Tone and Flexibility and Intonation

I love working on my sound...it's a skill most professional wind players continue to hone, every day. Using harmonics as the springboard to my warm up, I play the entire series on all fundamentals from C1-F1. I usually do some kind of 'vocalise' next: arpeggios of some kind (triadic patterns, or chords) to loosen up before commencing on more static long tones, usually with crescendo/diminuendo work thrown in at the same time. Break this up for students: Working first on long tones with nice tapers, then adding in longer diminuendos, then crescendos, before putting it all together. Remember, the lips are flexible when changing dynamics, as air direction must change too! Keep the tuner handy when doing these exercises...and pay attention to the air pressure...keep it very firm on the soft dynamics. This kind of work will help EVERYTHING you play!