I was reminded of animal adjectives in Improv Games when Pavarotti described the voice as a horse in elegant, wild control. My favorite part of the video is where he uses his hands to describe the tube of sound for the "ooh" vowel. I think much of this wisdom applies to playing the flute as well. Changing the inside shape of the mouth can affect the tone color and intonation of the flute. After lots of experimentation with the different vowel shapes while playing the flute, I think now I subconsciously alter my vowel shapes to work with the intonation & tone color on flute. For example, a lower flatter tongue - like a yawn - tends to have a lower pitch and a more "open" or "full" sound, whereas a tongue that's pointier and more forward tends to have a higher pitch and a brighter or thinner sound. What do you think?

If you could design the flute of your dreams, what would its characteristics be and what COLOR would it be if it could ANY color... besides the obvious precious metals?? My purple flute doesn't resonate quite as beautifully in the upper register as my Pearl flute! But it seems appropriate for this song: Colors Flying! I'm grateful to have it for making music while my fav flute is in the shop. If you could have any color what would you choose?!

One the best ways to master a song is to practice it in all 12 keys. Have you tried it?

I love waking up to good news! Yesterday morning I saw these nice messages from @Julie McKenna. Is it proof that playing Improv Games improves overall flute skills? I think so! I'll be going Live again for Improv Games tomorrow night at 6:30pm CT. Can you join us? If that time doesn't work for you, please write me with your fav time so I can consider it - I'm assessing the schedule for next semester!

Okay, I know flute is a hobby for pretty much all of you! But what else do you like to do? And is there an element of improvisation in it too? When I was a child at the circus I saw fire poi and was entranced by the the beauty & danger of the performance! In high school I had a few friends who spun glow sticks like fire at dimly lit dance parties! I wasn't much of a "raver" but there were a few dancers who were really smooth with the lights and I loved watching them. I started spinning the "figure 8" pattern with my drum major whistle whenever I had it in 10th grade! We also learned to spin our mace as drum majors, and now I have a staff (an old broomstick I think!) that is good for spinning. Later I shoved some tennis balls into tube socks and started practicing poi with them - poi is a performance art that involves swinging weighted objects attached to tethers in rhythmic, geometric patterns. Frequently lights or fire. There is definitely an element of improvisation to poi. It is very rhythmic, so getting the timing right feels very similar to tapping your foot to music or playing a run perfectly rhythmically. But there is also the element of the unknown, unexpected, and making mistakes. Like when I bumped against the stairwell, how could I recover my timing? I find that having a variety of potential "answers" in my mental movement library helps me find the groove again, just like have a variety of potential musical answers in my mental musical library helps me navigate a route back to being in the groove. A friend gave me these purple flags for my recent birthday. They have weights sewn into the corner edges, so it feels like poi. I love them! I like to observe the sound they make while trying to solve the tiny problems of how to make them move with the music without getting tangled. Purple has not always been my favorite color, but after someone told me it's the highest vibration color and that I should consider adopting it for Flutarians, I've really embraced it. After I saw @Jodie Mesler's beautiful new purple lighting in her little flute studio I set an intention to get some purple on the walls in my studio... and then my friend Sone gave me these flags!