Warmup with Robert Langevin
by Sarah Jane Young
Near the end of January 2006, Robert Langevin was the showcase artist for the Florida Flute Fair. He gave a recital, and led a masterclass and a morning warm-up. The following are notes that I took from the warm-up, which I found to be very interesting and useful. Enjoy!
Materials Used:
- Moyse Long Tones to warm-up (B-Bb, Bb-A, etc.) with tuner, and varied dynamics (to work on tuning mf and mp) all the way down to low B then up to high D. First without vibrato and then with vibrato (sometimes first time forte and second time piano). So for example: B-Bb (Forte and without vibrato), B-Bb (Piano and without vibrato), B-Bb (Forte with vibrato), B-Bb (Piano with vibrato), and all with a tuner.
- Then scales: from low B up to high D (always with the metronome) with varied articulations. For example: C Major- slurred, a minor- slur two notes and tongue two notes, F Major tongued, etc.
- Then inverted arpeggios (always lowest to highest note) with varied articulation. For example: C Major- slurred, c minor slur two notes tongue two notes, Db Major tongue all, etc. (Usually three patterns a day, tracking the tempo, and starting slow.)
- Leonore Overture first four measures with a tuner
- Trevor Wye Practice Book for the Flute Volume 2 Technique: Exercise for pinky (pg. 5 and 6). Four exercises- each one eight times. You can vary dynamics and tone color as well, and once you feel more comfortable you can add articulation (double tonguing!)
- Langevin Exercise for low B: B-C, D-C, B-C, Eb-C, etc. Then go B-C#, D-C#, etc. Do this every day for 5-10 minutes with a metronome and add articulation (single and double tonguing).
- Moyse #12 from the Etude Technique book. Use this exercise for articulation. Some different ways for tonguing: using just the lower stomach without the tongue (“ha-ha”), using the lower stomach with “G” articulation, vary dynamics, double tongue backwards (“G”-“D”) then forwards, normal double tonguing on each note, triple tonguing backwards (“G”-“D”-“G”) then forwards, normal triple tonguing on each note, and you can also use the rhythm from the development of the first movement of the Prokofiev Sonata for each note.
- Moyse #13 from the Etude Technique book is good for intervals. Same sound should be in each register. This one might be good to do once a week or something, for variety.
- Machavellian exercises from Trevor Wye Practice Book for the Flute Volume 2 Technique (pg. 26-30) with articulation.
- Trills: Trevor Wye Practice Book for the Flute Volume 2 Technique (pg. 30) or Taffanel and Gaubert #17, to be practiced with the trill fingering and with a nice sound and even.
- Trevor Wye Practice Book for the Flute Book 6 Advanced Practice
Some Tips:
- It’s very important to plan your day. For example, 25 minutes on tone, 25 minutes on technique with articulation, 25 minutes on etudes, pieces, and excerpts.
- Be sure to work on more than one thing at a time. For example you can work on five things at once: technique, breath control, dynamics, articulation, and colors.
- Always use a metronome for scales and etudes
- Only work on a specific problem for ten minutes per day
- You can always be creative and make up your own exercises for troubled spots
- It’s very good to use a tuner so you learn your tendencies and the visual aid helps your ear
- Try tapering the vibrato when tapering a note (embellishment)
- When working on articulation, ALWAYS use legato as your reference
- When working on etudes, most are legato, so why not add articulation to the etudes so you are still working on articulation!