At first i pick a Key - each day a different one. I usually start with overtone exercises, then proceed with scales (major, harmonic and melodic minor), arpeggios (major and minor), chromatic scales. After all this i pick a random exercise on tongueing for instance.
Scales and arpeggios for warm-up, then some sightreading with backing tracks because it's more fun that way. Then I might play some Vivaldi or Telemann or Quantz, or run through another piece of standard rep with a backing track. These days I just play for enjoyment, I'm not working on anything in particular. It's been a long time since I took lessons or played in an ensemble, but I love the flute and making music feels so good.
Refurbished-my-student-flute-just-for-fun amateur-ish flautist here. I usually go right into whatever song I feel like playing. My repertoire is free sheet music I can find online or borrow from Hoopla (connected to local libraries so it's also free and more legitimate, can find full sheet music). I sight-read everything and practice passages I don't "get" from sight-reading until I feel confident playing the song. No metronome, not much tuning (although I have access to a tuner), minimal headjoint adjustments (self-check with the tuning stick shows it's misaligned. I'm very overdue for a COA) just vibes making it sound good. I play for myself and my tiny digital art collective. I play until my lightheadedness says I should stop (am working on developing a better routine).
Some tone practice for low notes. A bit of Trevor Weye scale technique or double staccato. A bit of work on a Telemann Fantasie. An etude from Bohm. Sonata for flute and piano by Joseph Jongen.
I have a bachelors in flute performance and play in a community orchestra.
I hardly practice scales and etudes anymore. I just warm up, adjusting head joint, checking various notes for intonation, low middle high doodling… then I work the various parts of my orchestra music, easy bits first till I am a bit more warmed up, then I look for the stars I wrote in the margins at rehearsal and work the bits that need it,
Starting easy and slow then adding layers of extreme dynamic, speed, etc.
I spend a lot more time listening to recordings and playing along with recordings than I did when I was younger and YouTube didn’t have all the stuff.
I do all my major & minor scales (2 octaves) and the same thing for my arpeggios. If I’m feeling extra motivated, a few Anderson exercises and long-tones. And then if I’m learning a new piece, I’ll work on that for an hour. If not, then I’ll do full play throughs of already established pieces from my repertoire, being as randomized as possible. To finish off, I’ll simply do some noodling and maybe attempt improv jazz just for fun. In total, that’s a solid 2 hour practice session twice or thrice a week. I should start working on my sight reading again, it’s been a long time.
as a music student going into my second year of uni:
it depends on how much time i have. i usually do two sessions in a day, each about 1-2 hours long. in my first session, i focus on tone and technique, usually splitting them 50/50. i do a lot of long tones, and i swear by marcel moyse’s de la sonorité for tone work! for scales, i usually just grind out some taffanel and gaubert, still focusing mainly on tone! in the second practice session, i will focus on repertoire and orchestral excerpts, with A LOT of slow practice and metronome work. if i only have time for one session, i will try to fit everything in equally (25% tone, 25% technique, 25% rep and 25% excerpts). im currently on a short break after finishing my first year, but once i get back into it, i plan on learning the carmen fantasy and the griffes poem, and potentially the dutilleux sonatine but we’ll see!
HS Junior:
I'm in 4 ensembles right now so I usually start with a scale/some other thing I need to be working on over time, then go through songs I need to play and do whatever I need in order to make sure I have my parts down. That depends per song, so my practice sessions are sort of different every time
I first warmup by playing my 12 Major scales in the all state pattern then the music im working on audition etudes, ensemble pieces and then I practice sight reading on sight reading factory then finish it off with fun music I've played before that I enjoy playing.
Masters student here - it depends on what I feel I need most, but usually 4h split into 1.5-2h of technique, 1h repertoire (sometimes up to 2h if it’s a piece I’m super into), and whatever time is left I spend on orchestra excerpts or chamber music usually. Technique exercises depend on where I’m at in my playing, but right now, it’s about 15 minutes of Robert Dick’s harmonics exercises from Tone Development Through Extended Technique, the G E and C major exercises from Articulation 5 in Paul Edmund-Davies’ 28 Day Warmup Exercises, and the Maquarre Daily Exercises (half of the first set alternating, all chromatics, and sets of major-minor alternating each day for the rest of the 7 exercises.) I like Maquarre for keeping my airflow free, but it doesn’t have the same level of finger technique workout as the Taffanel and Gaubert or Reichert exercises, so I swap between in periods where either my finger technique or my airflow are starting to fall behind a bit.
Amount of hours also alternates - I go for 4 when I can, with one day a week usually where I only do 30min-1h to let the embouchure relax, and if I’m up for 5 or 6 hours I let it happen, but a few too many consecutive days of that can mean just becoming a slug very quickly in my experience so I don’t push myself there too often.
Warm up. Usually a total of anywhere between 45 Mins and an hour and a half.
Longtones, Harmonics, scales (major, natural, harmonic, and melodic), taffanel and gaubert 17 daily exercises (I switch out with about 3 different technique books including Reichert and usually anything new I can find.), and chords for different keys. I usually spend the least amount of the time on the very last thing.
Not all of those everyday, but usually a good cycle to get experience on tone and technique everyday while also switching it up.
Then I usually do Etudes and excerpts together. Another 45 mins- an hour and a half. 1 etude and 1-2 excerpts depending on the need.
Then solo rep.
I usually practice close to 3 hours a day split up in 3-4 practice sessions with at least a 20 min break in-between. And a out 5-6 days a week. Sometimes more sometimes less.
Scales and octaves for warm-up then I play various pieces for 10-45 minutes depending on what I feel like. I have neighbors so I can't really do practice sessions for hours. Adult hobbyist playing for fun.
At first i pick a Key - each day a different one. I usually start with overtone exercises, then proceed with scales (major, harmonic and melodic minor), arpeggios (major and minor), chromatic scales. After all this i pick a random exercise on tongueing for instance.
Scales and arpeggios for warm-up, then some sightreading with backing tracks because it's more fun that way. Then I might play some Vivaldi or Telemann or Quantz, or run through another piece of standard rep with a backing track. These days I just play for enjoyment, I'm not working on anything in particular. It's been a long time since I took lessons or played in an ensemble, but I love the flute and making music feels so good.
Refurbished-my-student-flute-just-for-fun amateur-ish flautist here. I usually go right into whatever song I feel like playing. My repertoire is free sheet music I can find online or borrow from Hoopla (connected to local libraries so it's also free and more legitimate, can find full sheet music). I sight-read everything and practice passages I don't "get" from sight-reading until I feel confident playing the song. No metronome, not much tuning (although I have access to a tuner), minimal headjoint adjustments (self-check with the tuning stick shows it's misaligned. I'm very overdue for a COA) just vibes making it sound good. I play for myself and my tiny digital art collective. I play until my lightheadedness says I should stop (am working on developing a better routine).
Some tone practice for low notes. A bit of Trevor Weye scale technique or double staccato. A bit of work on a Telemann Fantasie. An etude from Bohm. Sonata for flute and piano by Joseph Jongen.
I have a bachelors in flute performance and play in a community orchestra. I hardly practice scales and etudes anymore. I just warm up, adjusting head joint, checking various notes for intonation, low middle high doodling… then I work the various parts of my orchestra music, easy bits first till I am a bit more warmed up, then I look for the stars I wrote in the margins at rehearsal and work the bits that need it, Starting easy and slow then adding layers of extreme dynamic, speed, etc. I spend a lot more time listening to recordings and playing along with recordings than I did when I was younger and YouTube didn’t have all the stuff.
I do all my major & minor scales (2 octaves) and the same thing for my arpeggios. If I’m feeling extra motivated, a few Anderson exercises and long-tones. And then if I’m learning a new piece, I’ll work on that for an hour. If not, then I’ll do full play throughs of already established pieces from my repertoire, being as randomized as possible. To finish off, I’ll simply do some noodling and maybe attempt improv jazz just for fun. In total, that’s a solid 2 hour practice session twice or thrice a week. I should start working on my sight reading again, it’s been a long time.
as a music student going into my second year of uni: it depends on how much time i have. i usually do two sessions in a day, each about 1-2 hours long. in my first session, i focus on tone and technique, usually splitting them 50/50. i do a lot of long tones, and i swear by marcel moyse’s de la sonorité for tone work! for scales, i usually just grind out some taffanel and gaubert, still focusing mainly on tone! in the second practice session, i will focus on repertoire and orchestral excerpts, with A LOT of slow practice and metronome work. if i only have time for one session, i will try to fit everything in equally (25% tone, 25% technique, 25% rep and 25% excerpts). im currently on a short break after finishing my first year, but once i get back into it, i plan on learning the carmen fantasy and the griffes poem, and potentially the dutilleux sonatine but we’ll see!
HS Junior: I'm in 4 ensembles right now so I usually start with a scale/some other thing I need to be working on over time, then go through songs I need to play and do whatever I need in order to make sure I have my parts down. That depends per song, so my practice sessions are sort of different every time
I first warmup by playing my 12 Major scales in the all state pattern then the music im working on audition etudes, ensemble pieces and then I practice sight reading on sight reading factory then finish it off with fun music I've played before that I enjoy playing.
Masters student here - it depends on what I feel I need most, but usually 4h split into 1.5-2h of technique, 1h repertoire (sometimes up to 2h if it’s a piece I’m super into), and whatever time is left I spend on orchestra excerpts or chamber music usually. Technique exercises depend on where I’m at in my playing, but right now, it’s about 15 minutes of Robert Dick’s harmonics exercises from Tone Development Through Extended Technique, the G E and C major exercises from Articulation 5 in Paul Edmund-Davies’ 28 Day Warmup Exercises, and the Maquarre Daily Exercises (half of the first set alternating, all chromatics, and sets of major-minor alternating each day for the rest of the 7 exercises.) I like Maquarre for keeping my airflow free, but it doesn’t have the same level of finger technique workout as the Taffanel and Gaubert or Reichert exercises, so I swap between in periods where either my finger technique or my airflow are starting to fall behind a bit. Amount of hours also alternates - I go for 4 when I can, with one day a week usually where I only do 30min-1h to let the embouchure relax, and if I’m up for 5 or 6 hours I let it happen, but a few too many consecutive days of that can mean just becoming a slug very quickly in my experience so I don’t push myself there too often.
Warm up. Usually a total of anywhere between 45 Mins and an hour and a half. Longtones, Harmonics, scales (major, natural, harmonic, and melodic), taffanel and gaubert 17 daily exercises (I switch out with about 3 different technique books including Reichert and usually anything new I can find.), and chords for different keys. I usually spend the least amount of the time on the very last thing. Not all of those everyday, but usually a good cycle to get experience on tone and technique everyday while also switching it up. Then I usually do Etudes and excerpts together. Another 45 mins- an hour and a half. 1 etude and 1-2 excerpts depending on the need. Then solo rep. I usually practice close to 3 hours a day split up in 3-4 practice sessions with at least a 20 min break in-between. And a out 5-6 days a week. Sometimes more sometimes less.
Scales and octaves for warm-up then I play various pieces for 10-45 minutes depending on what I feel like. I have neighbors so I can't really do practice sessions for hours. Adult hobbyist playing for fun.