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tonebase Flute Course

Intelligent Practicing

Taught by renowned flutist

Alberto Almarza

Regardless of our current stage of development, we can make our practice time more efficient and enjoyable. In five thoughtful and detailed lessons, Alberto Almarza shares his thoughts on how to practice for real results. First, he discusses how to cultivate habits, not motivation, for more effective practice sessions. He goes on talk about how to organize a day’s practice, and shares the three phases of working on a piece of music.

  • checkmark icon
    Category: 
    Skills
  • checkmark icon
    Difficulty: 
    All-Levels
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    Duration: 
    1
     hours
     hour

Course Syllabus

Introduction

Alberto Almarza wants to make practicing joyful and creative. He explains why looking for motivation isn’t the goal, and why cultivating habits are more effective for generating long-term results. He also introduces a way of organizing practice based on the hands of a clock.

Organization of Practicing

How should we divide our practice time? How long should our sessions be? What are some ways we can make our practice time efficient? Almarza answers these questions and more.

Analytical Phase

The Analytical Phase is about solving technical problems, yet it nevertheless requires a creative approach. Almarza explains what we do about mistakes, and how memory can be a great practice tool.

Creative Phase

The Creative Phase is where we ask the “why” questions: what do these dynamics mean? What was the composer thinking? For Almarza, this is when practicing turns from duty to beauty.

Performance Phase

Via his thirteen rules, Almarza describes the final stage of intelligent practicing. This is where we prepare for our performance mentally and physically!

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Alberto Almarza
meet YOUR INSTRUCTOR

Alberto Almarza

Described as a virtuoso flutist by the Boston Globe, Alberto Almarza brings a unique and passionate approach to music. His versatility and musicianship have led him to perform and record some of the most adventurous and challenging pieces from the music of today as well as works from the standard repertoire and Baroque literature on period instruments. Almarza serves on the faculty of Carnegie Mellon University.

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Alberto Almarza
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