Could someone recommend some drills to train my embouchure for the second octave? I love my Burns beginner’s flute. I love it so much that I know I will be playing flute as long as I can draw breathe. But, I’m having a very difficult time getting in the second octave. D, E, and F# aren’t to bad but G and up I really have to push. And to get there I have to get loud.
I’m guessing a lot has to do with the fact I’ve only been doing this just under 2 months and have had the Burns only 2 weeks. But I had read in another thread where someone was able to play the second octave like a whisper, and that’s highly desirable to me. Especially since I practice later than I probably should and would like to play without disturbing my wife. During regular hours I disturb her enough!
I’ve posted this a few times before, but here are some ideas:
The key thing to keep in mind about the second octave is that you don’t want to get it by blowing harder; instead you want to blow a more concentrated stream of air by tightening your embouchure. You should be able to play the second octave more quietly than the first, and one good way to develop your second-octave skills is to try to play the second-octave notes as quietly as you can. Not that you would necessarily play that way in a tune, but for practicing it will help strengthen your lip muscles.
Another great way to develop your embouchure for the second octave is to play one-handed scales in the second octave, using harmonics. Here’s the fingering (x is closed hole, o is open):
d: oxx xxx (this is for the second-octave D)
e: xxx xxo
f: xxx xoo
g: xxx ooo
a: xxx xxx
b: xxx xxo
c: xxx xoo
d’: xxx ooo
To get the notes a through the third-octave d, you’ll have to tighten your embouchure considerably to get the harmonics. If you practice this scale a few times every day, at the end of a month your embouchure will be much better developed for the second octave.
At first these notes will probably sound very loud and fluffy. Your goal should be to make them sound crystal-clear and quiet.
Another exercise is to play a note in the lower octave and, keeping your air flow constant, adjust your embouchure to get the second-octave note. Experiment, adjusting various aspects, roll the flute, focus and direct the airstream differently, etc. After awhile, you should be able to get 3-4 registers doing this. I can’t yet, but I’m working on it.
There is a spot, between the two octaves, where you can sound both octaves at the same time. Practicing holding your embouchure at that break will help you gain control of it.
I find that the flute makes quite a difference when playing the quite secound octive. My rosewood Dixon (what a beautifuly instrument) is a dream to play in the secound octive. When I do my quite practice I dont even know what I am doing with my embouchur. It is more like I am just thinking quite and breathing into the flute. I know I am changing my lips I just dont know how. My old 8 key Eb is almost as easy. The Olwell bamboo F is still a mystery as far as a quite anything. What a blaster. Thanks Brad for the drill. I will give that a wirll. By the way I was talking to Tony the other day and he is getting ready to start again on his wooden flutes. He is also experimenting with maple and is pretty happy with the results. Im telling ya he makes a fine flute and I sure dont consider mine a lesser flute then my gone away Lehart for example.
There is a spot, between the two octaves, where you can sound both octaves at the same time. Practicing holding your embouchure at that break will help you gain control of it.
Denny
Hmmm…with a bulgarian instrument, the Kaval; this is called to play “Kabah” (to sound both octaves).
One thing about those one-handed scales in the second octave: they tend not to work well on a bamboo flute or any other cylindrical-bore flute (such as PVC pipes). You really need a conical-bore flute for them to work correctly, at least in my limited experience trying them out on Olwell bamboos.
Brad - Thank you. One-handed scales in the second octave is a great exercise that I’d not previously known about. The value of that drill is immediately apparent. I wasn’t having problems getting to the third octave, but I think this exercise will contribute to imporved technique. Thanks again.
To give credit where credit is due, those one-handed scales in the second octave come from Jean-Michel Veillon. It’s a great exercise.
Jean-Michel uses harmonics in his own playing, which helps explain a few of those “how on earth did he do that” moments when you listen to his recordings!
However JMV doesn’t advocate tightening one’s embouchure to hit the higher octaves and harmonics, he suggests focusing on redirecting your airstream (more across the far edge of the embouchure and less down than you would in the first octave) as he feels tightening the embouchure for the upper octaves can negatively impact one’s tone and flexibility.
But given that some of the notes in the second octave are quite sharp on most flutes (the A especially), how do you blow those notes in tune if you’re blowing more across the hole than down into it? That doesn’t make sense to me.
I also find that blowing more across the hole in the second octave makes my tone lose its focus. I get the best tone in the second octave by tightening my embouchure and blowing more into the hole, exactly the opposite of what you say Jean-Michel advocates!
Okay, I just tried it! It works like a dream on my Wilkes Bb flute, and fails totally on my Cotter D flute. I can’t get any note above G on the Cotter by aiming higher, and the E and F# sound pretty fluffy. I’ll keep at it though to see if I can get it to work for me.
I just checked Grey Larsen’s book, and he also advises to aim your airstream slightly higher in the second octave, as does Rob Greenway in another thread here on C&F.
So obviously it must work!
I’ve never had any problems getting the second octave, so what I do must work as well…maybe I’m doing what these guys advocate and I just don’t realize it. But I definitely tighten my embouchure a bit, and I know that when I get up to A and B in the second octave I have to blow a bit more down into the hole to prevent those notes from being too sharp (especially the A).
The amazing thing with the Wilkes Bb is that the “A” (speaking as if it were a D flute) automatically slots into tune in the second octave if I aim higher as JMV, Larsen, and Greenway suggest. I don’t have to aim down to flatten it. I don’t think that’s true with the Cotter, but I haven’t been able to get the “aim high” technique to work with that flute yet.
Cool, glad to hear you’re having some success with it Brad, it has worked well for me on the few flutes I’ve had access to recently. It has been a bit of a change for me as well - previously I was doing the embouchure tightening thing, which worked okay through the second octave, but my results following those lines yielded less than stellar results in the third/harmonics range. Adjusting the airstream angle is working wonders for me up there now.
I don’t tighten either. i redirect WITHOUT tightening. The action that causes the shift in octaves is the introduction of turbulence into the airstream. this can be accomplished in many ways. and obviously one way is what Brad suggetesd. but it falls short. ideally, strive for equanimity between octaves - not a louder first and a quieter second. the second octave can be played brilliantly as well as soft and sweet. Nicholson advocated this concept of equanimity to his students. it is key. Brad is suggesting one way and it will produce a tonal response equal to that specific embouchure change. it is simple but it is limited.
play a low G and then a high G. try to keep the tone and power equal between the two octaves. practice that and you will have command of the octaves.
