This slide deck will briefly explain the concepts of tone and intonation, as well as how they apply to the various instrument families. It will also briefly explore how common deficiencies and ways to improve tone and intonation in performance.

Consider tone as the personality of your sound. What is it's personality or character? Is the flute warm and brilliant, or dull and shrill? Does the cello make you laugh, wonder, or cry? These are powerful descriptors that often characterize a musician's tone.

In order to really get into the development of tone, it is important to listen not only to your instrument, but the best samples of performers and performances on your instrument. For example, trumpet students may choose to listen to Arturo Sandoval, Wynton Marsalis, or Chris Botti for a variety of sound concepts. Keep in mind these are just samples, though very good ones! Take what you like from them and leave the rest. Develop your own concept of sound and continue to listen and modify your sound until it suits you.

If you consider the accuracy of a major league pitcher as an important, measurable component of his delivery, than intonation is a measurable component of musical pitch production. Different instruments have different intonation considerations, but there are some general concepts that apply almost universally.

1. Posture can affect intonation due to it's effect on #2, air support. Poor posture can hinder air production/speed causing notes to sound but without the accuracy required of performance.
2. Air support is crucial for wind players as without proper air use, the vibrations that produce pitch can not vibrate quickly enough, therefore creating pitches with poor intonation.
3. In some instances, incorrect fingerings can adversely affect intonation. Likewise, trombonists must consider slide position at all times as it is capable of playing every variation of a pitch with whatever intonation it chooses. They are much like string instruments in this way.
4. In even more rare instances, the instrument may be the cause of poor intonation. I list it last here because if using this as a checklist, the first three items should be checked prior to consider the instrument for fallacies. If the instrument is determined to be the cause of poor intonation, always check with your director for possible solutions.