Does your mind wander while you play long tones?
Long tones are an essential part of your practice time. And I hope that you’re doing these as part of your practice time. But what you have to make sure you do is concentrate on what you’re doing. Because they’re LONG tones, you don’t have to listen to what you’re doing. You don’t have to concentrate on different notes and the music that you’re playing and all the other intricacies of playing.
All you need to do is play one note, or one note into another note. And the problem is that it’s very easy to let your mind wander.
So, make sure that you’re keeping track of what you’re listening for. And what your listening for is the sound.
- Are you making a consistent sound between the 2 notes?
- Are you breathing properly?
- Are you learning to control your air?
I learned a lot about how long I could make my air last when I was doing long tones. And because I was listening to that and really concentrating on my breathing, I used less air. And when you use less air to make your sound, you get a better sound.
So, a sound that has less air in it but has more concentrated sound, of course is going to be better.
So, listen to your long tones. Keep your concentration right on them and when you lose concentration, stop and go on and do something else. Sometimes its best in your practice time, that if you’re practicing a couple times in a day, do one octave of long tones 1 practice session, and then do another octave of long tones at another practice session.
Because then you can keep your concentration up the whole time.
Try this and let me know what improves for you.
Have Fun!
DoctorFlute
Watch me demonstrate this: FluteTips 12 Long Tones
