Guess I’m impatient, I’ve only been practising about three weeks. I am getting better, it just seems so slow. Does anyone have some excercises to help? J.
According to Vygotzky I am at a stage of learning where my experience would be helpful to somebody of your experience.
One exercise that is good for embouchure development is slurring octaves. Play first D, second and third D by only adjusting your embouchure (no glottals or tonguing between notes). Between second and third D you can lip a flat A too. I hope I am explaining it well.
Cheers,
Aaron
#1 Concentrate on getting a long, pure tone on each note.
#2 Play with more strength on the low notes, still striving for a pure tone.
Don’t over-blow on the high notes in an attempt to get them. In fact, try to hit the high A and B with as little wind and as quietly as you can.
#3 Play and practise because you love it, in and of itself, and not to get somewhere. There is always somewhere to get. Even Matt Molloy wants to be a better player. The trick is to learn to love to play. When you have that, it won’t matter how accompished you are.
Great advice so far.
I’ve been playing for a couple of years now. I picked it up fairly quickly but spent the first year thinking I needed a better flute…the one I had just didn’t seem to have a very strong low D. Well after about a year something happened. I now have a really great flute with rich powerful tone and a fantastic bottem D. THis flute has an amazing range of tone possibilities, from sweet and pure to rich and growly. The thing is, it’s the same flute. David’s advice is excellent. Learn to love to play. Only play songs you like and always strive for tone first and foremost. Speed and ornamentation will distract you. Focus on tone. 
Doc
I agree that David’s remark about playing for the love of it is the key.
My teacher gave me a couple of exercises that I really benefitted from:
Beginning with an easy note like G, blow short breaths into the flute. Concentrate on getting the note the instant you start blowing. Have your mouth as relaxed as possible and experiment with making your lips different shapes, blowing at different angles, etc. Move onto harder notes like B and D.
Play the low D, and, not moving any more air, just by changing the shape of your mouth and airstream, make the flute jump up to the middle D, the high A, the high D, and if possible, the next harmonic up.
It’s amazing how, just doing a few simple exercises like these and those mentioned above for only a few minutes a day can help so much. But really do them for only a few minutes, then move on to music. The sound is only part of the equation, it’s all about making it musical in the end.
There is always somewhere to get. Even Matt Molloy wants to be a better player.
Maybe it’s just me but this doesn’t sound very encouraging 
I’ve been practicing every day for 2 months now (sometimes even while taking a shower!). Some days I say ‘Wow, it sounds better than yesterday.’ On some days it’s 'It made a sound yesterday!"
Thanks for the tips.
Doc J: your comment is one of the very best I have seen on the board. That’s EXACTLY the point. It’s the flutist that makes the flute!
James: I do hope it’s your keyless polymer you’re using in the shower!
And to all: as the great Trevor Wye said in his flute tutors (well worth looking at – for all flute players I would say, notwithstanding that he wrote them for Böhm players), it is just a question of
Time
Patience, and
Intelligent Work
He further said, that merely possessing the book won’t bring anything, but, if one obeys the three principles above, then one cannot fail to improve.
Cheers,
Az
Guess I’m impatient, I’ve only been practising about three weeks. I am getting better, it just seems so slow. Does anyone have some excercises to help? J.
You’ve gotten some great suggestions on exercises. 2-4 years is about a normal time to develop a solid and resonate tone – the kind you long for, and it will be about 6-8 years until you achieve your peak tone. Short of that, just enjoy where you are and keep playing.
Thanks for all the ideas and advice. I was pushing myself too hard and not enjoying the playing. I’m having a much better time by relaxing, listening while I play, and my playing sounds better too! J.