Back in the early 1980’s, Elias Leuvwarden (a good friend and phenomenal classical flutist from West Germany) made the case to me for playing alto flute and piccolo as a way to strengthen my soprano flute chops (i.e., typical C flute). Elias reasoned that if you could get around on an alto flute well, then your embouchure for the low register on the flute would have room to burn. Likewise for the piccolo and the high register. In other words, expand the range of your flute embouchure naturally by playing those instruments that require it – the alto flute for the lows and the piccolo for the highs (and get good enough on them and you’ll get to play the alto and piccolo gigs too! 🙂