The 20-Minute Workout

20 Minute Practice Regime for Recorder and Transverse Flute Players

1) 5 minutes: Long tones (About 10 seconds per note)
Start on a mid-range note, go up an octave, then return to the beginning note and go down to your lowest note, chromatically.

2) 3 minutes: Trills for each finger
RH little finger
LH thumb (recorders only)
LH ring finger
RH ring finger
LH middle finger
RH middle finger
LH index finger
RH index finger

3) 2 minutes: Specific trills
Flutes
bb'-c''
bb'-a'
a-g# in both octaves

Recorders:
C recorders
e''-d''
bb'-ab'
c'-bb'

F recorders
a''-g''
f''-eb''
eb''-db''

4) 5 minutes
Play through your piece(s)/movement at tempo a couple of times, identify technical (fingering) issues.

5) 5 minutes
From the technical issues identified above, adress one (1) of them. If you do one per session, they will soon disappear. Practice relevant passages with metronome, SLOWLY, forwards and backwards. When you can play the passage in a relaxed manner and correct notes 3 times in succession, then move to playing it at tempo. When the current relevant passage is played at tempo and without any body tension in the process, and each note is correct 90% of the time, the issue may be considered resolved. You may now move to the next technical issue. If one issue doesn't disappear in one day, go on to the next one and come back to the first one when you've addressed all of the other issues. This will keep your practice from becoming stale and also give you something to which you may look forward.

ADDENDUM (posted 14 July 2008)
This now becomes the 25-Minute Workout.
6) 5 Minutes
Chromatic scales. Slurred. Flutes and f-recorders, begin on the note a' or d", go up and back one (1) octave chromatically. Move up 1/2 tone and do the same thing until your starting note is a perfect fourth above your first note (e.g., flutes, start on a', start last scale up on d"). Do this entire exercise SLOWLY, until you can play the whole scale evenly. Then you may increase your speed. This exercise, believe it or not, actually has a goal: to be able to play the chromatic scale both very slow and very fast.

Then, begin on the note 1/2 tone below your first note (e.g., flutes, start on g#'), go up and back chromatically as above, then continue in a sequence down until you reach your bottom note.

Recorders: you are now done with the chromatic scale practice. Take a big breath.

Flutes, grab one ear plug. Put it in your RIGHT ear. You'll see why in a moment.
Start on d''', and go up and back chromatically to your a''' (if your flute plays Bb''', then go there). Do this SLOWLY for the first few times you practice this exercise, then in ADDITION to playing it slowly, begin to increase your speed.