Tag: etudes

Being Lazy Can Be Productive

Being lazy can be productive. I know that I’m opening up a can of worms with this statement, but bear with me. I consider myself lazy. Not a sluggard, but lazy.

Definition of Lazy vs. Sluggard

I am unapologetically a Christian. I know what Proverbs says about being a sluggard. I can hear my dad quoting, “A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of your hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a thief…” Proverbs 24:33

As with everything, laziness has a spectrum. A sluggard is an extremely lazy person. Someone who is so lazy that they won’t even try. There are no standards of living. As long as there’s food and shelter, everything’s fine. It’s the very bottom end of the spectrum of lazy. I’m not saying this is good at all.

Laziness, in general, is just having a goal of not doing anything as much as possible. The goal is the couch or the recliner.

How Can Laziness be Productive?

The goal is the couch or the recliner, so if something needs to be done, it will be done as efficiently as possible – the fastest, the easiest, and the same quality of work as if I did it the traditional way.

I will spend an extra 5 minutes planning something out so that I can save one minute of doing the task. That seems counter-productive, but what if I have to do that task again? I already spent the 5 minutes figuring out the fastest and easiest way to do it, so that will pay off in the long-run.

Think about all the inventions people have made over the years to make life easier. That even applies to our instruments. Do I *really* need a C# trill key? Hopefully my next flute has one.

How Does This Relate to Music?

My normal practice routine is centered around my version of laziness. I make sure that I do scales, technical exercises, and etudes because they help me learn the repertoire faster. I go into that information in more detail in the linked articles. I call it dividing and conquering.

Another thing I do to increase efficiency is I analyze my music before I play it. I note all the scales (even the modes), the patterns, the form etc., in my head. I know that it helps some people to write it down in the music, but that gets to be too much information on the page for me.

Last but not least, I use a ton of different practice techniques to help me learn my music faster. Here are a bunch of them. I’m always adding more to my list. Sometimes I make them up and sometimes I learn them from other musicians. They’re a way for me to go around, over, or under a wall, rather than try to go through.

Everyone Needs a Lazy Friend

People who aren’t lazy just do things the way they’ve always done them or were taught to do them. Lazy people spend the extra time to figure out the fastest and easiest way to do everything, all the way down to washing their hands. I’ll be your lazy music friend. My goal with this blog is to help you practice faster and easier than you did before.

The “Divide and Conquer” Practice Technique

This is a practice technique that can and should be done from day one of starting a new repertoire piece. It’s simple, it makes you better, and you may realize that you’ve accidentally done it before.

The only time you might not want to do this practice technique is if you’re in the process of learning all your scales. If you have time to do this in addition to learning your scales, go for it.

What You’ll Need:

You’ll need a metronome, a good scale book, and etudes (optional). I can’t make a good recommendation for a piano scale book, but Pares Scales (affiliate link) would be a good place to start on the flute.

If you don’t have a metronome, there are a ton of good, free metronome apps that you can use on a phone or tablet. If you need a real one because you want to reduce screen time, I really like this Matrix one (not an affiliate link). It’s loud enough for me to hear with earplugs and over the piccolo.

Analyze Your Piece

First you have to ask yourself a couple questions:

  1. What key(s) is my piece in?
  2. Does the piece transfer into a different key for awhile using accidentals?
  3. Double-check. Is it Major, minor, both, or modal?

Scales

When warming up, play in the key(s) of your piece all scales, arpeggios, chords, and thirds with a metronome.  Keep increasing the speed of the metronome over the course of the weeks/months that you’re learning the repertoire.

For variety, use the various scale exercises in your scale book. They’re designed to even out your fingers. They’re also designed to practice the common trouble spots that you might encounter in the music.

Etudes (optional)

An optional part of this is to find etudes that are in the same key(s) as your new repertoire piece. Play a new one each week.

Etudes weave into a melody a problem-pattern that is common in your instrument. If you practice etudes that are in the same key as your repertoire piece, the problem-patterns that the etudes bring up are more likely to be the problems you’ll encounter in your repertoire piece.

These are the reasons I can think of that etudes are optional for this practice technique. I’m sure there are more.

  1. You’re going through a lesson book and you need to go through those etudes in the order given (lesson books are etude books).
  2. You have a goal of going through certain etudes. It feels good to say you’ve played all of a certain composer’s etudes, and I’m not one to get in the way of your goals.
  3. It’s hard to find etudes based on key signature, and you don’t have the time or resources to scour etude books for hours on end.

This technique can and should be used in conjunction with all the other practice techniques.  It helps you recognize parts of the song that may look hard at first, but then you realize it’s just a scale.  It also helps you keep your fingers even.

Sight Reading: How Theory, Technical Studies, and Etudes Help

I’m putting together a new ensemble right now. We’re sightreading a bunch of music to see what we like from each other’s collection and trying to find a good flute/clarinet duet.

The other person in the ensemble is a doubler between the clarinet and the piano. I double with the flute and the piano. We’re both going to play both of our instruments (not at the same time) and we’re going to have a ton of fun!

Music Theory

How does music theory fit into what we’re doing right now? Seeing patterns.

As I’m reading through, I’m not necessarily reading all the note names. I’m thinking in my head things like, “scale going down starting on Bb,” “Fourth, bottom note F,” “octave jump.”

Technical Studies

How do technical studies fit into what we’re doing right now? Finger Patterns.

My fingers already know what do do with the patterns listed above because I’ve done and still do my technical studies during my regular practice times.

Do my fingers still get tangled on themselves? Absolutely.

Do I misread how many notes are in that scale? Yup.

I still do better than I would if I didn’t do the technical studies.

Etudes

How do etudes fit into what we’re doing right now? Rhythmic Patterns and Problem Patterns.

Etudes take whole problems that you see in music and repeat them over and over again in a melodious piece. I’ve tackled a ton of problems, especially rhythmic problems, through the etudes. I try to play at least one per week.

As I’m reading through, I’m thinking “Philadelphia” instead of a 16th note 5-tuplet in a grupetto pattern. I see a 16th note in the middle of the triplet and think Irish Jig. Triplets in one hand and 8th notes in the other? I’ve got this!

Confidence

What ends up happening is you develop confidence in sight reading through the weekly grind of learning your technical studies, etudes, and music theory. You realize that you’ve seen it all before, just not in this particular order.

It’s a good idea to make sure you sight read on a regular basis, too, but that’s for another post. 🙂

Old Lesson Books

Old books aren’t necessarily a bad thing. There’s forgotten wisdom written on those pages.

I teach my own kids how to play piano. I know it doesn’t work for everyone, but it works for us.

My Old Lesson Books

My youngest daughter is in level 3 of Alfred. She prefers using lesson books rather than doing the RCM lists. She’s using my old lesson book and my husband’s old Fingerpower book.

She loves seeing the little notes from our teachers. One page in the Fingerpower said, “You can do it!” I told her that her dad had a really hard time with that page. She was delighted to get it in the first try.

One song (there were words, so it was a song) from my old lesson book had several dates listed on the second half of the song. I told her that it took that many tries to get it down. She didn’t feel bad that she had to take two weeks on it.

Used Bookstore

Our used bookstore has a decent collection of used sheet music. I’m not usually there for the used lesson books, but sometimes I’ll flip through them to see if there are any nuggets of information.

Every once in awhile, I’ll find one that’s written in by the teacher. I haven’t found anything worthwhile for myself, but I’ve known people to find good information in there.

Personal Preference

Personally, I love working from used music in general. Sometimes the beats are already written in for a tough rhythm. Sometimes there are words of encouragement written at the top of the page. I also like the idea that this book has been through someone’s blood, sweat, and tears and now it’s going through it with me. It’s experienced.

I’m in a habit of checking to see if there’s a sheet music section of every used book store that I go to, including Goodwill. I once got a $50 etude book for $1, and this one was brand-new. If you find yourself in one of those kinds of stores, take a look. If you find nothing, you’re out nothing, but you might find a gem.

I know some people like the feel of having a shiny, new book. That’s completely fine. As you write things into your music so you will always remember them, think about how maybe your music will inspire someone else someday.

What Etudes Are and What they Aren’t

When I was in high school and college, my flute teacher assigned me an etude every week. I dutifully learned them, but I had no idea why. I figured they were just a wind instrument thing, but it turns out I was wrong.

When I was in high school and college, my flute teacher assigned me an etude every week. I dutifully learned them, but I had no idea why. I figured they were just a wind instrument thing, but it turns out I was wrong.

What Is An Etude?

An etude is also called a study. Lesson books are almost entirely made of etudes. They take something that’s hard about playing your instrument and helps you learn how to conquer it.

Etudes Are Different than Technique

The definition of an etude sounds a lot like technique, right? It’s related to that genre, but not quite. A big difference is that etudes are melodious, which make them more fun to play.

Another big difference is they don’t break up the hard parts of your music into tiny bits that are easy. They keep those hard parts whole and make you play them several times within those beautiful melodies.

Etudes Aren’t a Substitute for Technique

Etudes are their own entity and should be part of your regular practice routine. They should come after technique and before repertoire. Scales and technique help you learn your etudes better and faster.

Etudes Are A Measure of Your Current Level

Repertoire is usually what people point to in order to show how well they can play their instrument, but they spend months, sometimes over a year, learning that music. That’s not a true measure.

Etudes are designed to be learned in a week. If you’re taking longer than that to learn the etudes, then you should back up to a lower level. If you’re breezing through the etudes, then you need to go up to the next level.

Conclusion

Etudes are a tool, written for you by some of the best performers of their time. They are a gift to you from these people, to help you play like they do. Once you go beyond the lesson book, etudes can sometimes go away. Don’t let them.