While preparing for the Vivaldi a minor Piccolo Concerto, I wanted some nice warmups and melodies to play for staying in shape beyond preparing the concerto itself and other upcoming piccolo pieces. The Tulou Metodo Popolare, is, of course, an excellent resource, but I found the melodic examples needed some etude-like partners in crime.
As I sifted through my stack of etude books, I came across my old Drouet 25 Famous Studies for flute–one of my favorite books to use for middle school students when they need to practice sight-reading. I realized that the range and technique this book explores is perfect for the piccolo! As an added bonus, I still have markings from my teacher, Carl Hall, to encourage faster tempi and improved articulations.
We are lucky to have new books coming out, almost daily, with exercises specifically for the piccolo. However, it’s also fun to revisit old friends with a new approach. Adding Drouet to one’s piccolo practice is an excellent way to extract greater beauty and control from the instrument, as well as improving technique for pieces from the tonal world. What else can we find in our collections for piccolo for more practice-fun?
Jeana Melilli 