My Favourite Exercises from the Trevor Wye Practice Books

Hi everyone,

In todays post I will be talking about a few of my favourite exercises from the Trevor Wye Practice Books.

Tone Exercises

Low Register & Middle Register Exercises

I really like this exercises, as they really help to focus on developing your tone within the different registers on the flute. When I first started to use these exercises it really highlighted how not so good my tone was on the flute was at that time. These exercises also seem really easy, but the reality is that they're not easy and they do push you to develop your tone on the flute and to also produce a nice, smooth tone on the flute. 

  These tone exercises are brilliant to use if you have just upgraded your flute, as it will enable you to get used to your flute and to at least give you an insight to what tonal colours your new flute will be able to produce.

  The key to these exercises is to definitely work through them slowly, and to focus on what tonal colours you would like the flute produce.

Breathing & Scales Exercises

Expressive Scales & Arpeggios

I really like the expressive scales and arpeggios exercises, as its a completely different way of practicing your scales and arpeggios. 

  With these exercises you will start of playing the standard scale or arpeggio, and then they will go up/ down half a step as you progress through the exercise. In some cases the scale or arpeggio will do something a little different and then finish on a variation of the relative minor scale.

  These can be a little tricky at first for you to get your fingers round, but in time with practice they should hopefully become easier.

Technique Exercises

Machiavellian Exercises 1 & 2

These exercises can be a little tricky at first, and it does take a while for you to figure out what it is that you are supposed to be doing with the Machiavellian exercises.

  The aim of the Machiavellian exercises to get your fingers to work independently on the flute, and across all ranges on the flute.

  It took me a good few attempts to actually get used to working through the Machiavellian exercises, but even now as I'm used to playing them and working through them; my fingers still get tripped up.

  I would recommend working on these slowly, and a few at time as these exercises can easily become overwhelming; especially if your not used to them.

Trevor Wye Practice Books 1 - 6 Compilation

Hi everyone,

I'm going to talk about the Trevor Wye Practice Books 1 -6 Compilation for the flute, as its a brilliant series of books for anyone whose just starting out on the flute right the way up to professional flautists/ flute players.

The Trevor Wye Practice book compilation is made up of six individual books, and each book focuses on a certain aspect of flute development and technique.

The Practice Books are :-

Book One - Tone

Book Two - Technique

Book Three - Articulation

Book Four - Intonation & Vibrato

Book Five - Breathing & Scales

Book Six - Advanced Practice

I'm just going to give you a brief overview of each book, and what is contained within each book; just to give you an idea on what to expect from the Trevor Wye Practice Books.

Book One - Tone

The first book in the Trevor Wye Practice Book series focuses on tone development on the flute. The exercises within this book work on developing your tone in the low register of the flute right the way up to the high register on the flute; as well as producing advanced tonal colours on the flute and flexibility within your tone.

Tone Chapters

- Preface

- Tone Exercises (General)

a) Harmonics

b) Low Register

c) Middle Register

d) High Register

- Problem Notes

- Advanced Tone Colour

- Breath Control

- Flexibility

- Pitch Control

- Examples

Book Two - Technique

The second book focuses on developing your technique on the flute, and this goes through a range of different technique exercises through the whole range of the flute.

Technique Chapters

- Technique (General)

a) Daily Exercises 1

b) Scale Exercises

c) Daily Exercises 2

d) Machiavellian Exercises 1

e) Machiavellian Exercises 2

- Relaxing

- Trills

- Sequences

- Examples

Book Three - Articulation

The third book focuses on developing your articulation on the flute, and it also includes a few problems that you might come across when articulating on the flute.

Articulation Chapters

- Articulation (General)

a) Slurs

b) Single Tonguing

c) Double Tonguing

d) Triple Tonguing

e) The Eb Problem

- Nerves

- Examples

Book Four - Intonation & Vibrato

The fourth book focuses on developing your intonation and vibrato on the flute, as well as producing different tones on the flute and there's also a small selection of flute studies within this book.

Intonation & Vibrato Chapters

- Foreward

- The Chord of Nature

- Scales - Equal Tempered & Just Scales

- Flute Harmonics

- Different Tones

- Trios for Two Flutes

- The Flute Scale

- Perfect Pitch

- Tuning Up

- Vibrato

- 24 Studies for Intonation

- Examples of Intonation Problems in Orchestral Works

Book Five - Breathing & Scales

The fifth book is all about breathing and also tackling scales on the flute. It also touches a bit on improvisation and playing from memory.

Breathing & Scales Chapters

- Preface

- Breathing

a) and your body

b) and 'lungevity'

c) and musical phrasing

- Expressive Scales & Arpeggios

- Technical Scales & Arpeggios

- Scales in Thirds and Broken Arpeggios

- Improvisation

- Playing from Memory

Book Six - Advanced Practice

The sixth book focuses on advanced practice, and it goes through everything but at a more advanced level.

Advanced Practice Chapters

- Tone

a) Quality & Colour

b) Embouchure

c) Warming Up

- Posture (Body & Hand Positions)

- Finger Technique

a) Moyse Technical Mastery

b) Advanced Daily Exercises

c) 26 Digital Exercises

d) Rapid Scales & Arpeggios

- Articulation (Tonguing Between the Lips)

- The Top Register

a) Playing Softly

b) Technique

c) Sharpness in the Top Register

d) Special Fingerings

e) Trill Chart

f) Fourth Octave Exercises

- Breathing (Circular Breathing)

- Intonation (Expressive Intonation)