Honestly, for "kids" I think the overtone sequence is a good tool to start, but hammering it as heavily as Rascher does in Top-Tones was a bit of a turn off in 8th grade. No kid wants to drill those overtone exercises as Rascher recommends. If I could have changed my learning process of altissimo, I would have preferred less overtoning and more actual altissimo. The overtone exercises are more ear-training exercises in my opinion than altissimo exercises (I say this realizing that to the more advanced student, altissimo is all about ear training).
Also, I would start taming the A before drilling the G and G#. Those are still the hardest notes to sound right. Teaching it as F-F#-G-G# might put up unnecessary barriers for those that don't get it right away.
One more thing... bending a palm D down chromatically to a B taught me more about the intricacies of tongue position than overtones did.
Just my thoughts.
Also, I would start taming the A before drilling the G and G#. Those are still the hardest notes to sound right. Teaching it as F-F#-G-G# might put up unnecessary barriers for those that don't get it right away.
One more thing... bending a palm D down chromatically to a B taught me more about the intricacies of tongue position than overtones did.
Just my thoughts.
