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Trevor Wye A Beginners Book For The Flute Part 1

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4K views55 pages

Trevor Wye A Beginners Book For The Flute Part 1

Uploaded by

Rohaan Kumar
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Trevor Wye : ya] Beginner’ Fook por the “Flute Pat One For Kate Hill PREFACE ‘Any new book appearing on the market usually boasts of new ideas and new format. This book is no different in this respect though it does incorporate all the well-tried recipes of the past. Technically, the fluteis the easiest of the woodwind instruments and one which lends itself most readily to being leamt chromatically. It is easier for a beginner to play indifferent keys, provided that the learning of each new note is given equal emphasis. The general outline of this book is, therefore, to encourage: (a) enjoyment of flute playing and music making in the broadest,sense (b) familiarity with the lesser-known keys which, in turn, results in easier access to orchestras and ensembles. (c) the formation of a firm low register, the foundation to a good tone throughout the compass of the flute. (d) solo and ensemble playing. The 72 numbered pieces (1-42 are in PART I, the rest in PART Il) in this book can mostly be played either: 1) as a solo 2) asa duet 3) as a solo with piano 4) as a duet with piano 5) as a solo or duet with guitar accompaniment. The book of pino accompaniments, in which chord symbols are given, are up to Grade VI (Associated Board) in standard (though many are easier), and is available separately. The book is intended for both individual and group tuition. It can be used without a teacher if circumstances make this necessary though a pupil is strongly advised to consult a good teacher. Many exercises and tunes are by the author. Piano accompaniments by Robert Scott with nine original pieces specially composed by Alan Ridout. Finally, | acknowledge with greteful thanks, the players and teachers who have advised me on the preparation of this book: Lucy Cartledge, Catharine Hill, Malcolm Pollack, Rosemary Rathbone, Alastair Roberts, Lenore Smith, Robin Soldan, Hilary Taggart, Stephanie Tromans, Lindsay Winfield-Chislett and Janet Wey. TREVOR WYE Head joint Thumb Blowing the headjoint Take the headjoint and place the palm of the right hand across the open end of the tube tomake it airtight. Place the lip plate against the lower lip so that less than half of the blow- hole is covered. The headjoint will be parallel with the lips. Bring the lips together and blow across the hole. When a sound has been made, take the right hand away and try again. Be patient if you. | do not get an immediate result. Try not to lose too much air. Try to keep the sound steady. Repeat the above starting the note with the tongue as if making the syllable te. Do not end the note with your tongue. When successful: assemble the flute holding it as in the above diagram. See that the blow-hole is in line with the key for the first finger of the left hand. Note the footjoint position. = : Foot joint é 5 Study the pictures: notice the angle of the flute in relation to the body. Place the right and left hands on the flute as in the drawings above. Place your fingers on the flute as in the drawings above. Keep the little finger curved. The left hand first finger curves under the flute to support it whilst the fingers curve over the keys. Notice the left hand thumb. Keep the thumb on the right lever. Right hand position Hold up your right arm with the hand limp. Notice that the fingers are curved. Notice also that the thumb is sideways-on to the first finger. Place the hand over the fiute without changing this relationship between the thumb and the hand. Place the curved fingers on the keys and the little finger on its key. The fingers should be at right angles to the flute: not pointing to the left or right. This is how the ering for each note ] will be shown. | ° TRUM Left hand ° ° | © Right hand Little finger © Indicates finger or thumb on. © Indicates finger or thumb off. ~\ Put finger on key. Blowing the flute Always stand when playing. Holding the flute in front of you, turn your head about 45 degrees to the left end bring the fiute to your head. Avoid bringing your heed to the flute. Observe that your head and the flute are facing in a different direction to your shoulders. Finger the note B and play your first note. Left hand first ° oO Right hand little finger on E flat key 9 Try to relax your arms end shoulders. Si Breathing Put the flute down and take a big breath without,aising the shoulders. The stomach should expand followed by the chest. If you have any difficulty doing this, sit in an upright chair and hold on to the seat. Take another breath: this time the stomach should expand. Repeat without the aid of the chair. Some don'ts: 1} Don’t end the note with the tongue. 2) Don’t push the flute hard against the mouth to stop it slipping down: tuck the left hand first finger a little under the flute. If the flute is slippery, glue some paper on the place where your first finger should go. Keep the left elbow down 3) Keep the shoulders down when playing and when taking a breath. 4) Don’t allow the flute to be supported on a flat right hand thumb: it causes the fingers to adopta strained position and straightens the little finger. Keep the little finger bent (see picture below and on page 3). 5] Don’t practice with your music on a table: if you haven’t a music stand, support it using picture hooks and paper clips, or prop it up on the inside of your flute case if necessary. Incorrect right hand position Cortect right hand position Practising Practise every day. The lip muscles, tongue, fingers and breathing all need regular exercise if you are to progress quickly. If possible, try to practise at the same time each day. An athlete would soon pull a muscle if he trained only at weekends! Expression in music also needs regular practice. 6 Musical notes ere named after the first seven letters of the alphabet. They are placed on the staff: This sign == is called @ treble clef and shows that the instrument playing from the steff is a high or trebleinstrument such as the descantand treble recorders, the lin and the flute. vi Music is grouped into bars to show rhythmic stress or accent. The barline shows the beginning and end of each bar. bartine This final double barline (which may be thin or thick and thin) shows the end of a piece of music. There are several different note lengths in music. Here are some of them: © semibreve or whole-note 2 minim or half-note ¢ crotchet or quarter-note There are signs for silence which correspond to the note lengths. They are called rests. semibreve minim crotchet or whole-note rest or half-note rest__or quarter-note rest Time-signatures A time-signature, in the form of a fraction, is printed at the beginning of each piece to tall you what note values to expect in each bar throughout the piece. Example: a 3 = three quarter-notes or crotchets in each bar. two quarter-notes or crotchets in each bar. Y = tour quarter-notes (crotchets) or two half-notes (minims) in each bar. 7 Now take up your flute and play the exercise below counting four crotchet beats in each bar. Play the notes for their full length. You will use only one note: B. Play the next exercise; each minim has two beets. Play the minims for their full length. 28-4 1-2 3-4 Play the next exercise; the time-signature shows three crotchet beats in each bar. An exercise with a time ‘The following exercises contain notes of different values in each bar. Play the notes for their full length. Count carefully. (a) 8 A Final exercise which uses both notes and rests: @ 1-23 4 1 @ 804) 928 4 12 8-4 1-23 4 1-2 3-4 Play these exercises to develop a feeling for rhythm. They use only the one note you have learned: 8. Do not end each note with the tongue. If in doubt, sing the exercises, and count at the same time. Introducing the first three notes 8, A and G 8 A G oO Oo e o ° Oo 6 8 8 2 fo 2 Tongue as if making the syllable te at the beginning of each note. It will give the note a clean start. Count carefully. te nee is 1-2 3-4 1-2 3-4 1-23 4 Remember to finger all the notes with the right hand little finger on the E flat key. Do not use the /eft hand little finger yet. WELSH MELODY SF ey Like speech, music is divided into sentences and phrases. Try to make your breath last until the next breathing place. The music will then sound less broken up. DUET PUPIL, TEACHER MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG vv v vv 10 FINGER EXERCISE B Slurs A slur is a curved line placed above or below 2 group of notes: te The notes are to be playedin one breath tonguing only the first note. Count carefully when slurring. ee vite: yt vite When two notes of the same name are connected with a curved line, their values are added together to make one continuous note. The line is called a tie. Don't tongue the second note. te te te i So far, youhave played in 4 time: four crotchet beats in a bar. This is sometimes called common time and is marked with a © instead of % . Notice that the first beat of a bar always seems more important: it should, therefore, have a slight stress. v v ¥ 234 SAD TUNE ALAN RIDOUT * 1” Very slowly oe Pe softly Introducing quavers or eighth-notes SS There are two to every crotchet or quarter-note. = equals Play the following exercises counting 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and — for the quavers. L&2 83 64% 1 2 8-4 18282 4 Lee SNAKES v v 162 1a26 * All the numbered pieces have a piano accompaniment avaliable separately. ‘The pieces sound better with piano or guitar accompaniment. 12 RAIN IS FALLING ¥ Three tunes as a reading exercise Whilst playing these tunes don't let the right hand fingers rest on the keywork. (@) es [email protected] ©) Fairly quickly ¥ 1a2e (©) Ata moderate speed Re Introducing C c NB. Don't be tempted to support the flute with the left thumb when C is played. 13 H. PURCELL PUPIL TEACHER Vis Most of the signs used to show speed in music are written at the start of each piece i ltalian. From here onwards, the most common words will be given with the English translation repeated in brackets. For reference, there is a list at the back of the book. 2 AIR DE BUFFONS 16th century Moderato (ata moderate speed) y- ve e TEACHER v 3 time is three beats in a bar, as used in waltz time. te te Ni ve FINGER EXERCISE 14 Now check your posture and hand position with the pictures in the front of this book. d. This is a dotted minim: a dot efter a note adds half its value to itself. 1-23 1-23 1-3 1-2-3 This is a repeat sign: repeat once all the music between these two signs. If there is only ‘one set, repeat back to the beginning. 3 DANCE SUSATO Allegro (quickly) \- a we qe TEACHER 1 The first flutes wore made many thousands of years ago out of human bones, the tibia (leg bone) being ® favourite. Until fairly recent times, trbesin South America would make flutes out of the bones, and drums ut of the skins, of their defeated enemies, upon which to make music both to celebrate their victory and honour their foes. Greek flute players were called Tibiscenes. One of them, Harmonides, in about 440 B.C., confessed to his teacher that his only motive in becoming flute player was to grat his vanity. His teacher said that the most certain way to acquire fame was to pay little heed to the many who know how to hiss, and to endeavour to gain the approval of the few who know how to judge. His words fell on deaf ears. At his first competition, Harmonides played with so many contortions and played so eagerly and blew so hard in order to gain popularity, that he suddenly fell dead. 16 All notes in music can be raised, or lowered, by placing a sign in front of them. The sign for raising a note is # , a sharp. It raises the note against which it is placed. Its effect is cancelled by the barline. Introducing G sharp Fingering: as for G but add litte finger of left hand. vecomes Fee this G G sharp G sharp Andante (walking pace) Ve FINGER EXERCISE ¥ This is @ pause sign: \ hold the note for a little longer than its written value. pi = Andante (walking pace) v v my ‘pause 2nd tine only 17 When a previously raised note needs to be restored back to its original sound, a natural sign (h) is used. Its effect is also cancelled by the barline. Itis also sometimes used as a reminder. Gratural reminder + 4 MADRIGAL TEACHER Work your fingers quickly and firmly on the keys even when playing slowly. Don't raise the fingors higher than necessary. This will help you develop good finger technique. OLD LACE Moderato a ¥ v Remember to finger all the notes with the right hand little finger on the E flat key. HUNGARIAN FOLKSONG Vivace (lively, quickly) 18 Introducing F and E Try not to let the tone get weaker as you play the low notes. Check your hand position with the pictures in the front of the book. foe eee G5oeie ALL THE NOTES v yv v You have already played this familiar tune though using different notes: AU CLAIR DE LA LUNE Allegretto (fairly quickly) - Be y LAVENDER Moderato " v WALKING v y va Moderato 4 Ze Practise the same tune in tim. It should sound the same as in the previous time but with different stress. WALKING Moderato v oe v 19 A dot under or over @ note megns it should be played shorter than its written length or ‘staccato. Don't stop the notes with the tongue. STACCATO EXERCISE DANCE Allegretto A SHORT TUNE Lento (slowly) v FINGER EXERCISE v MUFFINS v Vivace (lively) Tone Development The development of a beautiful tone is most important to your further progress. In these exercises — andin the exercises which follow — experiment with the spead of the air which you blow into your flute. Does increasing the air speed make a firmer tone? If it does, try: (2) decreasing the size of the hole in your lips through which you blow. Whilst obtaining a clear sound, try to be economical with the quantity of air used. (b) moving the jaw backwards and forwards slightly, note any improvement. Play each note as long as possible. Take big breaths. Avoid turning the flute blow-hole in on your lip. No more than helf should be covered. See the front of this book. 20 TONE EXERCISE Slowly ie ye ve ag a Sei v v v x This piece starts with an incomplete bar. The note before the barline is called an upbeat. Notice how it affects the breathing places. GERMAN DANCE Allegro v v N.B. The last barin German Dance is not complete. The remainder of that bar is contained in the upbeat at the start of the piece. Introducing B flat : Remember that all notes can be both raised ( #), restored back to the original note ( 4), and lowered: the sign to lower a note is called a flat (} )- Bb fies THE STOAT Andante v v v ae MINUET Moderato v v v In the last piece, there was a flat sign in front of every B. In the next piece, there is a B flat at the ‘ront of the piece to save writinga flat before every B. When sharps or flats appoar at the beginning of a pisce, it is called a key-signature. Play the piece above without the B flats: it sounds rather odd. Notice how the piece seems to want to retuin to F at the end. This key — one flat — is called F Major. Later in the book you will be playing in other keys. F major MARCH ANONYMOUS Allegro ® ¥ Tone Before starting the next pieces, play the first note of each piece as a long note to check the quality of your tone. F major NOW THE DAY IS OVER _ s. garine-coup Andante y v v F major JINGLE BELLS JS. PIERPOINT Vivace es 22 In the next piece, notice that the phrases are three bars long; most phrases in music are four bars long. The phrases are indicated by brackets. F major 5 THE NIGHTINGALE Andante FOLKSONG No “S PUPIL | PUPIL I F major 6 THE BEE Vivace ve a ae 19th century PUPIL | PUPIL II There are no sharps or flats in the key-signature of this next piece. Itis in the key of C Major though it does change key during the piece which explains the G sharps. Pieces often change key or modulate. When a sharp, flat, or natural sign — which is not in the key-signeture — appears in a piece, it is called an accidental. Its effect is cancelled by the barline. 23 C major a LULLABY ALAN RIDOUT Andante ¥ Y Y softly SUR LE PONT D’AVIGNON F major FRENCH FOLKSONG Allegretto ¥ Re v This is an accent: the note over or under which it is placed is ettacked strongly with the breath and tongue. F major ANONYMOUS 8 THE CUCKOO 219th century Allegro > a: v v PUPIL | = PUPIL II softer” Practise your tone first before playing any of the pieces. 24 prert FAREWELL ee 9 Moderato ae ¥ v — — Scales are a series of notes which ascend and descend in ladder -like steps. They are important to the development of finger movements. Practise the exercises carefully and those that, follow in the book FINGER EXERCISE v SCALE EXERCISE IN F MAJOR ¥ F major DANCE PRAETORIUS 10 1 Allegro 2 This netive is whirling g bull roarer, a primitive sor of flute. It makes a low humming noise. To make one you need: a piece of light wood 2%” x 18" (6.5 cm x 45 cm) Ye" (’4 cm) thick and about two yards of nylon string. Cutt to the shape in the drawing and round o#f the corners with sandpaper. Drill a hole 3%” (2.cm) from one end. Paint it, with decoration as shown, in bright emulsion. Tie a knot in the end of the string. Thread it through the hole. Whirl it around your head. A tutor who tooted the flute Tried to tutor two tooters to toot Said the two to the tutor Is it easier to toot Or to tutor two tooters to toot? 26 Introducing F sharp ecole F sharp The finger exercise has a new key-signature, G Major: it has one sharp, F sharp. All F's must be played as F sharp. Baus FINGER EXERCISE x G major Allegro Introducing the dotted crotchet First, play this exercise: a Y Now play the exercise again with the first two notes tied together: 4 ve ies) cea is Gea 1 @)n 3 1-2-3 1-@e 8 1-(@) 4 3 1-@ a 3 1-2-3 Exercises 1 and 2 should sound exectly the same. A dotted crotchetiis equal to a crotchot plus a quaver. NATIONAL ANTHEM vy ye Som ee —— 27 First and second time bars ‘Sometimes a repeated phrase has a different ending. Play the first six bars and repeat. On the second time through omit the first-time bar and play the second-time bar instead. G major A MELODY Lento We repeat softer TEACHER Here is the same piece in another key: F major. & F mejor 2 z 8 12 MELODY ~,,,.. Lento v ‘one paee TEACHER The signs and words to show the style and mood of apiece of music are traditionally written in Italian. Here are some of them: forte (shortened to J’): loudly piano (shortened to p }: softly mezzo forte (shortened to mf ): moderately loudly mezzo piano (shortened to mp ): moderately softly crescendo (also written ——— or cresc.): gradually getting louder diminuendo (also written ——— or dim.): gradually getting softer rallentando (also shortened to rall. radually getting slower Louder and softer: You may have noticed that, when blowing softer, the note is lower in pitch. To pre- vent a note from becoming too flat, raise the air stream, when blowing softly, by pushing your jaw forward. Do the reverse when playing loudly. Always listen carefully and adjust the pitch if it doesn't sound right. 28 Count carefully F major 13 RUSTIC DANCE ALAN RIDOUT e v ve Moderato = f Introducing E flat and D N.B. For D — no little finger on Eb key ‘Once agein: check your right hand position, No little finger on key. i vv ye Eflat 29 Another name for E flatis D sharp though itis fingered in the same way. All the notes have more than one name. For a full explanation see page 54. PART ii seme aote LOW NOTE EXERCISE v. v Akey-signature cen indicate both a major and a minor key. Play the two tunes below and notice the different musical flavour. @ Moderato Ne ) Even though both tunes have the same key-signature, each one progresses to a different note at the end. SCALE EXERCISE IN D MINOR Se Vi —

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