An Examination of College Flute Professors\u27 Approaches to Improving Students\u27 Intonation Skills

The purpose of this study was to examine what methods college flute professors use to improve their students intonation skills and to highlight resources to aid future practices on the subject of intonation. The research questions guiding this study were (a) Do college flute professors teach students how to improve intonation skills? (b) What methods do college flute professors use to improve students\u27 intonation skills? (c) What resources do college flute professors use in conjunction with teaching intonation? Research was conducted using a researcher-created online survey that was distributed to college flute professors throughout the United States. Findings suggested a limited amount of information within extant flute pedagogy literature. The research concluded that flute professors do teach intonation and address many variables when discussing the topic. These variables include ear training fundamentals, instrument tendencies, harmonic exercises, alternate fingerings, and specific techniques used to change intonation. Flute professors indicated many resources they used in conjunction with teaching intonation. Many of these resources were not intonation specific, rather encompassing a broader topic like tone. The limited amount information in flute pedagogy literature in combination with the abundant use of teacher-created exercises concludes that an intonation specific resource is necessary within the flute pedagogy literature. The goal of this study is to provide insight into the fundamental information that should be provided in such a resource