Texas Bandmasters Association
Bandmasters Review • June 2014
13
As we approach another summer
and the impending release of the
Texas All-State etudes, this article
presents tips to help in the learning
and preparation of these works for
contest. Any of this information is
also useful for practicing works of
music in general.
The earlier one can get started on
practicing these etudes, the better.
The time of release of the etudes
to the first round of contest is
substantial, and much progress can
be made to perfect them technically
and play them musically. Do not
delay beginning your work on
these etudes. Even with marching
band season in full swing, you can
still spend a little bit of time each
day to work on sections of this
music. A little regular practice over
an extended period of time will
go a long way. Before beginning
to learn the etudes, however, it
is incredibly helpful for students
to have a firm grasp on the
fundamentals; learn your scales in
all forms and learn their related
chords and thirds. Be able to do
your scales and chords with any
articulation. Any scale patterns you
know will significantly increase the
speed at which you can learn and
master these etudes. Remember—
the stronger your technique is, the
better you can sight read; the better
you can sight read, the faster you
can learn music.
Texas All-State etudes are
generally divided into two
categories—technical (fast) and
lyrical (slow). The point of the
technical etudes is to play them
as cleanly as possible as close to
the given goal tempo as possible.
This does not mean that musicality
should not be part of the equation—
it should be! When asked what
is the point of the slower etudes,
most students will say “tone and
musicality”. Of course, this is true;
however, what is often overlooked
is that the slow etudes are all
about rhythm. Without rhythmic
accuracy, it does not matter how
beautiful your tone is—you must
play those beautiful notes at the
right time.
Technical Etudes
In beginning the technical
etudes, I suggest breaking them
down. One can certainly break
them into several larger sections,
but I would recommend going
further than that—all the way
down to measures or parts of
measures. Find related patterns:
scale patterns, chord patterns,
harmonic and melodic patterns—
any way that measures and sections
are related—and practice them out
of context. Change the rhythms
in particularly technical passages.
Practice syncopated and reverse
syncopated, double up notes, go
slowly, and practice starting from
the end. Be able to play in every
key that appears in the etude. (Most
etudes are not solely in one key.)
Play the scale of the etude’s key
as well as the relative and parallel
major or minor scales. Play triads,
seventh chords, and thirds in the
etude’s key(s), and be able to play
chromatic thirds if needed.
One of my all-time favorite ways
to practice is starting from the end.
Take the last measure, or part of the
last measure, and play to the end.
When this is comfortable, add a
note or a beat or part of a measure
or a full measure. Play from your
new starting point to the end. Keep
adding to it until you have the
entire section you needed to work
Practice Tips for Learning
Texas All-State Etudes
Dr. Christ ina Guenther
Note: While Dr. Guenther offers these tips to aspiring All-State flute students, I believe much of this advice is
applicable to other instrumentalists as they begin the process of learning their audition music. Feel free to share this
information with your students. Best wishes to all as you begin the All-State audition process for next year!
—Mike Brashear, editor