Screeching in the upper register...

Irish Flute
1

…especially G, A and B. Somethimes I get a nice clear tone, but most of the time I have a lot of what I would call ‘dirt’ in the tone. Besides practice, what would you all recommend to improve this? I can get nice strong tones in the lower register, no problem, but I would like to be more than a one-trick pony on my flute. BTW, I play a Tipple, if that’s of any help.

Thank you to all who reply.

With best regards,

Pfreddee(Stephen)

2

Don’t overblow, i.e. it sounds like your using too much air to hit the next octave. If you are blowing harder in order to make the “upper register”, instead try using the same amount of air you use for your lower octave and then making your embouchure/lips smaller and/or direct the airflow from going down to going just slightly up. Best method I have found is to, as much as possible, reach the upper octave by making your embouchure hole smaller. By doing that, you increase the air velocity just enough to achieve the second octave without over blowing.

3

Assuming you mean the middle register/2nd 8ve (even a very simple flute like a Tipple has 3 registers), I agree with Jason. One very useful exercise is doing slow slurred octaves (playing a long note in the bottom 8ve and, maintaining the same breath pressure, adjusting your embouchure until it pops up to the 2nd 8ve, holding it and refining the tone, then again adjusting until it drops back) up and down the scale, observing your embouchure closely in a mirror.

4

Excellent advise from Jason and especially Jem. The exercise that Jem describes is clear and to the point. I am going to try it that way.

Thanks

5

Oh, fer heavens’ sake! now we’ll NEVER hear the last of it! :astonished:

But seriously folks, I find I just can’t make myself do that exercise that Jem suggests. I have a staggeringly low attention span, and I get bored in the first 1.17 seconds (approx.). What I do find helps loads is practising the notes in the third octave - really difficult to get them in tune on a keyless, but possible, and then, when you come down to the second octave, everything seems so much easier, it’s a doddle. (For about 5 minutes, anyway :slight_smile: .) You do need to play different fingerings for the third octave. On a keyless, I think something like this gives about the right notes:

D OXX OOO
E XXO XXO
F# XOO XOO
G XOX OOX
A OXX XXO

Practice getting them clean, and quiet, and it’ll do your embouchure the world of good.