Practicing Flute Tone Mindfully
Hey fluties! So, I’ll bet you already know this, but just in case you don’t, I’m going to tell you: your tone is the most important asset you have in your playing. Why? Because you can be the fastest player on the planet, but if your tone sounds bad, no one will want to listen. Am I right? So, this is why we spend SO MANY HOURS on long tones, harmonics, and other tone exercises to make sure that our sound is round and beautiful. This isn’t to say that technique isn’t important - but only that tone is usually the number 1 priority for most teachers, especially if your tone needs work.
So, when we talk about flute tone and mindfulness, it’s really about being in the moment. Utilizing mindfulness in your practice can help you be very conscious of what’s going on and WHY in your playing. This is particularly important in those tone exercises, because if you aren’t playing them mindfully and you’re just going through the motions, you won’t make the changes you need in order to improve, right? So, practicing mindfully will help you improve your tone faster.
Understanding the Basics of Flute Tone
There are so many factors that go into your flute tone that it’s going to be hard to touch on all of them in one article, but we’re going to tackle all of them with time, so hang with me here!
First and foremost, embouchure and aperture shape, of course, contribute heavily to your flute tone. It’s important to be conscious of what your embouchure looks and and feels like. Secondly, we have breath support - one of my favorite mindfulness activities is breath building and breathing exercises. They’re great not just for the mind, but also for the body and improving that lung support. An unsupported, weak sound will leave your audience wishing for more! Third, we have air speed and direction. Now, this is where we have to pay close, close attention to what’s going on. Air stream angle is a difficult one to master, and we have to be oh so conscious of what’s happening in not just our embouchure but our neck, throat, jaw, and shoulders to get this one right. This is the mindfulness bread and butter. Finally, we have hydration, stress, sleep, mindset, and tension. All of these things can contribute to your tone production. Don’t worry - keep reading and we will dive into those things, I promise!
The Role of Mindfulness in Tone Production
Mindfulness is an invaluable tool that helps us to really get in touch with what’s going on in our playing and especially in our bodies. As we all know (and if you don't, I’m telling you now!), our bodies have the greatest effect on our flute tone as a whole. The reality is that flutists do not have mouthpieces to rely on, therefore our jaw, facial cavity, throat, and neck ALL affect our resonance and playing ability in profound ways. So, cultivating a mindfulness practice can help you tune in to what’s going on in your body and make tiny changes that will make a HUGE difference in your sound.
Mindfulness techniques that help with this are body scanning, mindful breathing practices, and inclusive attention practices. I also really enjoy body mapping (which technically isn’t a mindfulness practice, but it’s in the same realm) and Alexander Technique. Practices like these help us become very aware of our bodies and what’s happening in them. Being aware through body scanning can help us find places where we are holding (such as our throat and jaw) and learn to let go of them in order to feel better and play more resonantly.
Mindful Practice Strategies for Enhancing Flute Tone
I always like to begin my practice with a short breathing and meditation session. Firstly, find a quiet space to practice in, turn off your phone (or put it on Do Not Disturb if you plan to use your tuner or metronome from your phone later), and find a comfortable seat. Close your eyes and breathe normally, just noticing the breath. Don’t make judgements, just notice. Then, take some big, deep, luxurious breaths in and out, filling to the brim, then releasing everything with each exhale. Do this for 4-5 breath cycles and let go of your neck, shoulders, throat, and jaw while you’re at it. Then, return to your normal breath. Now is a great time to set an intention for your practice - this could be an overarching goal or just a feeling you’d like to achieve (ex. I am relaxed, I am calm, I am kind to myself). Open your eyes, and center, beginning your practice.
During practice, it’s helpful to engage in the practice of inclusive attention. This means not just paying attention to your playing, but allowing everything around you to make its way into your consciousness. We’re using our “soft eyes” as it were to allow everything around us (and within us) to touch our consciousness. With this, you can periodically practice body scanning (running from the top of your head all the way to your toes and feeling then releasing tension as it arises), and remember that we aren’t judging. We’re becoming aware and we’re making changes where necessary. We aren’t labelling anything you see, hear, or feel as good or bad, but rather deciding if you’d like to change it or not.
With this inclusive attention and body scanning, it’s great to pay attention to what happens to your tone when you make changes like this. If you have a notebook handy, take some notes on what you feel and what you hear. Close your eyes during your long tones and try to pay close attention to what’s happening rather than just running through, then make notes. It’s also helpful to record your practice sessions and listen back if you have the time, making notes, especially as you see or hear yourself making changes in these mindful moments.
Remember that the best thing you can do is practice consistently and deliberately. We don’t want to just run through the motions here. We want to practice with a focus, a goal, and with a mindset to allow everything in without judgement.
Troubleshooting Common Tone Issues Mindfully
Mindfulness can aid in a lot of common tone issues such as airy tone, inconsistent intonation, or trouble delivering notes in the altissimo or low register. Often, improving these areas takes a lot of mindful reflection in your playing. We don’t want to just play to play. We want to mindfully observe our playing to figure out what’s happening to cause issues. Of course, if you’re struggling, partner with a qualified teacher to help guide you in the right direction, but in terms of practice, you’ll need to be very aware of what's happening in your body and in your mind to cause the issues that are happening.
Paying close attention to where your airstream is angled, how your embouchure feels (Does it hurt? Do you feel stretched or tense?), and what’s happening in your throat, jaw, and shoulders, can help you make mindful decisions and changes to help fix the problems. Lots of times, we make changes to our embouchure without actually noting what we did to make the improvement. That’s why mindfulness is key - noting what’s happening when we make those changes or how those changes are coming about will help us solidify those decisions if they lead to something positive.
So, for airy tone, let’s pay attention to our embouchure - particularly the aperture. Are we squeezing the lips together to a nearly closed position? Is our aperture too wide? Think about holding 2 coffee stirrer straws between your lips, bringing the aperture closed from the sides, but keeping good space in between the center of the lips. Play with the wet part of the lips and use lots of air.
For inconsistent intonation - what’s happening in the jaw? Are we squeezing the back teeth closed? Are we pushing the mandible forward? Where is our airstream aimed? Pay attention to all of these things and make changes as you feel the issues arise. Play with a drone or a tuner, and try to memorize what good intonation sounds like as well as what it feels like. Again, attention is key.
Harnessing Mindfulness Beyond Tone Production
Mindfulness doesn’t just help our tone. It helps our musicianship, our technique, prevent injuries, and it helps us be mentally prepared for many of the challenges that come with being a musician overall. When we harness mindfulness practices, we help ourselves deal with performance anxiety, frustration, fear, and even many of the body issues (such as not noticing pain) that come with playing.
I highly recommend harnessing and integrating mindfulness into your life. Being aware of your body and mind, knowing when you’re in a good space to practice and when you’re not, and being able to really tune into your body is a life changer in and out of the practice room.
Conclusion
Mindfulness is a game changer when it comes to tone production.
Learning to harness mindfulness will help you deal with performance anxiety, tone production, body learning, and more.
Practicing flute tone mindfully will create positive mindset and will help you become more attune to changes.
Practice breathing, goal setting, body scanning, and more to help create a mindful practice.
