One of the difficulties that we face as flutists is the need for large volumes of air. This is further aggravated by the need to take breaths in quickly, since many composers often write long phrases or long passages of fast moving notes for the flute.

The following is an exercise that I practice, and that I have my students practice as well, to train ourselves how to breathe and play in the most seamless possible way.

Over the years I've had to remind myself that most of my students belong to a different generation, and that what I say to them might mean something different to them than it does for me. One such example is metronome markings: when I tell my students to practice an excerpt at one tempo several times and then to go up one notch, for them it means to go, let's say, from 80 to 81 bpm, whereas for me it means to go from 80 to 84 bpm. Here is why.