Flutey Things and How to Play Notes: Let's Talk About the Alabama All-State Band Flute Audition Etudes

Welcome to my studio! Here are my videos on how to practice, think, and prepare the etudes for the Alabama All State Band Auditions for 2019 (auditions music/requirements). For anyone considering auditioning for all-state, let me first say that I think that is great! It is a good short term goal that, as proper motivation, will allow you the opportunity to grow as a musician regardless of the audition outcome. Practicing scales regularly leads to higher technical ability and also strengthens your theoretical understanding of music. A good etude will push and engage you as a musician. Remember that all music should be played musically, even scales. An etude may be labeled as a technical etude, but it should still be played expressively. Just some food for thought.

In my videos, I will suggest ways to practice these specific etudes. You may have other ideas or know methods that work for you, but I wanted to share my strategies too. Something I don't say in my videos that I would like to share now is that the technical exercise (as I call it) is one of the best, if not the best, ways to learn notes in relation to fingerings/muscle memory. The technical exercise means playing a passage (never the whole piece, maybe 8 measures at a time or less as needed) in varied rhythms. Straight eighths or sixteenths can be practiced in dotted rhythms, triplets, eighth and two sixteenths, etc. You can practice your scales this way too.

So, without further ado, here are the videos! I sincerely hope that you find them helpful and that they inspire you in your practice sessions. Good luck, happy practicing, excelsior!

Middle School Technical Etude