I’ve only been playing seriously for about a year and I’m completely self taught. I’ve got a problem I’d like your help with. please excuse the mild grossness of the topic.
As I’ve gotten more disciplined in my practice, I’ve been able to play entire songs that are greater in length, as opposed to short snippets and phrases. While playing these longer pieces I’ve noticed that I build up quite a large reservoir of spit in my mouth, but I cant swallow it because there is never enough time to do so during the tune. I try to pool it under my tongue, but eventually it effects my playing and I have to stop and swallow, which breaks the tune.
How do you deal with saliva build-up while playing?
Nothing like an irrelevant smart-ass comment to derail a potentially helpful thread about a problem we’ve all faced.
@ animighty: I had that same question when I started playing, for the first couple of years. I still have to stop and swallow occasionally but now the reverse seems to be the more frequent problem – my mouth gets dry after playing for a while. If I do stop to swallow I try to stop at a place in the music when a pause might seem appropriate. And a lovely pint is almost always appropriate.
I once asked Jeff Baker, an accomplished fluter from New England, what he did when he had a saliva jam in his mouth. He didn’t really have an answer either, except to do whatever you could to keep the music going. So… just keep the music going and it will all work out.
Quite a conundrum really. Pavlov showed us that saliva production is a programmable reflex. . .however that doesn’t stop it from being a reflex. For example. try not thinking about your belly-button. . .facetious, yes, but points up the quandry. Years of playing helps but still the problem crops up.
You will find that certain foods or liquids might help through their astringent qualities. . .I find iced tea helpful. Others help to create the problem. Experience, observation, and time will help.
As Bob mentions liquids… just remembered another thread a few months ago, where Cathy mentioned that Diet-Coke would dry out the mouth. Maybe that whole thread could be of some use for you anyway.
I wish I could be of help; my mouth is more apt to become dry while playing flute for extended periods. For me, it’s usually what I’ve eaten or drunk that determines if I end up with too much saliva. Never again will I eat buffalo wings before fluteplaying; that opened the floodgates.
What Bob said makes sense to me. I imagine a certian amount of saliva runs down the back of my throat whithout me being aware of it. If you feel you are overproducing saliva i would try some caffiene or tea as they stimulate the sympathetic nervous system and dry you out.
I would rather pause where it makes the most sense and swallow the spit than use up the mental space thinking about it.
I haven’t had any problems so far with too much saliva or dryness in the mouth, but isn’t it possible to swallow excess saliva when you take in air at the end of a phrase, thereby avoiding copious amounts of saliva building up, or do you manage to play an entire tune without taking in air?
I’m always getting dry while playing, and think I know why.
I’m blowing a focussed airstream out of my mouth and it’s carrying moisture with it.
When I inhale gulps of air, I’m sucking in relatively drier air than is in my mouth via narrowed lips.
All this contributes to a net moisture loss.
I have to drink a good deal to keep from getting dehydrated while playing.
I’d think this would happen to you too, unless something is triggering more saliva production.
So I’m wondering if you could answer a couple of questions.
(1) How often do you swallow when you’re not playing the flute? Once a minute or several times a minute or almost never? For me it’s closer to the latter, unless I’ve recently eaten something. Or I’m watching someone else eat!
(2) If you hold the flute up to your lower lip and don’t play, just keep it there with your mouth closed, do you find yourself generating more saliva than before and swallowing more often?
I ask the second question because I have trouble holding anything in my mouth for very long, like a flashlight, without drooling. Not right away but fairly quickly. That’s only for things that are inside my mouth, but people differ and maybe just something touching your lips might do the same thing?
Although pauses in a song may seem impossible I was advised by a well known fluteplayer to cut down on the notes. It gives you space to breathe and to swallow. Maybe impossible at first, but when you try to see the spots where you can leave out notes without messing up the entire message you will find it easier.
