Dr. Riner’s Practice Triad of Triumph

It's an "oldy" here at University of Wyoming with a dorky title, but I find myself coming back to this formula again and again in studio class to great results.  In keeping with my post on developing efficient practice habits earlier this month, here's UWYO's good old ...

Dr. Riner’s Practice Triad of Triumph

Tone (45 minutes for music ed./B.A, 60 minutes for performance; 30 minutes for minors)

*First, cover the entire range in step-wise motion

Options: Wye, pp. 8, 16, 21

Moyse, pp. 6-9

Wilkinson, pp. 22-23

Edmund-Davies, 1 exercises from the “Sonority” section, starting 8va, going down to low B

Second, specialize low (do 2 exercises if this is a problem area)

Options: Wye pp. 9-12

Moyse pp. 10-14 (bonus: add articulations to include steps 4 & 5)

Moyse split octaves (from Tone Development Through Interpretation)

Third, specialize high (do 2 exercises if this is a problem area)

Options: Wye, pp. 18-21

Moyse, pp. 15-22

Moyse, split octaves

*Fourth, practice leaps & dynamics to test embouchure (do 2 exercises if this is a problem area)

Options: Wye, pp. 6, 22-23

Wilkinson, pp.10 (#1), 13 (#6), 29-37, 56-58

Edmund-Davies, 1 exercise from “Intervals” section

"Diamonds" + slurred octaves

Harmonics and/ or whistle tones

Fifth, practice articulation

Options: Wye, 2-3 exercises from “Articulation” section

Edmund Davies, 1 exercise from “Articulation” section

Salvo, 5 pages daily

Supplementary: Vibrato

Wilkinson, pp, 46-52

Dr. Chris Potter’s Vibrato Workbook

*Supplementary: Extremes Project, using any simple melodies from books like Louis Moyse’s 40 Little Pieces, rudimentary etude books like Andersen Op. 37, or Gariboldi 30 Progressive Studies or Op. 132, or the “Intonation” section of Wye

*=essential exercises for busy days.

Technique (45 minutes for music ed./B.A, 60 minutes for performance; 30 minutes for minors)

Your time should be spent intelligently on your etude and your assigned scale patterns.  

Scales: Your short-term goal is to pass the semester scale test, but your long-term goal is to achieve mastery over all common tonal patterns for ease of learning and performing music. To this end, it may help to “mix up” your scales now and then so they don’t get stale; just grab any one of the technique books listed below and find the patterns you are currently working on for a different perspective.  

Trevor Wye’s “Technique” section, Paul Edmund Davies’ “Fingers” section, and individual exercises from Geoffrey Gilbert’s Sequences may be used as supplementary exercises after all basic pattern work is done for the day.

Etudes: It is crucial that you woodshed efficiently in your etude; merely playing through it over and over again every day will not get it learned in a week.  Identify problem spots the first day of a new etude, bracket those passages, and spend time woodshedding each one every day.  At the end of your technique practice session, run the entire etude.  Your etude is practice learning music quickly and efficiently.

Repertoire (45 minutes for music ed./B.A, 60 minutes for performance; 30 minutes for minors)

Under this category falls solo music for juries, recitals, and lessons; orchestral excerpts; chamber music parts; and, when necessary, difficult spots in your large ensemble music.  Priorities should be made according to the order listed above. Employ creative woodshedding techniques to avoid the exhausting syndrome of performing a concert every day in the practice room; very little time will be spent running entire pieces.

Books referenced

Tone:

Edmund-Davies, Paul.  28 Day Warm-Up Book. Pub.: Carolyn Nussbaum Company

Moyse, Marcel.  De La Sonorite. Pub.: LeDuc.

Potter, Chris. Vibrato Workbook.  Pub.: Falls House Press.

Salvo., Victor. 243 Double- and Triple-Tonguing Exercises. Pub: Mel-Bay.

Wilkinson, Fiona.  The Physical Flute. Pub.: Mayfair Music.

Wye, Trevor. Practice Books for Flute, Omnibus Edition. Pub.: Novello.

Technique:

Gilbert, Geoffrey.  Sequences and Technical Flexibility. Pub.: Southern Music Company.

Marquarre, André.  Daily Exercises.  Pub.: Southern Music Company.

Moyse, Marcel. Exercices Journaliers pour la flute. Pub.: LeDuc.

Reichert, Matthieu .  Seven Daily Exercises for the Flute, Op. 5. Pub.: Southern Music Company.

Taffanel, Paul and Philippe Gaubert. 17 Grands Exercices de Mechanisme pour flute.  Pub.: LeDuc.


Nicole Riner ©2016