I’ve been practicing a couple of tunes that have a lot of b-e and a-d jumps in them. In the second octave you can sound a b or a with the e or d fingering. More and more lately, I’m finding that going from b to e, the e, the note isn’t changing, same for the a-d jump. Occasionally in the lower octave going from a higher note to a D or E, it will jump octaves, too, but the register jumping in the upper octave is really a problem.
Any suggestions? I suspect that my never-ending quest to conserve air is making my embouchure too tight for my own good; this is much less of a problem on my Bleazey flue with the small embouchure hole.
Looks like it’s probably back to some fundamental exercises, just when I’ve found a bunch of new tunes I like.
I prefer tunes over exercises, but I’m a lazy gob. Have you tried simply playing the tunes, with jumps, painfully slow? That helps me sometimes, and I do know what you’re going through…
Stu, I love ya, and you’re going to shoot me … but … have you considered humidification?
Seriously, I’m not kidding. Even my older flute is a lot less stiff at 70%. So if this was working for you in the summer and not now when the heat’s on, it’s something to think about.
Eric, this is a tune I’m just learning (Richard Dwyer’s, based on Garry Shannon’s and Conal O’Grada’s versions, which are pretty much the same), and I don’t pick tunes up fast, so I’m playing it pretty slowly. I do agree, that what it will need is an instant embouchure adjustment, so slow is the way to go.
I think Avery’s onto one solution. I just tried the b-e(roll) as b-g(grace)-e(roll), and it works like a champ. I guess the good news is that I’m pretty good at getting all four fingers down at once. Of course, the solution for high notes going down to the middle d is to vent the d. Something I’m not really in the habit of doing. Both of these will require a little work, but, hey, it’s a new technique and something worth learning.
