by Dr. Angela McBrearty | Nov 4, 2023 | Breathing, FluteTips, Support, Tonguing
How is your articulation? Do you feel that your tonguing is precise and clear? Or do you sometimes have articulated notes that are unfocused and airy? There are differing ideas on tongue placement, and I think they can all be used for various reasons. But I want to...
by Dr. Angela McBrearty | Sep 9, 2023 | Breathing, FluteTips, Support, Tone
Do you resonate your tone? What does that really mean? When we think about our flute sound resonating, we are talking making a tone that is vibrant and alive. When you use resonation to improve your tone, you will be surprised at how much you like it! A tone that...
by Dr. Angela McBrearty | Jul 29, 2023 | Embouchure, FluteTips, Intonation, Support, Tone
Sometimes I have bad tone days! Don’t you? Even when I am in good shape from a steady diet of practice, rehearsals, and performances, I can still have a bad tone day. So what can we do to pull out of the doldrums and make it a good tone day? I remember during my...
by Dr. Angela McBrearty | Feb 18, 2023 | FluteTips, High Register, Support, Vibrato
How many of you feel like your third octave just does not have the same kind of resonance and excitement that perhaps your second and your first octave do? Learning how to “spin” your notes is one way to add that excitement to your high notes. We all need to work...
by Dr. Angela McBrearty | Dec 10, 2022 | Embouchure, FluteTips, High Register, Low Register, Middle Register, Support
When you play from a low C to a high C, just two octaves higher, what do you hear dynamically? Play it right now. Play from the low C all the way up the octaves to the high C. What do you hear? A lot of times what I hear from my students is they start off with a...
by Dr. Angela McBrearty | Nov 12, 2022 | Breathing, FluteTips, Intonation, Support, Tone
Do you find that you go flat at the end of a long phrase? It’s quite common when you run out of air or lose your support. But you can keep those notes on pitch even when you’re running out of air by working on tapers, keeping the airstream up, and keeping up the...
