Concentrate on airflow rather than tongue movement. For subtle entrances a combination of "h" and "t" works well to establish a clean note. Practice breath attacks (playing short notes without using the tongue - only "h"). If you cannot start the note cleanly with only the air, then your tongue is masking a problem. Concentrate on the tone that you achieve when practicing articulation, particularly double and triple tonguing. Sloppy tonguing often yeilds a thin, weak tone. For a legato double or triple tongue, use "D" and "G" instead of "T" and "K" respectively. Practice tongued passages slurred and try to achieve the same quality of tone when you add the tongue. The best way to practice is to have as many different ways to practice as possible. Vary your routine. If you always practice the same exercises then you become accomplished at the challenges presented in those specific exercises instead of acquiring a more broad set of skills. Learn music theory so that you can group notes together in a logical manner, which will help you read more quickly. This not only improves sightreading, but also enables faster technique by allowing you to think through technical passages more quickly. Memorize. You don't have to do it for an audience, but you will notice patterns and structure just by working through the process of memorization that you miss by reading the notes. Scales enable you to become familiar with keys in which music is written. They are also tools that you can use to work on various aspects of playing, such as tone, articulation, and dynamics. Vary your method of practicing scales in order to learn them more thoroughly. Start at the top and go down first. Do not always start on the root. Do not always play an octave. Keep your instrument well maintained with an annual clean, oil, and adjustment. Playing flute is difficult enough when the instrument works - don't make it more difficult! Clean your flute, inside and out, immediately after you play it, every time you play it. Whenever possible, brush your teeth before playing flute - otherwise, at least drink some water (not soda, gatorade, or fruit juice - water) to rinse your mouth. This will help to keep the pads clean. Store your flute in its case when not in use. Never play with food or chewing gum in your mouth! Pad savers will only save your pads if you put them in the flute after the moisture has been removed by something else (cleaning cloth) - otherwise they are pad destroyers because they trap all of the moisture closer to the pads. Play by ear - if nothing else it will teach you that the world really does not end if you play a wrong note. Like a compass, your ears must be calibrated before you can trust them. A compass that points North when it is really headed East can take you far from where you need to be. Likewise, relying on your ears when they have not been trained (by a tuner, playing with others, and comparisons to harmonic fingerings) can provide equal disillusionment. Playing a single note in tune with a tuner is not accomplishing much - you must be able to play that note in tune within the context of the piece. Leave the tuner on when you are practicing exercises and pieces and refer to it periodically. This will give you a better indication of how in tune you play intervals that simply playing individual notes. There are various systems of tuning - Just, Pythagorean, Equal Temperament, etc.. Learn where Equal Temperament lies by practicing with a tuner, then you can add the subtleties of different tuning systems. How can you possibly play the third slightly sharp if you don't know where in tune is? Practicing with a tuner is something you do by yourself to train your ears. When playing in an ensemble, you must adjust to those with whom you are playing - the tuner is no longer the primary authority. For middle through high notes, practice using the lowest fingering of that pitch (or some other harmonic). Practice maintaining the intonation while switching between the regular and harmonic fingerings. Learn how intervals sound. It is not enough to be able to play a single note in tune - you must know how they relate to each other. Practice intervals both ascending and descending. Balance the flute using the four balance points (chin, left hand pointer finger, right hand thumb, and right hand pinky). All other fingers should be free to move with only these balance points in contact with the flute - including the left thumb! Though the right hand pinky is considered a balance point, it needs to move too, so it is not a constant balance point. To find the perfect right hand position, allow your right arm to hang naturally at your side - notice that your fingers are slightly curved. Bend the elbow - your palm should be facing the side of your body. Rotate your hand clockwise so that you see your knuckles. Push the hand forward so that the right arm does not touch your body. Place the flute between your thumb and fingers, resting on the thumb. Bring the pinky edge of your left hand closer to the flute to allow the ring finger to properly rest on the key. Keep the left hand pinky close to the lever, even when it is not being used. The left thumb should remain straight and move from the main joint on the hand, not the joint close to the fingertip. The thumb never touches any part of the flute except the thumb key and Bb key - keep it away from the flute body (practice the four balance points if the flute wobbles when playing C and C#). There should be space between the arms and body. The head should not tilt sideways, which constricts the airway. The flute should be held in a position that creates the best should when the head is erect (which may be on a slight angle downward). Avoid the feeling of pressing the headjoint into the chin - it should rest there lightly. Think of the fingers as being either off of the key or depressing the key - there is no point in between. Be certain to clear the key when it is not pressed down, especially when trilling. There should be a distinct difference between "on" and "off". Once fingers move together and distinctly, work on minimizing the impact for smoother technique. If you hear the keys clicking, you are working too hard. All fingers, except the left hand pointer, should move from the knuckle at the base of the finger on the hand, not from the joints closer to the fingertip. Work is required to lift the fingers. When you want the key to be depressed, think of simply relaxing the lifting muscles for that finger, allowing it to fall. If the headjoint is moving your technique needs work. Use a mirror. When going from F natural to F sharp, the F sharp key should stay down. Use a mirror to check. When you play flute you are using muscles in ways that they are not accustomed to being used. Athletes stretch, so should flutists. Make sure that the hand does not rock from side to side when using opposite fingers (F natural to F sharp for example). The motion should be up and down, not sideways. Vibrato is not on or off - it is like dynamics, there are many variations. Practice without vibrato - it is the basis of controlled tone and is a perfectly valid tone. If you cannot play without vibrato in a controlled manner, then your vibrato will not be in control either. Using vibrato artistically means that you must be able to control it. Practice different combinations of width and speed, then gradually change between them. Playing with vibrato generally requires more air than playing without vibrato - phrase accordingly. Listen to singers and violinists as part of your vibrato study. Don't be a hero - a well planned breath is more easily forgiven than poor tone resulting from trying to stretch the air farther than you are able. Breathing is not just a physical necessity - it is part of the music. You are not required to breathe just because a rest is written, especially if there are many of them nearby. Breathing requires time. Either the beat is stretched to allow the breath, or the note prior to the breath is shortened. Either may be correct, depending on the circumstance. The more you emphasize a note, the longer it must be heard in order for it to make sense. When shortening a note prior to a breath, try to place the emphasis on some other note.