the deserting embouchure......

Irish Flute
1

As I am still new to the flute and a long way to go…just curious…

How come, if things work fine at home when you are practicing and you are happy with what you hear, then when you go out and want your friends to have a listen, your embouchure deserts you (the coward!) and there you are, and nothing to let them have a listen to, making a fool of yourself, you feel.

I am pretty sure that I am not the only one struggling and trying to get rid of this cowardly embouchure syndrome according to an post on another forum earlier today…
But maybe all you fluters further down the road could help us noobs how you did handle this yourself, maybe with some suggestions how to cure this :slight_smile:

happy tooting
berti

2

I recently posted an anecdote about this. At my monthly music group, it was my turn to solo and I picked up my new Tipple flute and nothing came out. Tried again, again nothing. So I cracked a joke. The group is dominated by guitar players, so I said, “maybe I need a capo.” The laughter helped me relax enough to eek out a tune, though my the notes were soft and raspy.

Relaxation and concentration seem at odds, but I find both are necessary. With whistle, closing my eyes seems to help, with the flute, eyes open seems to work better. Someone else posted the tip to sit or stand straight and bring the flute to the mouth. The tendency is to hold the flute and move the head, giving a slumped posture and poor breathing that goes with it.

3

Alas, it seems the only real cure is to keep trying until you don’t get so nervous. It can be really tough. I can still fall apart – much more often than I’d like! – when I start tunes in sessions, even when they’re tunes I thought I knew cold. The fingers forget, the brain forgets, whatever … This from someone who performed classical solos for auditions, juries, recital pieces, in big ensembles, etc. for years, including an entire solo piece with an orchestra.

:frowning:

So in those situations, I’ve found that the lifeguard system helps: i.e., find a buddy who can rescue you – if you start playing and begin to flounder, your friend can jump in and play along and thus the tune is salvaged and everyone wins. (then one day you can rescue your buddy, too)

** Oooh, here’s an idea → why not work up a duet or two or three with a friendly fiddle or whistle player or such, and then ease into the solo work from there?

But mostly, I think you just have to keep falling off the horse until you learn how to stay on.

Meanwhile, a few quick tips: don’t press the flute against your lip too hard (or too lightly!), make sure it’s in about the right spot on your lip before you start, think of the tune before you start, remember to breathe frequently, even more than you do at home, try for the best tone you can but be satisfied with any tone at first, and just keep doing it, even if it means forcing yourself to play alone in front of people (I found that a bit of quiet noodling during those “breaks” in a session (i.e., when a bunch of people head for the bar at once) can also be helpful for easing into public play – just be very, very sensitive to the fact that someone else may be wanting to start an actual tune!).

Once again, good luck. Mostly, we just have to “play as if no one’s listening”, to butcher a popular aphorism.

Hang in there. We’re with ya, sister!

4

Liquid courage!

Seriously, though, this happens to me all the time - I forget to breathe. Weirdly, I also get nervous playing into a tape recorder, so I’ve been doing that to get over it as much as possible before going public.

5

I have to use a lip blam or chap stick to keep my embouchure soft enough to play. If the skin becomes dry it gets tight but may not seem that bad untill I try to play. Sometimes I wash my mouth with a soft tooth brush and then apply lip balm.

6

I agree fully with Cathy. Plus, if you can find an opportunity to play on a street corner or in a park - anywhere strangers are nearby - is a little less stressful than playing for people you know and care about their opinion of you. The more often you do it, the more relaxed you are. Also, if you can find somewhere where young, pre-school aged children are and play it can really get you over the hump of playing in front of others. Having a group of 3 years olds dancing at your feet is fun and somehow makes you forget you’re nervous (I speak from experience).

Still, no matter how comfortable you are with public performance, you can still have a really stinky time of it…

Eric

7

Oh, this is a side note, but THANKS to whoever on this forum suggested wearing a hat to hear yourself better! It happened by accident – our Thursday sesh is outdoors, and it was still 93 degrees by the time we started, so I’d brought along my goofy tractor-drivin’/redneck-gal cowboy hat to shield me from the unrelenting sun.

And guess what? INSTANT PFB (Personal Flute Bubble)! I could hear myself just fine, even though me and the little Murray were surrounded by a button accordion, fiddles, bazoukis, guitars, and TWO banjos.

Best of all, I didn’t try to play too hard, which is what happens when I can’t hear. Everyone complimented me on how nice I sounded – amazing!

So I guess others really can hear OK even when you can’t hear yourself (yikes). But it was nice to think about tone, etc. for a change, which is hard for me to do in a big group when I’ve traditionally felt I had to belt.

Anyway, hats off to whoever suggested hats on. (I wish I could remember who you were!)

I don’t know how an overweight 41-year-old fluter will look wearing a cowboy hat on St. Pat’s day, but hey, at least it worked for my ears! :smiley:

OK, off to sessionage – uh-oh, I forgot the hat!

Ack!

cat.

8

I’ve tried the hat thing but it seems to emphasize the more unpleasant harmonics, much like wearing headphones does. I hope it;s not what everyone hears:(

9

Okay, don’t take this the wrong way, but. . . go suck a lemon. . . or a lime. Literally. Believe it or not, my embouchure is always better after I eat citrus. Actually, I like limes better. Just be sure you don’t get all that juice all over your flute. Or start drooling which is my problem. . .even without the citrus.

Of course, this doesn’t address the “playing in front of people” issue, but there’s been a lot of good advice here already. When I was first learning, I played for kids. They loved the music, no matter how badly I played. They’re a great, very forgiving audience to learn in front of.

Bottom line, in a session, these people are your friends (except the spoons players, don’t go near them). Unless you’re playing completely wrong notes, incessantly noodling, being a total wanker, or are playing a bodhran, spoons, or bones, people tend to be very accepting of beginners. Especially of flute players. We aren’t too loud and don’t make that arythmic clackity-clackity sound that new spoons players make. Your embouchure and tone will get better in time. From what you’re saying, you’re no wanker, no noodler, aren’t playing wrong notes, or making an ass out of yourself with a percussion instrument. Just relax and play, it’s not going to bother anyone.

Mark

PS I’m sorry for. . . I mean “to”. . . any percussion players I might have offended.

10

This happens to me…when I play at home I get a nice tone but when I’ve tried to play at our local slow session I get a weak fuzzy sound and have trouble hitting the 2nd octave consistently.

I suppose it could be due to nervousness but I’m pretty comfortable playing with these folks (on whistle anyway), and have been for a while. Although, now that this has happened a few times I’m starting to get nervous about it so it may have become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

:slight_smile:

=Brett

11

Punk & Proud?

Hey Worm, I know this is off-topic, but the world needs to know:

Flogging Molly or Dropkick Murphys?

12

Pshaw.

The POGUES.

But the best “punk” band I’ve seen and listened to recently is Sleater-Kinney.

Actually, the sig came from a mild flamewar in which I defended the virtues of playing Irish music quickly, in the style of Molloy et al. (Don’t worry - I like good slow playing just as much and often more.

13

ONe thing that makes a huge difference for me is the environment. There’s a coffeehouse locally that is absolutely wondrous to play in - spacious, open, with hardwood floors. The natural reverb is fantastic. Other session locales don;t have nearly the same accoustics, and my playing never sounds as good there.

14

I was at a concert 2 years ago,
where a person who is an Irish Flute Champion, in one of the very tops
ITM groups touring the world couldn’t get a peep out of his
Grinter flute when it was his turn to start off.

Twice he tried to start, and couldn’t ‘get it’.
When the other band group members started to take the rise,
everybody laughed, and then everything worked as it should.

Nobody in the audience really minded.
It was ‘one of those things’ that show
even the top stars are human and mess up now and then,
(and therefore hope for the rest of us!)
and that trying too hard makes things worse.

Also, chatting to the group after the concert,
in the bar - where else :slight_smile: the group thought
the concert was not one of their better performances,
and while from their point of view maybe true,
to the rest of us it was brilliant, so yer perception
makes a difference too.
HTH

15

Is anyone else building up a mental picture of Cat?

OR

Sorry Cat! But just to make it up to you, here’s some redneck porn!!!

Ah, the mighty 6020 Series Utility tractor from John Deere - yeee hawww!

(Is anyone getting the impression that I am bored at work today?)


“My second cousin, his name was Calloway,
He died when he’d barely turned two,
It was peanut butter and jelly that did it,
The help, she didn’t know what to do,
She just stood there and she watched him turn blue”

(Just to add to the Lyle Lovett vibe from the other thread!)

16

:laughing::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:

(STARING DREAMILY INTO MIRROR) Gosh, if only …

… Ah had a monster truck ‘n’ tractor lahk thay-at. :wink:

Someday I will figure out how to post pictures and y’all’ll see that in every case, alas, we fall far short of the ideal.

Reality:

Cat: chunky, 5’5, old (tho’ the hat looks about right!)
Truck: ‘96 Toyota Tacoma (the Skeltons’ old one!)
Tractor: Kubota L3750 (altho’ the 6-foot bucket’s quite exciting! :smiley:)

I do have to say that one of the guys in our band has written not one, but two jigs about the oh-so-scintillating life of yrs trly – “Cathy’s Shoes” and “The New Bush Hog” :laughing:

So there ya go. That’s my 15 minutes; preshadit; talk atchy’all later!

“She hates my momma
She hates my daddy too
She loves to tell me how much she hates the things I do …”

Lord help me, I love that man so.

17

Lost: Embouchure. Last seen this morning when waiting for bus. Disappeared during morning break today. Please call if found…

See, it can happen to any of us!

Eric

18

[quote=“Jayhawk”]Lost: Embouchure. Last seen this morning when waiting for bus. Disappeared during morning break today. Please call if found…

Eric[/quote]

:laughing:

berti

19

Hmmm. I was at a concert this winter where a person who is an Irish Flute Champion, in one of the very tops ITM groups touring the world, seemed to test the waters with his Grinter prior to playing for real. He’d turn to the side and blow some, then turn into the microphone. He also appeared to play along with a silent mike, then to cue the sound system dude to turn his microphone on when it came time to play his bits.

It was worth the price of the ticket and all the aggravation of getting there just to see this . . . if this IFC in a VTITMG has this problem, then it’s a normal part of playing the flute, so I shouldn’t feel badly about occasionally having mute flute syndrome.

20

[quote=“Lambchop”]

It was worth the price of the ticket and all the aggravation of getting there just to see this . . . if this IFC in a VTITMG has this problem, then it’s a normal part of playing the flute, so I shouldn’t feel badly about occasionally having mute flute syndrome.[/quote]

yeah, knowing that really helps a little bit…will make it easier to relax…after all I am NOT on stage LOL
must really have been something though, that concert.
but I remember having seen the same at the concert last november here in the netherlands…

greetings
berti