Here are some different ways to practice that I’ve found help build good tone and good control:
- Don’t Wake the Baby. The goal here is to play everything in a practice session at about 10% normal volume. The catch? You are not allowed to lower the intensity of the sound, and you’re not allowed to support the airstream any less than at full volume.
This is a great exercise for building a nice hard clean tone.
- Blow the Candle Out. This one is from my college days. Sit at a table, and have a lit candle in the middle of the table. While playing the flute, try to play with such an intense airstream that you blow the candle out–or at least disturb the flame.
Don’t “huff and puff”–that’s cheating.
The goal here is to increase abdominal muscular support of the airstream; also, it has the added benefit of helping you learn to “drive” the sound of the flute right to its edge.
–James