Pedagogy Anthology. Santa Clarita, CA:
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Klickstein, Gerald. The Musicians Way: A Guide to Practice, Performance, and Wellness. New York:
Oxford University Press, 2009.

Krell, John. Kincaidiana: A Flute Player's Notebook, 2nd Edition. Santa Clarita, CA: The National Flute
Association, Inc., 1997.

Kujala,Walfrid. Shifting the Beat for a Cleaner Technique. The Instrumentalist (April 1974).

Lehmann, Andreas C., John A. Sloboda, and Robert H. Woody. Psychology for Musicians: Understanding
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Lemov, Doug, Erica Woolway, and Katie Yezzi. Practice Perfect: 42 Rules for Getting Better at Getting
Better. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2012.

Leon-Guerrero, Amanda. Self-regulation Strategies Used by Student Musicians During Music Practice.
Music Education Research 10/no. 1 (March 2008): 91-106.

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Anthology, Volume 2. Santa Clarita, CA: The National Flute Association, Inc., 2012: 137-140.

Mach, Elyse. Great Pianists Speak for Themselves. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1980.

Mack, Gary, and David Casstevens. Mind Gym: An Athletes Guide to Inner Excellence. New York:
McGraw-Hill, 2001.

Miksza, Peter. Effective Practice: An Investigation of Observed Practice Behaviors, Self-Reported
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Miksza, Peter. Relationships Among Achievement Goal Motivation, Impulsivity, and the Music Practice
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Nyfenger, Thomas. Music and the Flute. Published by the author, Guilford, CT, 1986.

Oare, Steven. Goals and Self-Assessment in the Middle School Learner: A Study of Music Practice
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Pearson, Lea. Body Mapping for Flutists: What Every Flute Teacher Needs to Know About the Body.
Chicago: GIA Publications, 2006.

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Pearson, Lea. Body Mapping: Practical Anatomy for Efficient, Effective, and Expressive Playing. The
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Straumbaugh, Laura. When Repetition Isnt the Best Practice Strategy: Effects of Blocked and Random
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Werner, Kenny. Effortless Mastery: Liberating the Master Musician Within. New Albany, IN: Jamey
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Westney, William. The Perfect Wrong Note: Learning to Trust Your Musical Self. Popton Plains, NY:
Amadeus Press, LLC, 2003.

Williams, Bernie, Dave Gluck, and Bob Thompson. Rhythms of the Game: The Link Between Musical and
Athletic Performance. Milwaukee: Hal Leonard Books, 2011.

Willoughby, Robert: The Flute: Practice Techniques. Elkhart, IN: W.T. Armstrong Co., Inc., n.d.

Wye, Trevor. Looking at More Efficient Practice on the Flute. Nashua, NH: Falls House Press, 2009.

Wye, Trevor. Proper Flute Playing: A Companion to the Practice Books. London and Sevenoaks, Kent:
Novello & Company Limited, 1988.

Websites and Blogs:

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Contact information:
Francesca Arnone francesca_arnone@[Link]
Leonard Garrison leonardg@[Link]
Katherine Borst Jones jones.6@[Link]