Stressed Out

[Flute_1991]

I am currently preparing to try out for the All-County band. This is my first time doing something like this. I got the music today and it is really easy but I am worried because they are looking for tone more than anything else. I need help trying to get a better tone and getting the low notes and the very high notes on the three octave chromatic.

If anyone could give me so advice I would appreciate it!!

[flutepicc06]

For the chromatic scale, I assume you know the fingerings, or can find them out (if not, check www.wfg.woodwind.org), but to produce those pitches will require manipulations of the airstream. For the lowest notes, angle your air downward, and for the uppermost be sure to use a very focused, and accurate airstream. A small, focused stream of air is much more likely to produce good results than just forcing a bunch of air through the flute. If you can manage it, learn above C4, and pop these notes every once in a while. If you can hit a D or an E (they don't necessarily have to be pretty right now), everything below that will become much easier. For tone, do some exercises directed towards tone (anything where you don't have to worry about your fingers and tongue too much can be a tone exercise). Specifically, I would suggest picking up the Trevor Wye book on tone, and working through some of the exercises. Done regularly, things like this can have a huge impact. Also, as a general rule, try to drop your jaw and open up your throat as much as possible to give a nice big, round sound.

[fluteguy18]

another tip about developing tone is to play in a room that has horrible acoustics. Play where there is a lot of fabric, and carpet, and various other things that soak up sound. I would reccommend practicing outside (I like to call it the tone room) because there is nothing for the sound to bounce off of, therefore, you hear yourself without any help of walls that make you sound better. Of course, if it is too cold, or too hot, or the weather is bad, I would not reccommend taking your flute outside. But, practicing outside (especially if it is windy) helps your tone a lot. You have to work harder to get a good sound. If it is windy, your air has to be more focused, and you have to have good support, and you have to use your air more efficiently.

Flutepicc's suggestions were also right on target. The Trevor Wye books are really good, and practicing pieces where your tongue and fingers wont get in the way are good for your tone. Also, practice long tones going chromatically up and down, going from pianissimo to forte, and back to pianissimo. This is an exercise in the book, but you can practice this until you can get a book.

[Meredith]

For a good tone exercise generally: pick the note that you like your tone best on (most people find that they get their best tone on high B), and then slow down to Bb (or whatever the next note down is), and play the Bb until it's tone quality matches the B. Then, slur from the Bb to A, A to Ab... you get the idea. This is a direct technique from Julius Baker, and it works wonders. I don't know how long you have between now and your All-County audition, but this exercise would be good to add into your general daily practice routine.

When I was in school, I found that the trick to All-County auditions was making the auditioner think that there was nothing the conductor needed to teach me. You only have two or three rehearsals with the All-County band before the performance, and the last think that the auditioners and conductors want to see is musicians that haven't learned the music yet.
You can gain a LOT of points at an All-County audition by paying meticulous detail to dynamics, accents, and tempo changes. Many people overlook these little details, especially in harder passage that are more difficult to learn, but they are the money points that earn a high seat in the All-County bands.

Good luck!

[Zevang]

As a complement to all that was properly said by our listers, I would advise you to once in a while play the flute near a place where two walls encounter in an angle of 90 degrees.
The effect of this is that you hear clearly the quality of your sound, much like if the walls were a kind of speaker. It's almost as you were someone else hearing other person playing.

Zevang

[flutepicc06]

As a complement to all that was properly said by our listers, I would advise you to once in a while play the flute near a place where two walls encounter in an angle of 90 degrees.
The effect of this is that you hear clearly the quality of your sound, much like if the walls were a kind of speaker. It's almost as you were someone else hearing other person playing.

Zevang

That's a cool idea Zevang. I'm going to give that a shot myself.

[cflutist]

Thanks Zevang, I am going to try that myself.