by Dr. Angela McBrearty | Oct 8, 2020 | Breathing, Embouchure, FluteTips, Tone
Do you have trouble trying to make your tone bigger? Would you describe your tone as thin and small or tight? You tone doesn’t have to be that way forever. There is help. You are not alone in both the desire for a richer more resonant tone nor in the desire to change...
by Dr. Angela McBrearty | Jul 9, 2020 | Embouchure, Performing, Practice, Teachers, Tone
What is tone color? Tone color is one of those things that’s just a little bit ethereal. What really is tone color? And how do we do it? What does it mean when we play the flute? I remember when I was in college, thinking, “All right, so what’s this...
by Dr. Angela McBrearty | Apr 30, 2020 | Extended Techniques, FluteTips, Practice, Tone
Have you ever tried playing and singing at the same time? It is an extended flute technique that actually improves your tone when you learn to do it! Singing while playing is not just a 21st century extended flute technique. It’s an exercise that you can use to...
by Dr. Angela McBrearty | Jan 16, 2020 | FluteTips, High Register, Intonation, Tone
One of the hardest things that we flute players have to deal with is our third octave. Our instinct is to close it right up. The embouchure gets smaller and the teeth move closer together because that helps us to control that upper register. Control is what you want...
by Dr. Angela McBrearty | Jan 9, 2020 | Daily Routine, Etudes, FluteTips, Practice, Tone
I’ve just come off the holidays as it’s been Christmas vacation. It’s been so massively busy that I haven’t gotten much good solid practice. I feel like even when I’ve played a lot of flute for various Christmas gigs, I still can get out...
by Dr. Angela McBrearty | Nov 21, 2019 | FluteTips, Practice, Tone
Do you have vibrancy in your tone? Do you know what it is? Vibrancy is something that I discovered when I was in college and I was listening a graduate student. I remember thinking that there was something different about their tone that I didn’t have. I kept...