Technical Mastery- Part 1

Part of the joy of being a musician is helping others to achieve their own musical goals! I've been inspired to share the wealth of information that I've gathered as a flutist for over the past 30 years to help other flutists. We'll be adding new videos to our YouTube channel @themazzoniduo each week, encouraging flutists to reach new heights no matter their specific skills and abilities. I decided to start at the beginning, with the first technical book that I seriously studied, Seven Daily Exercises for the Flute by Andre Maquarre.

Trained in the Paris Conservatory, Maquarre made his career in the U.S., playing in the Boston, Philadelphia, and L.A. symphony orchestras. He compiled his technical knowledge in this book, building on the foundations given to him by master teacher Paul Taffanel ( we'll discuss his flute tome in the next video of our series!). These seven exercises ( actually nine when you count the daily exercise and chromatic scales) introduce several key skills that are necessary for complete technical mastery in all twelve major and minor keys. The exercises explore scale patterns, arpeggios, challenging intervals, and trills in every octave of the flute. By isolating the tricky spots in the flute technique through continual repetition, this book builds fluidity and confidence.

So where should you begin? Start by learning the exercises in C Major and A Minor throughout the entire book. It's not a race, so a slow and steady tempo is preferred to give yourself a lot of time to hear each note and interval. You can connect your finger technique to your breathing and focus on making a beautiful sound. Strive to make each exercise as musical as possible, listening for smooth intervals and a consistent sound. Once you feel comfortable with every exercise in C Major , you can move on to the next key, F Major. After a few short weeks, you'll have learned these exercises in all twelve major and minor keys!

Once you complete your slow study of a new key area each week, you can accelerate your practicing to one key area per day. This is a very helpful way to make sure that you are playing in all of the keys, not just your favorite ones ( or the easiest ones)! Playing through this entire book in a certain key is how I begin my practice time each day. I've been doing this since I was 16 years old! With my busy schedule, I can be assured that I'm continuing to grow in my technique by playing this book, along with daily exercises by Taffanel and Gaubert, and sound exercises from Moyse. We'll discuss those books in upcoming videos, so stay tuned!

Practicing is not a sprint, it's a marathon. Each day is an opportunity to grow and learn, no matter where you are in your musical journey. You may not notice a huge difference in your playing right away, but with persistence, working on your technique with this book and others will bear fruit. Happy practicing!

-Jennifer