Hi there,
I picked up a wooden African Blackwood flute 20 days ago and am making great progress (honestly a great flute). I’m able to play low scales very easily, however, I’m struggling to get consistent tone out of the upper (mid register?) octave. The notes either crack or I find myself blowing very hard to sustain the upper octave. I must be doing something fundamentally wrong with my embouchure.
I’m curious if anyone could offer advice. I’ve even tired adjust the head cork position.
First question, where did you get the flute? Is there a makers mark?
After that is settled, do you have any other experience playing? The midddle of the range will be the easiest to play so C# (all fingers off) and a few notes up and down either way will be the simplest to sound. You’ll find you need the most effort/control on the low D and the high B to get good consistent tone.
Don’t mess with the cork, you rarely need to touch that unless it’s been removed for cleaning or you suspect it’s very off for some other reason.
I suspect the issue is likely due to a combination of an underdeveloped embouchure (it unfortunately takes some time to get a good consistent, focused embouchure) and a possiby sub-par instrument.
Cheers,
Travis
TKing is spot on! My take: if you’re getting a good tone down to the low D (all holes covered) but not the upper octave, it’s probably the flute that’s a problem. If not, it’s probably you… A focussed airstream is the main idea. If possible, take the flute to someone who plays and have them try it - that will give you a definitive answer. Good luck!
Pat
Second Pat’s suggestion to have someone who already plays the wooden flute give it a try.
Assuming the flute is good, here are a few exercises a flute teacher gave me that helped a lot. Like you, when I was starting out, I had a lot of trouble with the second octave.
Rice spitting: This will strengthen your lip muscles and breath. The biggest problem getting the upper octave for a beginner is getting a focused stream. Inhale, put a grain of rice in your mouth, create a small aperture with your lips, and blow the rice as far as you can. The further you can spit the rice, the stronger your lips and diaphragm are getting.
Harmonics. Sound the low D, alter your lips and breath pressure to get the second d. Alter some more to get the second octave a, then more to get the third octave d. Eventually you should be able to get the third octave F#. Do this slowly and deliberately. You’ll eventually be able to go up and down the registers quickly, but it won’t happen all at once.
The flute’s really hard to play, don’t lose hope.
On many flutes I’ve played, to get into the second octave and easily access the third, with predictability and clear tone, the air stream has to be aimed slightly differently, and narrowed. The lower octave often responds best when the air stream is aimed slightly lower down the tone hole into the tube, and the second octave responds better with the air stream aimed a little higher, towards the top of the tone hole. The third octave can be almost dependent on aiming the air stream higher. As well, some flutes do not respond best when the air stream is aimed directly across the tone hole at 90 degrees; if the air stream is aimed slightly to the right, towards the length of the tube (and I mean slightly, maybe just 5 degrees to the right), that may help.
Both of these adjustments of the air stream direction, will take EXPERIMENTATION in order to find out how your particular flute responds. Make adjustments in very slight shifts, and slowly, to give this a good chance to be demonstrated. Also, when getting into the second and third octave, the air stream will also need to be as precise and focused on its way across the tone hole, as possible, the far wall of the tone hole chimney may have a sweet spot where response is ideal, so controlling the location of air stream impact, with a narrower air stream via a tighter embouchure will help.
Yes two posts have separately touched on, if put together, what my flute teacher did.
She lived in a canyon, her house was street level in front but high up on stilts in the back.
There was a huge tree growing up past her back patio. We stood there. She gave me rice. (I’m thinking ‘what the heck?’)
There was a knot on the tree a bit below us. She had me practice spitting grains of rice at that knot until I could hit it reliably. “That’s your low register” she explained.
Next I practiced aiming at a higher knot she pointed out to me. “That’s your middle register”.
And last a knot that was higher yet. “That’s your high register”.
What she was doing, in her quirky back-to-nature way, was teaching me how to move my mandible forward and backward to adjust the direction of the airstream for the various registers.
My standard warmup drill is to just play Bottom D.
Starting as quiet as possible, increasing to as loud as possible without the note breaking, and back to as soft as possible, all on one unbroken breath.
The critical thing is to keep the pitch of the Bottom D exactly the same throughout. (Look at an electronic tuner keeping the needle straight up, if you don’t have Perfect Pitch.)
It’s counterintuitive, but that warmup makes the high notes better too. What you’re doing is increasing the focus of your airstream while building flexibility into your embouchure.
Oh, that’s so cool, Richard!
Regarding some other posts, once you’ve begun to figure things out, playing before a mirror might be helpful. While it’s a distraction, watching what your embouchure is doing can help with repeatability.
Another thing I found helpful was playing with my back against a wall. Spine straight. It helped especially with the second octave.
I really should pay attention to my posture still, but I don’t. I’ve gotten into bad habits.
TKing, you were spot on! I had no idea what I was doing with my embouchure when first attempting to hit the upper octaves. I’ve been more conscious of how the direction of air is different between low and high notes which has helped.
Btw, I’ve got a Tony Millyard keyless D flute and it’s been spectacular.
Awesome! Sounds like the flute quality question is sorted, so that’s good.
Yea it’s a tough nut to crack, embouchure. It just takes time and practice. Lots of long notes and exercises jumping octaves while maintaining good tone. Good luck!!
Took me 3 months to get a reliable sound. Embouchure really came online at 9 months. Been improving ever since–satisfying. You should have seen the posts I posted while this was going on. People wrote back that learning the flute isn’t for the faint of heart. Practice. Patience is the chief virtue here. Your body will figure it out.
I’m in the same boat; I can play up to B’ but not consistently or with good tone on the higher notes. I’m doing various embouchure exercises but I’m also assuming there’s just an element of needing to develop strength and control of the muscles over time? I know I’m at my most consistent when I’m starting fresh, and things go downhill from there. And my face feels tired after.