Tag: reasons to do etudes

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.

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.