From: "William Graham" Date: Thu, 15 Jan 1998 20:49:17 -0800 Subject: An advantage to using flute exercises ...
(Actually applies to oboe as well) Something I've discovered in raiding my and my wife's extensive supply of sheet music for flute: Many flute exercises tend to emphasize what is known as the "break-strain", which is the transition from C to D. This is where a Boehm-system instrument switches from most-fingers-up to most- fingers-down. It's a difficult transition on flute -- and a side effect is that it really works the doubled-C holes on chromatic, as well!
I'm sure that the various chromatic methods out there work this aspect of the instrument as well, but if you're looking for something new, check out some flute/oboe exercises.
William
P.S. Douglas Tate suggests that oboe music "flows" better on chromatic than flute music does. I can't confirm this, but considering the source, I don't doubt it! I'll be picking up some oboe methods soon ...
