Steven Cupitt

About 'The Tone and Timbre Toolkit'

Recommendations

"Steven Cupitt presents a remarkable anthology on technical and pedagogical strategies for playing and teaching the flute. His work reaches far beyond a mere compilation of insights from established methods. By posing a detailed set of questions to esteemed colleagues recognized as expert pedagogues, he has unlocked a treasure trove of information, making their expertise widely accessible. Readers are invited to delve into and select from this wealth of knowledge at their own discretion"

Thies Roorda, Retired Professor of Flute Royal Conservatoire of The Hague, Emeritus flautist of the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra Hilversum

"There are a lot of tutor books on the market nowadays, but The Tone and Timbre Toolkit really is something new. You can dip in and out to find multiple tips and tools for the area of your playing that you are prioritising and use the excellent selection of repertoire to try out, explore, and develop what you find useful. The online links to accompaniments also make it easy to hear and enjoy the harmonies, as well as keep a keen ear for good intonation. There are excellent resources that demonstrate how the flute player’s body works, with fun illustrations and online links. I found this tutor book straight forward to use and a great way to expand your flute playing and musicianship. Happy playing and learning!"

Kate Hill, Professor of flute Royal Academy of Music, London, 1995 to 2021

What the author says:

The Tone and Timbre Toolkit approaches the teaching and development of tone and tone colour in flute playing in a completely new and unique way.

No two players are alike; we all have different personal needs…different interests, different goals, and different starting points…not to mention different physiognomy…i.e., different shaped faces (lips, jaw, teeth, tongue, etc.,), and this means that what works really well for one player might not be the best option for another. For any player who finds that they get stuck, reach a plateau, or need fresh ideas to unlock their potential, or for teachers who have tried everything they can think of to help a student, without achieving the success they seek, Tone and Timbre Toolkit aims to provide new ideas, approaches, and materials, guaranteed not to be found in any other book currently on the market, and to empower a personalised exploration that might lead to artistic agency, autonomy, motivation, authenticity, imagination, and individuality. This book does not tell players how to do something; it offers ideas to try out, explore, and personalise as part of each player's unique musical journey in the discovery of 'what works' for them as individuals.

All ideas in Tone and Timbre Toolkit have emerged through doctoral research and been proven through the research process to have the potential to positively impact the development of tone and timbre, and all ideas are based in the practice of some of the most experienced players and teachers in Europe (The London Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra, The Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Academy of Music, London, Royal College of Music, London, Trinity Laban Conservatoire, London, Royal Conservatoire of the Hague, Chetham's School of Music, Manchester, The Purcell School for Young Musicians, Hertfordshire, etc.,). That said, not all ideas will work for all players; it is for each individual player to explore, experiment, and take and adapt what works for them. In the immortal words of the martial arts legend Bruce Lee, players are invited to ‘Absorb what is useful, Discard what is not, and Add what is uniquely your own’.

Tone and Timbre Toolkit is aimed at serious students, teachers, and professional players who are looking for new ideas to enhance their practice as expressive and creative artists and/or creative and adaptive teachers. It contains lots of ideas that are 100% guaranteed not to be found in any other book on the market. The ideas are presented as a set of tools that invite experimentation and personalised discovery, designed to empower the development of the individual musical voice. As well as the tools, The Tone and Timbre Toolkit offers theoretical explanations behind ideas, a selection of practice exercises, and over 20 pieces of expressive repertoire, adapted from repertoire for voice and other instruments (piano, violin, oboe, etc.), together with QR codes linking to professional performances, backing tracks, video tutorials, and downloadable piano parts. The accompaniments provide a harmonic context within which flute players can consider their use of tone and timbre, and another instrument against which to measure intonation, which should always be of paramount importance.

All materials are designed to develop awareness and control of a range of factors that impact the production of tone and tone colour; to bring awareness to aspects of playing the flute, both physical and auditory, and to offer a selection of practical ideas – ‘the tools’ – and repertoire, with which players can experiment. The book is conceived to fuel exploration and mastery of tone and tone colour, to feed the musical imagination, and to help players to embed ways of playing that are personal, reliable and effective, and that become automated, instinctive, and adaptable, helping to empower a spontaneous, creative, and expressive use of tone and colour. 

Testimonials

An earlier version of this book was trialled by a group of students as part of the doctoral research process. Here are some of their comments:

Pre-tertiary Learner Comments

*‘It has helped with my embouchure. It made me feel more relaxed in my face muscles and made flexibility easier’.

*‘I really liked the exercises for lip flexibility and found it very useful’

*‘It made me more aware of what sound I made. It also made my practice more interesting when playing around with different tone colours.

*I also have a bigger understanding of others’ use of tone colour, which made it more fun to listen to others play’.

*‘The book has been a great source for beginning my practice sessions and as a student looking to go into the profession, I will be definitely using it for the foreseeable future!’

Master’s Degree Learner Comments

*‘I particularly liked that you included recordings of pieces that were not flute. I think more recordings like this encouraging players to listen to other instruments is very helpful for providing colour inspiration. I think that these different timbres provide a much clearer idea of what different shades of colours you can aspire to than word descriptions’

Adult Learner Comments

*‘It is a book that I go back to time and time again when I get stuck (or more often frustrated) and it always helps me push through the challenge due the amount of different ideas are in there’.

‘It really helped me with my bottom lip relaxation, and support as all the different exercises helped me to find out what I was doing wrong and how to correct it’.

*‘I would say the amount of text to pictures, depends on the group you are wanting to target. For me as an older pupil I loved the text and found it useful, for other players you may want more pictures’.

*‘loved the book, really helped me, the headjoint upside down was a revelation! I loved the book as an adult player, and really found the text useful.’

*‘Some of the above, whilst they might not be directly useful to me in my practice, may be useful to my pupils e.g., Collarbones floating helps me a little but it is really useful and important to be able to suggest this tool to a pupil and for me to be aware of this as an option.