Paul Taffanel and his prize pupil, Philippe Gaubert, created the most important pedagogical method for flute–Méthode Complète de Flûte. Initially published over 100 years ago, it remains the gold standard for all woodwind methods. The exercises that I have cited below are excerpted from #7 of the 17 Daily Exercises that comprise Part IV of this work. (The Daily Exercises are also sold as a separate edition but I would encourage any serious player to purchase the entire method in order to acquaint themselves with additional études, duets, technical exercises, and orchestral excerpts offered in the complete work.) It is a superb way to work on fingering accuracy, dexterity, independence, as well as ensuring that the flute is being balanced correctly. It is essential that one addresses these issues early in one’s warmups.
I like to do one of the five exercises that are published as #7 of the Daily Exercises before tackling any scale work. (I have included three of those exercises below.) They really provide the 4th fingers of both hands with a good workout–our weakest fingers. You will find the passages infinitely helpful as preparation for whatever music you plan on practicing or before a gig. I recommend playing these with the quarter note somewhere between 92-100 BPM. While I like to practice these with the slur groupings indicated, it is also beneficial to play them with varying articulations. Once you have played the initial C+ exercise perfectly, please practice them by incorporating the 10 additional tonalities shown at the bottom of the page. Most importantly, practice these SLOWLY so that each primary fingering is used without any extraneous fingers being left down to facilitate the passage work. (i.e. raise the top left hand finger when playing 2nd register “D” and “Eb”; use the 4th finger of the right hand for 2nd register F#; and play open “C#” with only the right-hand pinkey down.) In order to gain greater technical flexibility, play the Bbs in the first two octaves with the 1/1 split fingering rather than using the thumb Bb. Finally, if one is brave, play these exercises 8VA as well. Ten minutes/day of careful work on any one of these will prove quite beneficial. As always, these exercises should be memorized and played in front of a mirror whenever possible to monitor fingerings and hand position.