Oh my goodness! can you keep up without getting airy or tired?????? the tonguing is causing me some problems. The trouble is, I just can't keep up. Tongue gets so tired.... I start off fine....then I go slightly 'breath-y' but nothing that can't be fixed.....and then, all of a sudden it's impossible to keep up and before i know it I'm four bars behind!
I have a copy of a proffessional playing the piece, and I 'follow' it. I put my flute to my mouth, and tongue it, i just don't actually play the notes. and i get all the way through no problems. Its just when i actually play the notes, my threshold for keeping up is.......not good....
Any tips? Anything?? Please? Am most worried.......is next month....


Becky x

Try playing it slowly, I know it sounds stupid but it helped me as I found that I was double tonguing some notes when I didn't need to!!! The bit I used to run out of breath on a lot was the section starting on the high D which didn't have any rests, in the major key. I ended up missing some of those out but it sounded ok. You might be blowing too hard for the loud bits, which is why it may be sounding airy??
Good luck with your exam!

I haven't actually played this piece so don't exactly know how it works, is it marked staccatto the whole way through or something? If not then can't you slur the odd couple of notes to give yourself a break?!

Can you get through it more slowly withput any problems? If yes, then stop playing with the recording and simply play it at that speed, then, if you feel more confident, try gradually increasing the spped a bit.

I find playing with recordings can be beneficial, but if you do it to much you stop listening to what noises you are actually making, and lose some of your own expression, and of course, often the professionals seem to play at almost impossible (and sometimes uneccessary) speeds.

Another thought, try simply warming up you flute (thoroughly- cause that can affect sound quality too, I find carefully sticking it on a radiator works well!) and then playingh just the piece, as if you a tierd out from say tonguing scales already you are never going to play it stunningly, also try adjusting the head of you flute by twisting it towards you slightly, I find that can help a bit too.


Hope some of this is helpfull!