Doctor Flute Blog
Musings on the Flute
Be Flexible
Be Flexible! No, I'm not talking about being limber in the gym. I'm not flexible at all! But, my lip is amazingly limber. Your lip is the entrance to fantastic control over your tone. By working on embouchure flexibility, you learn so-much-more about tone. Embouchure...
Interact with Scales
Instead of merely playing a scale up and down – learn to interact with it. Get to know it by playing it in different patterns and forms. Once you’ve interacted with a scale, you’ll own it! You’ll be able to play in that key signature in any piece, in any solo, in any...
Eliminate Throat Noise
Does your throat make an unwanted inexplicable noise sometimes when you play? There are a couple reasons why throat noise occurs but usually the reason is because your throat is too tight. When your throat is too tight, it engages your vocal cords. While that is the...
Performance Concentration
Have you ever walked off the stage asking yourself "what just happened?" Did you ever finish a performance with no idea how a passage went? I have! This is the result of a lack of concentration. Have you ever realized during a performance that you can tell whether or...
Stop Flute Bobble with 4 Balance Points
When you play a high C# does it feel like you can’t quite hold onto the flute? How do you stop that flute bobble? By using the correct hand positions which give you 4 balance points, and enables you to hold the flute with confidence. Balance Point 1 – Left Hand Shelf...
Put Air in Your Cheeks to Play in Tune
Playing in tune is one of the most important aspects of playing the flute. It is also the bane of our existence. Wouldn’t a perfectly in tune flute be a wonderful thing? However, until that beast is invented we must use every tool in our toolkit to play in tune. One...
How to Crescendo and Diminuendo
The technique of the crescendo and diminuendo is about much more than what I ever thought it was. I used to think that it was just blowing harder or blowing less. Or pinching to a teeny tiny embouchure to play soft especially in the high register. That’s not it at...
GIG the One You’re With
Do you bemoan the fact that you can't perform enough because you're not able to find a guitarist or cellist to perform with? Or how about a harpist? Or even another flutist? That was my life for a time when we moved to a small area of rural New York State. Yes,...
New Open Hole Flute? What About Those Plugs?
What do I mean? When you have just purchased an open hole flute and now you are trying to figure out what to do with those plugs. Do you take them out one-at-a-time? Or, do you plunge in all-at-once, much like ripping off a band aid? Here is what I do with my students...