by Dr. Angela McBrearty | Sep 18, 2017 | FluteTips, Intonation
How much embouchure hole do you cover when you play? If you cover too much embouchure hole, you’re going to compromise your sound, and of course, you’ll be flat. If you cover too little of your embouchure hole, you will be sharp. And of course, your tone is also...
by Dr. Angela McBrearty | Sep 15, 2017 | FluteTips, Intonation
Did you know that you can use your lip pressure to change your intonation? When you’re playing, you want to check the pressure that the lip plate puts on your lip. You’ll play flat less often when you lighten the pressure. Now when I was in college I played with a lot...
by Dr. Angela McBrearty | Sep 12, 2017 | Finger Placements, FluteTips
When you’re playing, you want your fingers to be very light on the keys. If you’re using too much pressure, the keys make too much noise when you’re playing. And in the flute world, that’s just not acceptable. Because, well we can fix that. And if we can, then we...
by Dr. Angela McBrearty | Aug 26, 2017 | FluteTips, Tonguing
One of the problems that I hear with my students is a flapping or thunking sound when they’re tonguing a piece. This occurs even with my college students. It comes out very clearly when they’re double-tonguing a piece. That thunking flapping sound is clear to me. But...
by Dr. Angela McBrearty | Aug 25, 2017 | Finger Placements, FluteTips, Practice
Why is the lowly first finger a problem? Because often that first finger is down for our D and our Eb, and it shouldn’t be. The only time your first finger is down for D is when it’s below the staff, low register and Eb. When you’re on the 4th line D, or Eb on the 4th...
by Dr. Angela McBrearty | Aug 17, 2017 | FluteTips, Tonguing
The 2nd movement of Bach’s C Major Flute Sonata is all double-tonguing. It’s a lot of fun! You should practice it. Here’s an important tip about how to begin practicing double-tonguing. Double-tonguing all starts with where you put the tip of your tongue. You...
