The 28 Day Warm-Up Book for Flute

Paul Edmund-Davies is a very successful and well-respected figure in the world of flute playing and so all his publications deserve special attention. The title is a little misleading as this book is essentially a four-week programme of intense technical study. The recommended time span is actually 6 months, by which time "there will be significant improvements to your overall ablilty and control". There are 7 exercises in each of the areas of sonority, fingers, articulation and intervals, and the pattern of practice changes each day. If you think that this is familiar territory, you'd be right. Some of the material is different though, especially in the articulation section where instructions on how to tongue each section are very specific. The sonority exercises are particularly imaginative with eastern and jazz influences to be found. However the system of using one idea and taking through all the keys as started by Moyse and developed by Trevor Wye (to whom the book is dedicated) is alive and well here. On the basis that variety is the spice of life, this system will certainly have its place. Whether it makes us all as skilful as its author remains to be seen!