Long Tone & Interval Study for The Flute
Long tone /interval study is another extremely important aspect of your daily practice regimen. It is very important to have a well-trained and flexible embouchure. But to do this you must first develop both the inner and outer muscles of the lips and mouth. This takes a lot of time and patience.
I currently spend fifteen or more minutes on long tones/interval studies first thing every day. Before I retired, I used to spend up to thirty minutes or more on various flexibility exercises every day.
What is very important when you work on these kinds of exercises, is to let your lips do the work-NOT by blowing harder such as when playing octave jumps, etc. In fact, when practicing tone and interval studies your goal should be to actually play softer when you go higher! I cannot tell you how many times I have played a work either when I played in orchestras or as a soloist where I had to play a 1-2 octave jump high and instantly go to a ppp dynamic level! It is all about the lips-not air power! Make sure as you work on the exercises that you always adjust your embouchure for the correct octave you are playing in. You actually have three different embouchures (low range, middle range, high range) and you are constantly adjusting them for the octave you are playing in at the moment.
Always set your metronome to the quarter note equals 60-that is one beat per second. Yes, it will give your lungs a good workout. That is what you want.
Here are some suggested rules to follow as you work on the exercises:
- Practice them first thing everyday BEFORE you are fatigued.
- Always have the metronome set at 60.
- Make sure to slur the intervals-don’t cheat and add the tongue.
- When going higher on the intervals do not get louder-always strive to be softer.
- Take a good two seconds to take in a full breath from your diaphragm-not your chest.
Once you are ready for more advanced studies there are tons of etude books available for you. Suggested studies: Studies by Marcel Moyse, Trevor Wye, and many more.
Good luck and good journey!