It's the one thing that separates really awesome players from incredible ones, the whole secret to becoming a great player. Tone is difficult because it's not too hard to create a tone, but it can take a lifetime to find the perfect tone that defines you as a player. The following are some general hints that have helped me improve my tone.
1) Form a Mental Picture. Go to as many live flute performances as possible and listen to the players. What do you like or dislike about their tone? Try to get a mental vision of the ideal flute tone that you can think about when you are playing- it's impossible to try and improve your tone if you don't know what you want it to sound like. For me, the ideal tone is clear and sharp with vibrato to color it and give it energy, but the only way I figured that out was to attend a ton of live performances and analize the tones of different professional flute players. Also, try to listen to both orchestral musicians and solo flutists- because their tones will be very different.
2) Practice Tone. I like Moyse's De la Sonorite, but there are also other tone books available. Try to set aside ten minutes of each hour you practice every day for long tones and tone studies. This can be really boring, but the key is to vary the exercises daily. For example, alternate dynamics one day, then the next day, transpose all the exercises into new key signatures, then try changing octaves. Also, if you memorize the pattern behind one of the exercises (I like the first exercise in the Moyse book- it is simple and has great results) you can use it to warm up at the beginning of practice sessions, band/orchestra rehearsals, etc.
3) Drink Water. The more hydrated you are, the better your tone will be.
4) Watch What You Eat. Certain foods, especially those with salt, like chips, and those with calcium, like milk or cheese, can cause bad tone days. Try to pay attention to what you eat before practicing, and experiment to see which foods mess up your tone, that way you'll know what not to eat on the night before that big concert or audition. Medicines, especially cold medicines designed to dry out the nose and end a cold, can also have a huge negative impact on tone.
5) Have a Good Tone Strategy. No matter how hard we try, everyone has a bad tone day once in a while. Although all these exercises will help to minimize the occurance of bad tone days and lessen their effects, it always helps to have a backup plan of what to do when a really bad tone day occurs. Things like drinking extra water and playing exercises from a tone book will probably help when this occurs.
Keep this in mind: Good tone is not something that happens overnight, but don't write it off as not being important. It is easy to let tone studies slide, to say "It's not that important to me right now, but someday I will have great tone." Someday won't come unless you start now. And often, someday comes sooner than you think. Trust me- it's worth it.
Intonation
Being "in tune" is another very difficult task for flute players. These tips should help:
1) Tune with a tuner. This way, you will learn the pitch tendencies of your instrument, or which notes tend to be sharp or flat when you play them. You can then adjust for this while you are playing. In addition, you know sort of where to put your flute head joint to be in tune.
2) Tune to the other people you're playing with. Listen to the tuning note and internailze it in your head before playing. Listen to your pitch compared to the pitch of the tuning note. If you sound out of tune but can't tell which way, you're probably flat because the ear has more allowance for sharpness than flatness. One good way to tell is to roll your flute slightly inward. If the pitch improves, you're sharp. If not, you're flat. Disclaimer: Regardless of what your band director may tell you, NEVER roll your flute in our out for extended periods of time while playing. It creates bad hand position and bad tone.
3) Know the pitch and tendencies of your instrument. The "standard" pitch is A=440, which means that when you play the note A, the sound waves will vibrate at a rate of 440 times per second. Unfortunately, not all flutes are pitched at A=440 and not all groups play at this pitch. Make sure you know the pitch of your instrument. Also, know which notes tend to be sharp and flat when you play them. A good way to figure this out is with an intonation chart that lists all the notes and how flat/sharp they are when you play them.
4) Know how to change your pitch. There are always times in concerts when you realize that a note sounds really out of tune and you can't stop playing to fix your intonation. Here are some other, temporary tricks to try until you can...
~ Roll your flute inward if you're sharp, out if you're flat
~ Support the air less if you're sharp, more if you're flat
~ Use alternate fingerings (ie forked F) to bring down the pitch if you're sharp
~ Cover additional holes at the end of the flute to bring down the pitch if you're sharp
Note: don't rely on these tricks all the time when you're playing. It's not a good idea to get in the habit of always playing with your flute rolled in or never supporting your airstream, but these tricks can help for an occasional note or two.
5) Listen. This sounds simple, but the more you listen and concentrate on intonation, the better you will get at hearing your pitch in comparison to everyone else's. As you learn the tendencies of your instrument and how to correct the problems, you will be able to play in tune most of the time, and you'll know what to do when the pitch sounds wrong.
This page is currently under construction; embouchure info coming soon!
