Nicholson was a fan of modifying his flute so as to be
more easily and securely held. I believe he had a cut
out in the flute for his left hand and seal skin (or shark skin?)
under his right thumb.
I’ve tried some things along those lines, less radical.
Moleskin, with a bit of superglue on it, is very rough.
A strip on the flute at the base of the left hand
gives a very secure grip, as does a square of it
pasted under R1/R2.
One can even make a pinky rest this way.
Also I’ve sometimes used an inch or two of clear
plastic hose cut lengthwise for a left hand rest,
partly to give extension for L1.
It seems to me such measures actually can help
make for a more secure and relaxed grip.
No moles are harmed in the process.
Also the moleskin is fastened to the
flute by the adhesive on the inner side
of it. The superglue goes on the outside,
just a dab or two, to make a rough surface.
That feels quite rough initially, but
it becomes more comfortable as it
wears a little.
I actually find this a big help in increasing
comfort, relaxation and control, especially
on bigger, harder to handle flutes.
One caution: best to wait till the superglue is
well dried before playing the flute. A six-keyed
Pratten glued to your left hand
makes life a pretty dark business, at least
when you’re not playing music.
Along with the standard bopep for the boehm flute,
there is made a plastic piece that clips over the bottom
of the flute to serve as a rt thumb rest. Bought one
in fact and put it on a G flute. Things like this
seem to make a real difference in ease of playing.
But this plastic piece won’t fit over the tube
of a D Irish flute–too wide. It would be nice
of such things were available.
As holding a flute is no easy thing, and one’s
musicianship will never be better than one’s
grip, such ‘add-ons’
can be a real help, IMO. Very ‘bottom up.’
When I play for an extended period of time, there’s a spot at the base of my left pointer (L-1?) where the flute rests which gets quite sore sometimes. I’ve often thought about putting a little cushion around the base of my finger, like a Bandaid, or perhaps a little pad on the flute. I think the soreness doesn’t always happen, so I figure it’s probably from being too tense while playing.
I play a delrin flute that can get a bit slippery in warmer weather, so I’ve attached some strips of the anti-slip tape that is typically applied to the edge of marble or stone steps. It’s black so is hardly noticeable and can be replaced easily enough. The tape feels like it’s just double sided tape with ground up stone (much coarser than sandpaper) applied to the outer side.
I use three small strips - 2 for the thumbs and 1 for the base of T1.
I wouldn’t dream of applying it to a wooden flute, though.
In the 19th century, when our flutes were king, it was assumed that you would hold the flute between only three points - the chin, the tip of the right thumb and the base of the left forefinger. This would hold the flute securely and leave all your fingers free to cover their holes or keys. The left thumb would float above the Bb key, and not be required to prevent the flute from moving. Similalry, R4 would float above the Eb, again not necessary for supporting the flute. Your right hand fingers would be considerable straighter, not possible in the modern grip because they have to oppose the shorter thumb. No stresses would be involved; the holding force supplied by the left arm, not the left hand.
I’ve been using that grip and finding it very good, but I think a small prosthesis could make it better again. Forgive the crudity of the device shown, I invested all of five minutes making it. It’s just a piece of metal curved into a slight ~ shape. I’ve secured it to the flute with a little doublesided tape.
As you can see in the image below, my thumb points into the flute just below the rest. The piece of the rest sticking out prevents the flute slipping past my thumb, and prevents the flute rotating. My left thumb and R1 can float freely and there is no stress anywhere.
(My fingers are more bent than usual here as I am holding the flute entirely in my right hand while attempting to take an image using a right-handed camera in my left hand!)
The rest could be integrated into the flute at the time of making as a block, or it could take the form of a thin metal rest screwed to the flute like a clarinet rest. It would probably be possible also to do a Bo-pep version in springy plastic.
I think it might have something to offer those who are finding they are clutching the flute too tightly, causing pain and reducing freedom of movement. Could be worth playing with …
‘It would probably be possible also to do a Bo-pep version in springy plastic.’
A plastic clip on device is made by bo-pep to clip on a boehm flute
as a base for the rt hand thumb–it looks like what you’ve made
in metal. I bought one for about ten bucks at ProWinds in
Bloomington Indiana (major music school at the university,
hence phenomenal music stores). It won’t go over the
tube of one of our D flutes, the bo pep isn’t wide enough.
It does clip nicely over the tube of my Bleazey G flute
and it does help.
It’s black, I wish something was available for D Irish flutes.
One thing about these various devices–they train you
for good position. They keep fingers from wandering,
etc, so that when you play a flute without them
your hands go to optimal places.
For instance my left thumb kept moving up the flute
till it was cocked back. The moleskin with the super glue
for roughness, placed just to the left of the Bb key,
has trained it to stay put.
