Tone Development on the Flute

Hi everyone,

In todays post I will be talking about developing your tone on the flute.

Developing your tonal quality on the flute can take some time to get right, and not too sound airy when you are playing the flute.

Relax Your Embouchure

Keep your embouchure as relaxed as possible, and try your best not tighten up your embouchure while playing as this will make your flute tone sound harsh and airy.

Air Support

While keeping your embouchure relaxed, you need to support your air really well. This requires a bit of push up from the diaphragm. On lower end of the stave, you need a air support and you should be aiming for a little more depth in tonal quality; and the higher up the stave you go; the more you should be able to 'push through' to get the higher registers to sing.

'Pushing Through' Your Airstream 

What this means is at the same time you are supporting yourself; you will also have to 'push through' your air the higher up the stave that you go. By doing this, you should also get a fuller, richer sound the higher up the stave that you go. But, you should also get a depth to the lower end of the stave. This will take some practice, and a little bit of getting used to. But, it's definitely worth it; as your overall tone quality will improve immensely. 

Embouchure Crisis

While improving your tone on the flute, there's a chance that your embouchure will need to change to help you to get the best overall tonal quality. It can take weeks to sometimes months to solve to get back playing the flute to your usual playing standard, but with a better tonal quality. All I can say is, please just persevere with it; as in the long term it will make you sound better, and become a better player.

Exercises to Help You to Develop Your Tone

Trevor Wye Practice Books for the Flute

Trevor Wye has some brilliant exercises to help you to develop your tone on the flute. But, within these practice books; there's a book dedicated to just tone development.

The exercises from the Trevor Wye Practice Books that I like to use are :-

- Expressive Scales

- Machiavellian Exercises 1

- Low Register Tone Exercises

- Middle Register Tone Exercises

I've always enjoyed playing through the Expressive Scales from these practice books. The one in C Major would be really beneficial to learn, as it starts on low C. Because it starts on the low C, it should enable you to focus on getting a really nice tone in the lower register; and hopefully getting a tone that has a little more depth.

The low/ middle register tone exercises are really gentle tone exercises that will help you to develop your tone even further. There's also a variety of tonal exercises that you can do within these exercises. I would recommend starting off on easier exercise at first just so then you can slowly build up.

If you fancy a challenge I've thrown in the Machiavellian Exercises 1. Please don't attempt these until you feel ready.

Moyse 'Beginning the Flute'

I know that this book is aimed at flute learners who are just starting out, but there's some really great exercises within this book that would also be great for helping you to develop your tone. There's a couple of really nice exercise to help you to ascend and develop your tone down to a low C (Exercises 9/10), and from Exercise 11 onwards the exercises will help you to develop your tone in the higher registers up to the top A. All of the exercises in the book seem to pretty gentle, even though there's a few challenging bits thrown in along the way. Once you start working on an exercise within this book; please just take your time with it.

Developing your tone on the flute will take time for you to learn and develop, but it will happen. Also, you should over time start to hear a massive improvement in your overall tone quality.

Flute Materials: Gold

Hi everyone,

In todays post I will be talking about gold flutes.

 Gold flutes compared to solid silver flutes are heavier in weight. You also have the options of buying rose gold and yellow gold, along with the different gold caret weights; which are 9k, 14k, and 18k. Also, most gold flutes have the options for either a solid silver mechanism or a gold mechanism.

Depending on the purity of the gold and they type of gold flute you choose, you are going to get a tone that varies in depth of the warmth that the flute and you may also have some brightness within that tone as well.

Rose Gold Flutes

Rose gold flutes are more mellow in tone compared to yellow gold flutes, but they also have a really nice depth to them; especially in the lower register. With rose gold flutes, you also have the option to choose either a rose gold mechanism or a silver mechanism; and this may also alter the tone slightly depending on which option of mechanism you choose.

Yellow Gold Flutes

Yellow gold flutes are much warmer in sound, and also produce a slightly brighter tone. As with the rose gold flutes, yellow gold flutes also have the option to either have a yellow gold mechanism or a silver mechanism. 

Some player find a gold flute with a gold mechanism gives them a 'little too much' in the sound that they are looking for. If thats the case for you, opt for a silver mechanism; as it will help soften the tone.

Analysing Your Music Practice

Hi everyone,

In todays post I will be talking about analysing your own music practice.

Analysing your music practice means taking a mental note of all of the variables that comes with practicing and learning a musical instrument, and this could be over a number of different factors. There's also no right or wrong to analyse your own practice.

Benefits of Analysing your Practice

There's quite a few different ways that practice analysis will help you get the best out of your musical journey, as what it will enable you to do is figure out a range of different things when it comes to learning a musical instrument.

Analysing your Practice will help you to identify the following :-

- Any areas that you are struggling with, and that you may need additional help with

- Tricky rhythms

- Different tonal colours

- It will help you to identify the areas that you are playing well

Also, listening to a variety of different recordings will help you to understand what you are aiming for, and what you would like your interpretation to sound like. You can also pick and choose sections from the recordings that you have listened to, and then try to incorporate them into your piece/s that you are learning.

You can analyse the recordings, and then cross reference it with your playing and see if you like the interpretation that you have come up with. You can always mention it to your teacher that you have listened to a recording by x; and you would like a certain section to sound as close as possible to that recording. At least on a tonal level.

Please don't go overboard when analysing your practice, as this is mainly just areas that you might stumble across whilst you are practicing. It also doesn't happen in every practice session.

 

How to do a Basic Score Study

Hi everyone,

In todays post I'm going to talk about how to do a basic 'Score Study'. This will be ideal for anyone whose approaching their higher grades, and how wants to try doing a 'Score Study'. 

Analyse Your Sheet Music

By analysing your sheet music you will be able to see how your part interacts with the piano, as well as being able to spot any 'tricky' passages. Also, if your sheet music has included then also read over the performance notes that have been provided by the author/ composer. By reading over the performance notes it will give you an idea on how to perform the piece and what to aim for in your sound. Another benefit of performance notes is that in some cases it will provide you with a short history for that piece of music, and the era/ genre that it falls in. Also, when analysing your sheet music you can also make note of any important reference points.

Listen to Recordings

By listening to recordings of the piece/s that you are analysing, it will give you inspiration on how you would like your own interpretation to sound. These recordings also don't have be of artists' performing on the same instrument as yours, but you can listen to the same piece by different artists' on a variety of different instruments; as this will enable you to get loads of inspiration from a variety of different playing perspectives. I would definitely recommend that you listen to a few versions that have the piano accompaniment, as well as an orchestral version.

Practice Plan

Once you have all of your ideas and analysis written down; it will then be time to figure out a practice plan for those pieces. This also doesn't have to be 'set in stone', as this is more of a starting point for your practice. You might want to focus on the 'tricky' areas first, or just start by getting used to the piece/s and working on your tonal colours at the same. Another thing you could also do is listen to one of your favourite recordings again, and try and imitate one of the areas that you have taken inspiration from that recording.

 

Orchestral Excerpts

Hi everyone,

In todays post I will be talking about orchestral excerpts.

As you progress through your musical journey you will be introduced to orchestral excerpts; and these are extracts taken from well known orchestral pieces.

Orchestral excerpts can be used as part of the higher music grades, music degrees, and orchestral auditions. There's loads of resources out there to help you to prepare, and these are just my own personal selection of Orchestral Excerpts for the flute and piccolo. You can buy orchestral excerpts for all instruments, and you should be able to find a nice selection for your chosen instrument.

Test Pieces for Orchestral Auditions (Peters Edition)

The Test Pieces for Orchestral Auditions is required for the technical option for Trinity College London grades 6 - 8, and this is an alternative to doing scales and arpeggios. It's also available for a wide range of instruments.

Orchestral Excerpts for Flute/ Piccolo by Jeanne Baxtresser

This is a series of orchestral excerpts books by Jeanne Baxtresser who is a former Principle Flute for the New York Philharmonic, and what I really like about these books is that Jeanne gives you advice and guidance on how to get the best out of the orchestral excerpts throughout. There's two books for the flute and one for the piccolo.

Orchestral Studies

These books just focus on one or two composers, but this range of books does consist of four books featuring different composers. There's also a glossary at the front of each book explaining the layout of the book and what each symbol means.

Flute Materials: Solid Silver

Hi everyone,

In todays post I will be talking about solid silver flutes.

Step Up Flutes

On step up flutes you will find a solid silver head joint with a silver nickel body and mechanism. With the silver head joint it should give you a little more flexibility in the tonal colours that you produce and a better playing experience.

The below flute options that I'm going to talking about have the option to either have a solid silver mechanism or a silver nickel mechanism. The flute that I currently play is solid silver with a silver mechanism. All of the silver purities that I'm going to go through can be purchased from an intermediate standard right the way up to professional models.

925 Silver Flutes

925 silver flutes produce a brighter tone, and most flutes on the market seem to made up of 925 solid silver. Also, 925 seems to be the ever so slightly least expensive option. But, this will depend on your personal preferences and if you choose to have any add ons.

958 Silver Flutes

958 silver flutes produce a darker tone compared to a 925 silver flute. The flute that I currently own is made up of 958 silver, and I absolutely adore as it gives me this lovely rich, dark tone which I love as well as flexibility that I need while playing. 958 silver is slightly more expensive than 925 silver, but if you are looking for a flute that gives you a little more depth in your playing; then I would recommend that you look into flutes made from 958 silver.

990/ Pure Silver Flutes

This is rare within the world of silver flutes, but they do exist. I'm aware of one flute brand that has cracked the 990 purity for silver flutes. 990 pure silver flutes produce an even darker tone compared to 958 silver.

Benefits of Doing a Score Study

Hi everyone,

In todays post I'm going to talk about the benefits of doing a 'Score Study'.

The benefits of doing a score study prior to starting learning a new piece of music is that you will be able a better understanding of that piece of music, and what it is your aiming for to get the best from that piece of music for your own performance.

Performance Notes

Performance notes aren't always provided for a piece of music, but exam boards have now started to include them within their graded sheet music materials. But, with stand alone pieces this isn't always the case. Performance notes will give you an understanding of the composer, genre/ era, how the piece is meant to be interpreted, any tricky markings in the piece and the explanations behind those markings and the history of that piece of music and how it came to be.

Music History

Music history is important when analysing a piece of music, as it will give you a better understanding of the era that the composer was living in and the music that was around during that era. Through the understanding of music history you will be able to find out if there was any new music playing techniques was around during that time; say for example during the Baroque period playing using vibrato wasn't used during that era, as playing using vibrato was a technique that hadn't been discovered during that time period.

Developing Your Interpretation

This is where the fun begins when putting together on how you like the piece of music that you will be working on to sound. You might want to experiment with different tonal colours or change the phrasing slightly. You might not get it to sound how you like the first time, but the more you explore and develop your piece of music, the more you will gain an understanding of what it that you are personally aiming for. But, what you start aiming for during the beginning stages of learning and exploring the piece may be completely different to what you end up with in the final stages. You may also want to refine certain areas if your not happy with them, and then once they have been refined; see how they sound and interact with the rest of the piece.

There's no right or wrong way when it comes to interpreting a piece of music to make it your own, but they maybe 'rules' to somewhat follow depending on what genre/ era that piece of music was composed in.

The point of doing a score study is to give you a better understanding of the piece of music, the composer and the genre/ era that it was composed in. This is just for starters, and then when you to learn, develop and explore the piece; is the time that you will be able to have some fun and make it your own.

Score studies can also be done for any genre in music, and it doesn't have to be focused on classical or jazz music. Anyone can do a score study, no matter what genre of music they are interested in learning and exploring.