Jazz Flute Studies: Flute Book

Rae resists the temptation to oversimplify jazz mechanics. These studies build authentic swing feel and syncopation naturally, starting where your students actually are. The three-part structure means you're not choosing between technique and creativity; you're building one into the other.

These studies breathe with the relaxed, conversational quality of jazz melody. There's swing in the rhythm, space in the phrasing, and a genuine sense of discovery as students realize they're learning to improvise, not just read.

Flute students who are ready to explore jazz but need a structured entry point. This book works equally well for students in a jazz ensemble curriculum or for private study alongside classical training.

• Record yourself playing the swing quaver exercises in Part One at various tempos. The goal isn't speed; it's consistency of the triplet-based pulse underneath straight eighth notes.
• Use the blues studies in Part Three as springboards, not destinations. Once a student can play the written line cleanly, ask them to vary just the first phrase while keeping the harmony anchored.
• Pay attention to accents and articulation markings in Part Two. These aren't decorative; they're teaching the vocabulary of jazz phrasing that separates stylish playing from merely correct playing.

Assign Part One studies during the first weeks of jazz unit introduction to establish swing feel across your section. Return to Part Two throughout the year as technique-building material that sounds nothing like classical etudes. Part Three becomes the bridge to small ensemble improvisation or jazz combo.

• Playing swing eighth notes with consistent pulse and appropriate triplet subdivision
• Reading and performing syncopated rhythms in jazz contexts
• Articulating and phrasing jazz melodic lines with idiomatic style
• Improvising over blues progressions and jazz harmonic changes
• Understanding displaced accents and their role in jazz rhythmic feel