long tone exercises I

Have you ever had trouble focusing during practice?  Are you thinking about your grocery list, that exam you have coming up, or tonight’s date? Well… Here is an exercise that helps me prepare to focus for the most optimal practice session. It is especially useful on those days when I’m feeling scattered by the commitments of the day. I hope it works for you, too:

Start out by clearing your mind of all that extra clutter. Just sit quietly and focus on your breathing for a minute or so. Then, beginning with b2, play a long tone. Now, as you play, try to center your attention on the tone itself, avoiding any other thoughts. Listen for tone colors. Is it rich, deep, dark, hollow, or bright? Where does the sound resonate in your body? In your mouth, your chest, your abdomen? Sometimes, I close my eyes so I won’t be distracted by a shiny object. Now, take a breath and play a b flat1.  This time, center your attention of the feeling of  the air as it leaves your lips.  How fast is it?  What is its direction? What percentage of the air is going into the flute?  What percentage is going out of the flute? Does the tone color match the previous note? If thoughts about anything besides this long-tone exercise enter your mind, just gently release them, and go on.  If the thoughts are persistent, take a second and stop playing.  Close your eyes, and look at those thoughts.  What do they mean to you?  Why are they important? Why do they matter?  When you have observed the thoughts and contemplated these questions, write them down on a pad, and release the thoughts.  Now, return to the long-tone exercise. This time, playing an a1, center your attention on the core of the tone.  Where is it in your body?  What are its qualities (dark, resonant, sweet, etc.)?  Continue this exercise throughout the entire lower register of your flute, descending chromatically to the lowest note on your instrument. Take some time to center your awareness on tone colors, air direction, resonance, and any physical activity you observe in your body as you play.

Now, using the Taffanel and Gaubert Grands Exercises Journaliers de Mécanisme Daily Exercise 1, apply this same focus.  Play only the first eight notes of each line very slowly beginning on the lowest note of your flute. Center your attention on each note and take a breath wherever necessary. Remember that if thoughts about anything besides this long-tone exercise enter your mind, stop playing for a moment, close your eyes, and look at those thoughts as you did before.  Again, Write them down.  Continue this exercise ascending chromatically for at least one octave.

You should feel energized and confident about your playing by this point.  Now, you are ready to really focus on scales, etudes, repertoire, and anything else that comes your way!