Hello everyone, I have a question for the experts. I only recently began playing the flute, maybe a month ago, and practice as much as possible, with only myself as a teacher. There are no teachers in my area (about 90miles radius) and there are no music shops with woodwinds either, so I’m pretty much alone with my musical studies. I’ve been playing the ocarina for a year and recorder for about six months. So I have a decent idea on breathing techniques, breath control, intonation, and breath support.
I run out of air VERY quickly on the first octave. I can play more than twice as long in the second octave and with better tone.
I shift my embouchure up and tighten it to go to the second octave, not blow harder. I shift down and open it to go to the first octave. The best first octave tone I can produce will often deplete an entire lungful in 4.5seconds. I can sustain for 14.5seconds in the second octave. If I don’t focus on strong resonant tone in the first octave I can get almost 6seconds. As a result I can’t really get a good tone in the upper register of first octave because I run out of air too fast. I’ve got to be wasting air somewhere right?
Is there anything I am doing wrong? I know embouchures take a long time to develop and control properly, I am just concerned that I may be developing a bad first octave embouchure. Any tips are welcome!
Big caveat: I’m still a beginner, at around 20 months in. However, in some ways this is an advantage in that going through those same stages you are now going through is still fresh in my mind. Heck, I’m not even out of them yet, but it’s getting better all the time. Yes, I admit, it’s getting better … ooh sorry, wandered off there for a minute …
So, here’s my tips:
1 Long notes. Especially in the bottom octave. Try for 6 seconds, then force yourself to do 8, etc Do not worry about tone - that will come later. Start on G, and then work your way down - the lower notes are harder to do.
2 Play in the third octave. Find the right fingerings, and practice those really high notes. Magically, for some reason, your bottom octave notes will be better too.
3 Buy one of Jemtheflute’s piccolos (mine’s a pint of Dark, Jem ). Practice one of those little fellas (or any picc) for 10 minutes and then suddenly switch back to the flute. Again, your tone will magically have improved without you even realising.
4 Try to keep your embouchure tight in the bottom ocatve as well as in the second octave. Just change its direction, so more down into the flute than for the second octave.
5 Turn the flute towards you, away from you, any old way, while you are playing. Find the spot that’s sweet for you, right now. It’ll probably change later, but I don’t reckon that’s a problem. (E.G. I’ve gone from having the embouchure hole in-line, to turned markedly in, to, now, turned ever so slightly out. My tone has got consistently better throughout these changes, which seems odd to me.)
And, after all of that … what’s your flute? Sometimes there may be a problem with it, and I know I started to progress faster once I had a decent flute …
Hope that lot helps. And now, roll up the experts …
Thanks! Yes long tones are one of the things I focus on most. I haven’t even looked at third octave fingerings yet, I suppose it is time though. I have a Dixon Duo that I keep the fife head on that I use for practice when I don’t have enough time to devote to my flute, I have noticed a huge increase in tone quality when going from it to the flute, but I thought it was just because the flute sounded so much better and not that I sounded better. I’ve found a couple of sweet spots so far haven’t really tried anything wild yet though, it’s hard to keep the embouchure hole planted in place when I move a lot.
I’ll definitely give #4 a lot of effort. I tried that once before but all I got was a really harsh screechy tone that wasn’t really in a single octave but in both.
I have a Gemeinhardt 2SP student flute now. It seems to be in good working condition, I did buy it new. I had a problem with the high L1 key (would you call it C or C#? you lift it for C#) not springing open for a few days but as soon as the humidity subsided it went back to normal. I don’t think I’m having any leaking or anything from the pads. The embouchure hole’s playing edge has a wierd shape though. I don’t really know how to describe it except that the right half of the playing edge has a chamfer (bevel) and the left side doesn’t. As a result I have to turn my head to angle more towards the left side with the sharp edge for second octave. This is my first flute so I assumed it normal though.
I will most probably be buying a KDJ Keyless Pratten in Cocobolo soon though. I really like keyless instruments and I’ll always have my gemeinhardt for chromatic necessities.
Ah, didn’t realise you had one o’ they typewriter thingies.
Well, I suppose you could go for a keyless flute and one with lots and lots of keys. But have you considered getting an 8-key wooden flute which will not only enable you to play Irish stuff with a nice woody tone, but also be chromatic?
I’d second everything benhall.1 has said. Particularly the idea of changing off to different embouchure instruments. Jem’s pic’s are excellent, but may not be in the budget. OTOH a Yamaha Fife can be gotten on the ‘Net for a song. . .I think I paid $6 USD for mine. The idea isn’t to take up yet another instrument, but to stretch and exercise your embouchure formation.
It will force you to get a good internal map of what you have to do to find the ‘target’ and get a tone.
If you have a modern flute, I would set it aside for a while, It’s target is quite different from a classic wooden style embouchure. When I first started, my teacher encouraged me to attempt a tone on almost anything with a circular hole. Pop bottle, small drain pipe, deep bottle caps. . .empty small medicine vials or cosmetic bottles.
Sounds crazy, but it really gets you into finding a target and getting a tone, regardless of how screechy. . .
I have the luxury of several flutes with varying embouchures, and I use them to trade off.
Keep tootin’
the air flow managing is one of the key challenges one has to face when starting on the flute.
the goods news: it will come by itself with patience, passion and practice…
at the beginning you get breathless and dizzy after a few mn playing… but you’ll soon be able to play hours, even walking, without even thinking about it, putting crazy attacks everywhere, singing and screaming through it (well, maybe not that far )
keep in mind (in addition with the very good advices above, that is) that flute playing does have to do, more than any other instrument, with internal harmony… state of mind, heart beat, blood pressure, diaphragm tension, breath… sound
it’s hard to play well when you’re under beginner’s stress, thinking about everything you HAVE to do right to get a note, fingers, mouth, tong, breath and so on…
in the Zen philosophy, they do encourage the ‘‘let it flow’’ principle… do not focus, let it come…
just find a nice place you really enjoy (I got my own spot on a sand beach, near by the river) and play for yourself, notes, simple tunes, getting up and down the scale… get yourself into the playing mood without searching for perfection, just taking the time and pleasure to discover what your instrument has to say…
Tighten your embouchure so that the airhole between your lips is smaller. If you work out how to do this AND still get your low notes, you’ll use less air and get a bonus as well: your low notes will sound reedier and harder.
In fact, I’m probably using a more relaxed embouchure with a (slightly) larger airhole on my 2nd octave than on my first. I get the 2nd octave by changing direction of the airstream, not by tightening up, or blowing harder.
This all reads as contradictory. Are you tightening your embouchure, or aren’t you?
I really don’t like to use the word “tighten”, because it immediately calls to mind muscular tension. Meanwhile, I’m not sure about using a larger ‘airhole’ in the second octave; that seems counterintuitive.
To the OP: is it possible that you’re getting the second octave by a), speeding up the same-sized airstream you use for the lower octave, and b), “nicking” the edge of this large air column with the blowing edge? You can amke a (noisy) tone like this, and you will blow out all of your air in record time.
I would say by changing the direction of the airstream.
Changing the speed of airstream only means blowing harder but your tone won’t be as good as if you change the direction. And if you change the direction, the airstream has a shorter distance to travel and is thus going faster to the edge. So changing the direction changes the speed and gives a better tone. And it’s easier to be in tune.
At the beginning you can turn the flute towards the lips, it can help, but after it’s the slight work of the embouchure.
Hmm, I’m not 100% sure exactly what you’re asking. It seems like you read my post as I am having trouble with the second octave, where I am actually have trouble in the first octave. In the second octave I actually have better tone and much longer sustain. The airstream size is definitely different for the octaves, and it is very possible I am nicking the edge, but I’m not getting a noisy tone in the second octave, it is quite pure and sweet sounding.
On the first octave I slowly pull the corners of the mouth back into a frown as I go down, this produces a wider flatter shape to the embouchure. If on the first octave your embouchure shape is a rounded oval then the the top and bottom section of the air reed is wasted. Try to start each session with getting the best possible 1st octave b you can, by adjusting direction airflow etc and then work up and down from there playing long tones and really focussing on getting the best possible sound. You will find after a while that the best sound is also the most economical. ITM players tend to play full bore all the time with little or no dynamics (due to competing with Sky sports in the other bar and 2 banjo players) but it’s good practice to play as quietly and sweetly as you can whilst keeping in tune which is I find a fair bit harder than playing forte.
Changing direction doesn’t change the speed, the air travels inside the bore at the same speed (just a micro second delayed or in advance, maybe). You have to change the speed of the airstream to go to the 2nd 8ve, but it doesn’t mean that you have to blow harder. The amount of air can be the same, you just have to (again) make that hole between lips smaller. But you can also keep the hole small and decrease the speed of air to go to the 1st 8ve. More difficult but that’s the way to go…
). Practice one of those little fellas (or any picc) for 10 minutes and then suddenly switch back to the flute. Again, your tone will magically have improved without you even realising.
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