Hello,
I'm a junior in highschool right now and I've been playing flute for about 5 years. Right now I play piccolo and am the co-drum major of my school's band. Anyway, in the past couple months i haven't really had the time to play my flute much (have been playing piccolo) but I picked it up the other day... and I was just wondering what some of your guys' tips are for better tone. I don't really have problems hitting notes or playing runs or anything like that... just looking to improve my tone (but who isnt? ) Thanks!
Play long tones. As you play, listen, adjust, and improve.
Practice playing slower pieces, record yourself, and listen. Try placing the recorder all the way across the room from you. Often the way the flutist hears the tone isn't the way the audience hears it.
Use air and lip support to add richness to the tone. Practice using too much air on purpose and then back off a bit.
Develop orchestral volume. Learn to use your air to project and be heard.
Develop volume control. Practice playing at every volume from very soft to very loud. Try to minimize the differences in tone between volume levels.
) Thanks!