I was always one of those people who could make the emboucher for flute naturally. I never had to be taught and I always thought it was so lame (being honest here) that some people had trouble learning how to blow a flute. It’s so easy, I thought.
Then…I got my teeth fixed. From childhood I had had a gap in my upper teeth on one side of my jaw. It was never a big deal, mainly a cosmetic thing, so when I discovered Objectivism and started taking better care of myself (including working on my self-esteem), I got my teeth fixed and didn’t think it would have any “adverse” consequence (except for the money it cost, haha).
And now I can’t play the flute!
I couldn’t play when a friend let me see her PVC pipe flute, and I thought there was a problem with the flute. Then I came home and tried on my old stand-by, an ugly bamboo flute which I got at a thrift store: no luck.
Only gradually did I connect the two events, getting my teeth fixed and no longer being able to play flute.
It doesn’t bother me too much, since I don’t play flute professionally or even for fun anymore, but I thought I’d mention it because I’m sure I’m not the only person who’s had this happened. I’m also sure if I practiced enough I could get back into the hang of things…
That’s interseting. I have gapped front teeth, and never had any problem blowing a flute either. Fortunately I got no impetus to wanna change, ha. Good luck to you.
Honestly, Jack, I believe you’re making teeth into too much of an issue.
After all, one doesn’t play a flute with one’s teeth, eh?
I touched on this many posts ago, when I mentioned that I eventually lost several of my upper front teeth, a fact which I attribute to having spent too much time at jumping into, and playing in, the top (third and fourth) registers of the Boehm flute.
Bottom line: One doesn’t need teeth to successfully play a flute.
Besides, perhaps teeth could only get in the way of one’s air stream, eh?
Don’t despair! It is a relearning, and if you got it quickly the first time, I hope it will come back again with a little work. The fine-tunings of the muscles are very precise, and very small changes in structure can have a huge effect.
Many long years ago I was attending a (classical) music festival in Fairbanks, and one of the flute instructors was the principal flutist for the L.A. Philharmonic – the late Roger Stevens. As I recall, he was on sabbatical, not playing, as he’d had to have some major dental work done and couldn’t play - not that he was restricted from playing, he COULDN’T PLAY. He was quite adamant about reminding us all to take care of our teeth so that we would never have to experience the relearning process he was going through.
I remember well the comings and goings I experienced as a teenager during the time I had braces on my teeth. It wasn’t just the pain (OK, that wasn’t much fun either), it was the changes that I had to keep adapting to.
So, good on ya for doing what you’ve done for yourself, and have a little patience about getting the fluting going again!
my flute teacher laughed at me in high school when i got my braces taken off. then i saw why. as i remember, it was months before i could get any sort of a good tone. if i could have gotten them back in, i wouldve!
it is totally possible for the angle of the airway to change, and thus you have to change the angle of your lips.
one thing i like to do, is change the angle of the air in my mouth with my tongue, which makes it really easy to get a good tone. trying to get the same tone without the tongue can be difficult, but it makes for a better embouchure.
the teeth could have done the same thing–it could have set up a naturally hospitable situation for blowing the flute, but now it has changed. but who knows! it’s hard to tell if the poster had not been playing for a while.
you lost your front teeth due to flute playing? i am very sorry to hear that you lost your teeth. i’m glad you’re still able to play!
willie clancy lost his teeth, and could not play the flute any more. same with mike rafferty’s father. so… i guess the moral of the story is that you dont need your upper teeth to play!
I had to switch to dentures a few years back. I adjusted to everything except one - my lowers pop up and suddenly block the airflow. The same also makes flutter tonguing virtually impossible (not a prob for the Irish flute, of course).
I have repeatedly tried to develop an embouchure without my lowers in, but with no luck. It would take some seriously strong lower lip muscles to pull off. The uppers don’t seem to present a problem.
I play on anyway. Love the sound of a simple-system flute!
Yes I fully understand what you are saying! The teeth effect the lips which in turn affect the shape of your embouchere.
I had the same problem at various stages of orthadental treatment.
Firstly I had to get a retainer which had a plastic base which fitted over the roof of the mouth. I had fun getting onto this! (It had to stay in the entire time). Then after a few months I found that when I removed it I had the same problem- I couldn’t flute without it!
Then I got ‘train tracks’ fitted after that. This changed everything again as they pushed my lips slightly more forward. I also had problems with them hurting my lips as they were rubbing against them.
Then after the train tracks I went back again to the complete one piece with the plastic over the roof of my mouth.
All in all the treatment lasted approximately 4 years and with the different retainers my teeth were also moving as well.
I found that with the teeth moving this more affected staccato style playing (where the tongue strikes the front teeth).
But with practice no matter what type of orthadontal treatment you are receiving you can adjust to the situation.
Thank you, everybody! I had a feeling I wasn’t the only person who had encountered this!
Mukade, Ayn Rand never had control of my soul. If my soul exists (which I’m doubting more and more, but I suppose that’s a topic for the PROCTology forum), I have control over it it.
I’ve been through hell w/my teeth (and loss of 4 front lower ones and subsequent implants). Lots of discomfort in my chin/jaw as well. Still I persisted.
The teeth give the structure to the shape your muscles push your lips into. Tis like the frame of a house. The jawbone and teeth are used to support the teeth.
The good news is this; you will adjust, and it takes loads of time. I was lucky that I didn’t loose my K-9s (on the lowers) and I was still able to play. My embouchure is very good…better than when i had no teeth (i’d like to believe).
Before I’d gotten implants I’d developed a very good embouchure too. It took hours and hours to do so. I made sure not to get out of shape after I got it either, as the climb up was a long one.
Again, it took time …so have a little bit of faith in long tones and slow up and down the scale. Listen HARD and make adjustments. Keep the sound you had before (if you liked it) in your mind’s ear, let that be your guide, and
And here I was complaing about my dental appointment the first week in Sept. Makes all kinds of sense to me that loosing teeth would change or could change the shape of your mouth/ jaw and hence effect one’s embouchure. That must be sooooo frustrating, especially since the development of your emouchure seems to have been relatively easy for you; I wish that had been my experience as it seems everything comes difficult for me. In playing the flute and continuing to learn to play, I gain such enjoyment and a sense of accomplishment; I would have a difficult time without it. Bottom line, just hang in there and you can borrow my rational, that being, “anything worthwhile doesn’t come easy.” O.K., so may be is isn’t original, but I sure think it’s true.
BTW Jack, I appreciated the web site that you placed at the bottom of your post. The suggestions contained in that site could really help an individual who is in significant emotional distress. Best of luck to you, Don.
I’ve said it before, but just for the benefit of the ITM flute players, here, I’ll say it again, that had I never gone beyond the first two and a half octaves or so of a standard D, ITM flute, it’s likely that I might never have had any tooth troubles, at all.
It seems that my troubles were caused by the higher air speeds, and therefore the higher air pressures, of the top, third and partial fourth, registers of the Boehm flute.
It’s an ugly matter, so I won’t go any further with it, but IMO it’s a matter not likely to be experienced by those playing ITM flutes.
Anyway, take care of those teeth, while you have them!
