Keeping "Long-tones" Fresh

How do we keep our favorite exercises - our go-to, tried-and-true, most comfortable and comfort-offering routines - alive, useful, invigorating, sustaining (look, Ma - no thesaurus - yet!)? In other words, fresh and not dying on the vine. This question can apply to so many things...we like our creature comforts, our "things" and habits that help us feel more secure and safer, especially when we face the day's uncertainties. For musicians, this is an especially  interesting question to pose, as we like our confidence-inducing activities to remain skill-building, yet sometimes we wander into the desert of automatic pilot/self-driving cars/phoning things in/just basically not really being present. . . 

While a college undergrad, I remember walking up to the practice room building's top floor (since this is where my favorite rooms were located) for each day's first practice session, wondering what exactly kind of tone day it was going to be. Tone is everything to a flute player (and to all musicians, right?!) - it's the ears to the soul, the personal calling card of an individual. It's a big deal. So, sometimes my heart would pound as I unzipped my bag, unlatched the case to my flute...was it going to be a good tone day? A not so great one? A fabulous one? And what to do about it? Here's an average mental exchange from back then: "Yesterday was a pretty good tone day - I'd better start with EXACTLY the same long-tone exercise on EXACTLY the same pitch as I did yesterday."

Naturally, sometimes that approach would work, and of course, sometimes that would not. Now that I refuse to play Eight Ball with my sound or my playing (!) I celebrate the wisdom of balancing exercises and knowing what I need to do to keep things fresh: be creative, participate, experiment, and play. So I'm attacking the much-revered exercise, the long tone.

What exactly is this important component of a wind player's practicing? Long tones are generally exactly what their name implies:  sustained pitches, under which we play a smooth crescendo and decrescendo, to help us focus on the beginning, development, and release of the tone.  Here's a good explanation by a horn expert, Bruce Hembd, including the key of developing the right mindset to practice these particular exercises effectively, as well as the importance of changing things up (that's our fresh-picked ingredient!).

For examples from flutists, here's an overview from Jeff Khaner, exercises from Jennifer Cluff, and an explanation from David Cramer on Moyse's De La Sonority.  Overall, I adopt these "long tone generalizations" in my own playing:

• Whenever I practice "traditional long tones" with the hairpin dynamic for one sustained pitch, I'm striving to be  free and open in my body, face, and jaw while conscious of breath, intonation, and especially the attack and release of the note. These long tones are most typically without vibrato, and I use them for control while maintaining freedom and ease. 
• My "go-to" method of long tones is moving from one note to another, so I always have a goal in mind and ear. This is the Moyse approach, and I embrace the whole journey when I play these: start of the note, its development into the destination note, and the release of the second note. I most often use vibrato when I play these, including different increments of pulses and/or styles of vibrato, but more on this later.  At times, I combine the first method with the second (hairpin crescendo) to maximize my time. 
• The combination of both concepts: playing melodies - even very simple tunes - in different keys, and generally after playing a simpler long tone plan.  I've written about this before, but I find playing tunes to be the most satisfying way to connect my heart to my ears  while spinning the tone.

Here are some great resources for long tones, including different concepts and exercises, videos, and other creative projects, including Flute Pro Shop's project with Danny Dorff. Some other ideas to consider:

• Anything can be a tone exercise, and whatever helps you tune into your sound and how you connect to it, from the sensations as you play (space in the mouth, the small of your back) to your breath as you inhale, is a component of your exercise.
• Although being mindful of your goal in each exercise is important, sometimes it's useful to be released and meditative as you play long tones. To me this is a state we work toward, however - we have to have some investment and trust in the practicing bank established.
• If you use a metronome, try hearing it on the "backbeat," or the "and" of the beat, instead of on the beat (you'll have to start playing in-between clicks). Another fun trick is to use an app like Drumbeats+  to really zip up your routine (great for scales, too). There are tons of possibilities!
• Play over a reference tone, even when the dissonance gets crunchy! Better yet, play with a practice partner, and alternate who moves (one person sustains, one person descends to the next pitch).
• Change directions - ascend instead of descend, or vice-versa; add larger increments (whole tone steps vs. half-steps).
• Pick a different "starting" note each day.
• Break out that thesaurus and play each set of long tones in that style.
• Have a "tone study exchange" party - especially with other instrumentalists - to share favorite exercises and concepts.
• Change vibrato increments per beat (2 pulses per beat, switch to three, then to four, etc.). You'll find this to be very tricky to increase your rate as you diminuendo! Try whatever you come up with in descending order (start with a higher rate and dial it back to a slower one).
• Again, anything can be a tone exercise, including a simplified version of whatever piece you're studying, or a passage that is owning you right now . . . take a small bit of it and make a beautiful phrase to transpose into different keys.

What are some of your favorite long tone exercises and ideas to keep things fresh?