 This exercise aims to fully explore the flute’s range and timbral capabilities.

The
meaning of different note heads used throughout the exercise is as follows:

Slap Tongue – Also known

as tongue pizzicato, it’s a very
sharp and percussive
staccato.

Wind Tones – A soft and

very breathy sound

Flutter Tongue – also

represented with (flz.)

Keyclicks – percussive
sounds achieved by pressing
the keys with correct
fingerings for the notated
pitch
Overblow – In the only
occasion this technique is
used in the exercise, the
performer is meant to
crescendo until they overblow
the note
Alternate Fingering –
designed to provide a tone
with a slightly different colour
alt.
to it
Microtonal inflections –
from left to right: natural; ¼
lower than a sharp; sharp; ¼
higher than a sharp; natural;
¼ lower than a flat, flat,
double flat

Whistle Tones – Very soft

and whistle like pitches. The
expression ord. is used when
the player is meant to play
normally again.

The exercise is divided into three main sections:

 In the first section, which ranges from ‘bar’ 1 to ‘bar’ 12, I explore a wide variety of
techniques using a pitch in the middle of the instrument’s register. Due to the freer
nature of this section I decided against using the standard metric notation system,
producing a graphic score instead (similar to Berio’s Sequenza VII for Oboe). The
 space in between dashed lines represents 5 seconds making each note of indefinite
length and rhythm.

 The second section aims to explore the very highest and lowest registers of the
instrument. Due to the complexity of the rhythmic nature of this section I decided
return to standard notation. In this section I decided to very loosely employ some
serial techniques. All the material from this point forward is derived directly from the
7-tone row in bar 13 (the first 7/8 bar of the piece). In bars 13-17, the 4th quaver of
each bar is absent from the next. In bars 18-19 due to the lack of a fourth quaver in
bar 17, all the notes from the latter are used except the order of the last two is
inverted. Bars 20-25 are the retrograde of bars 13-18 (creates an 11 bar long streak
of non-invertible material. Bar 26 is a transposition (down by a semitone) of bar 13. In
bars 26-31 a very similar process to bars 14-17 is in play, except this time it’s the
second quaver of each bar which is absent from the next one. Just like before, bars
33-38 are the retrograde of 26-31.

 The third and final section of this exercise (starting at bar 39) is a mix of both
elements, exploring different timbres applied to yet another transposition (whole tone
down) of the row presented in bar 13. Here, Whistle Tones are introduced for a brief
period of time. Similar to the first section, there is a high contrast in dynamics
highlighting the more expressive nature of these sections, contrasting with the highly
rhythmic second section. The piece ends with decrescendo al niente giving the
exercise an arched shape feel to it.