Did you know that arm placement can influence your tone? It can also affect the long-term health of your flute playing. There is a lot that can be thought about with the positioning of the arms to help create the most relaxed yet functional flute playing, and the surprising thing is it can affect tone as well.

Let’s get into arm placement and do some experimenting with the position of the arms and the angle of the flute.

I was reading an article by Patricia George who is great teacher and was editor of Flute Talk. She has a series of books with her flute partner Phyllis Avidan Louke. They have many good lesson and exercise books that are really quite valuable. If you haven’t looked at their books, you should. But I was reading what she was suggesting about arm placement and tone, and I thought, you know what, I need to experiment with that.

Prior to this I hadn’t given arm placement a great deal of thought. I certainly had never experimented with changes to see if doing something different would enhance my tone or give more relaxation to the arms and wrists. For this I had to go to the mirror to see what I was doing naturally.

Arm placement

If you ever played in marching band, you know that you are playing with a straight flute and elbows high. It is what is required by band directors. I always know when it’s marching band season because my high schoolers come to with their arms and elbows stiff and straight. And guess what? They are not getting a fantastic tone.

That looks really good in marching band, but it isn’t how you get a great tone and if that posture were to continue you would eventually cause yourself repetitive injury issues. Now, I bet none of you are playing with your arms as straight as that. But look in the mirror and analyze what is happening.

In Patricia George’s post she said (I believe she was quoting one of her teachers) that the only thing that should hang on your flute are your arms and your jaw. I think what is meant by “jaw hanging” is just that you need to have a relaxed embouchure. It should just be loose and relaxed.

What about the arms? If I bring my flute up to my lip, how should my arms be positioned? I’ve had students where they really hang their arms in a not so good way. If they hang too much on the flute, then the fingers are affected and not at their optimal angle. You don’t want anything awkward when you’re talking about your arms. When I put my flute up to my lip, I want a natural angle of flute to arms.

I have often told my students, don’t look like you are hanging on a branch or that you are pulling yourself up and holding so you don’t fall off. There does need to be an angle from fingers through the wrist to your elbow but it’s a relaxed angle in your elbow. I don’t want to do anything forced.  When thinking about the right arm and elbow, I generally recommend that you should bisect that angle that would be created from the two extremes. More specifically if you thought about one extreme being your arm is hanging down like you are hanging from a branch and the opposite being that you are marching band straight causing strain on your wrist, that would be a 90-degree angle. Somewhere in between the two is the right place for you. I like to have my students do the marching band position and then lower the elbow until the strain on the wrist goes away. Whatever angle gives you relaxed hands.

Forward Arms

Another point that Patricia George brings up is about how the end of the flute should be past your nose. If you were in marching band that flute is straight from your nose through the shoulders to the end of the flute. This makes the flute line look really good for the judges when they look down the line. What is really suggested here is that the arms should move the flute forward a bit so that there if someone were to look sideways at you with your flute up, they would see the flute create a bit of an angle between your embouchure and the end of the flute.

The idea is that this position gives you more projection, a bigger sound and better intonation.

Stand in front of a mirror and experiment with pushing the flute a bit forward. Do your usual way and then move the end of the flute forward and see what this does for your playing. Use a tuner and see what difference that can make.

Always remember that experimenting for what works best for you is the goal. The goal is not to do everything exactly as everyone else says to do it. By experimenting with these ideas, you can find what works best for you.

So, perhaps you need to change your angle. I’m here to give you the freedom to just try it. Sometimes, we get stuck and don’t think we can change but we can!

Experiment with the position of your arms and their angle and see what gives you the most relaxed arms and the best sound!

Have fun!
DoctorFlute

Watch me demonstrate this:

Arm Placement for Better Tone – FluteTips 180

Trill Fingers – FluteTips 173

10 Commonly Asked Questions About the Flute – FluteTips 143

The post Arm Placement for Better Tone appeared first on DoctorFlute.

Even when I am in good shape from a steady diet of practice, rehearsals, and performances, I can still have a bad tone day.

So what can we do to pull out of the doldrums and make it a good tone day? I remember during my college years when I had bad tone days, all I did was technique. Just the thought of doing long tones turned my stomach! Working on technique was my fallback practice.

Well, I’ve learned a few things since then, and I think that we can sound good every day, all the time. Even when you are tired, or distracted, or just mentally tuned out. Back then when I caught a cold, it felt like my tone caught the cold as well.

If you ever tried to exercise when you’re just so tired, you find that you can do it. And it’s good to plow through exercise even when you’re tired. But your muscles don’t respond in the way that you want them to. And you really have to say, you know what? I’ve got to do it anyway.

So, here’s how you experiment to fix your tone while you are working on your technique.

Pull out your chromatics from Taffanel and Gaubert Number 5.

#1 Lip Pressure

For me one of the first things that happens when I am having a bad tone day is that I apply too much pressure with my flute against my lip.

This of course will also give you some intonation issues. Usually, you’re flat when you do that. So the first thing I’m going do is play my groups of six, and lighten up that pressure. Because I can do it while I’m playing. Don’t worry if you are a little bit uneven in there. Just concentrate on decreasing that lip pressure.

#2 Angle of Airstream

The next thing to think about is the angle that you are blowing across the embouchure hole in the lip plate. So, you want to experiment with that.

And you can take your exercises, whatever you’re doing, and just take them out of a rhythmic context and just make your fingers move. But think about what you can do here to find the right angle to blow the air across.

#3 Relax Embouchure

Sometimes, probably all the time, when I feel like I have a bad tone day, it is because I am way too tight in my embouchure. That may be the case for you too. So, I am going to concentrate on loosening that up.

Now of course you still must maintain your support – your pressure. But if you work on these three issues, I think that it will make a big difference in your tone. And they’ll change your tone right now as you’re playing. And you can even do it while you’re doing your technique.

Once you have worked on these three, next add articulation. Because if you can make a good tone on that tiny little punch of articulation, then you know you are on your way to a better tone day.

Have fun!

DoctorFlute

Watch me demonstrate this:

Experimenting with Tone – FluteTips 176

Getting a Better Tone Quality on Your Middle Notes C C# D Eb – FluteTips 161

Finding Your Tone with a New Headjoint – FluteTips 158

Practice Articulation to Improve Your Tone – FluteTips 155

The post Experiment with Your Tone appeared first on DoctorFlute.

It’s quite common when you run out of air or lose your support. But you can keep those notes on pitch even when you’re running out of air by working on tapers, keeping the airstream up, and keeping up the support – or what I like to call pressure.

What I am talking about going flat is when at the end of a long phrase or a slow movement you end up playing your last note flat. It does not have to be a slow movement it can be a fast movement too.

Now, there’s a couple reasons why a note goes flat, and it all has to do with how you are playing that last note.

So, we can have it go flat because basically we are letting it go instead of just keeping it like when you attack the note. When you attack the note, it could be right on pitch, but then somewhere along the way something changes, and it makes that note go flat.

The biggest reasons that it goes flat is that we are either running out of air, or lacking support.

Support

When we reach the end of a phrase, if we start to run out of air, and then we let go of that support we are almost certain to go flat.

Now I can be out of air but still keep the tone up as long as I maintain my support. I just have to think about it ahead of time.

Another reason why notes tend to go flat at the end of phrases is because along with the airstream dying and the lack of support, we allow this embouchure to lag and that means the airstream starts lowering. It just comes down and whenever you lower your airstream, you are going to bring the tone down.

Airstream

Sometimes lowering your airstream is a good thing. For example, if you are sharp in an ensemble and you need to bring the tone down, you cannot necessarily always be adjusting it with your headjoint. You can just lower that airstream without lowering your head, and then you can keep that good sound but get back on pitch.

So, if I keep my air support and up and I keep my airstream up, even though I’m running out of air, I am still going to keep that note in tune.

Tapers

Now one of the things that you need to do, and you need to be doing this on a regular basis, is practicing your tapers. Tapers are how you end notes. I’m closing my embouchure, bringing my jaw out and tapering that sound right off.

If I bring it up as I’m tapering that note, my airstream is going to stay right up where it needs to be to maintain the proper intonation – to not go flat.

When we allow the note to just end without tapering, even if you didn’t jump down the octave, if you’re just doing it by your air, your airstream is going to lower and then you’re going to be flat.

So, keep your airstream high. It’s all about keeping that airstream high, keeping that air pressure up, keeping your airstream higher, and then using your taper to end that note.

All those factors will work together to keep that tone at the end of your phrases right on pitch. And that’s how you don’t go flat at the ends of phrases.

Listen to yourself playing and tell yourself to keep that air pressure up, even though you are running out of air, keep the air pressure up, and your tight muscles can keep that note, uphold that note, right in tune. Just because you run out of air does not mean you have to go flat.

Try it. Experiment with these things. Practice your tapers and you’ll find that you can fix going flat at the end of phrases.

Have fun!

DoctorFlute

Watch me demonstrate this idea:

How to NOT Go Flat at the End of Notes – FluteTips 168

Evening Out Your Registers – FluteTips 169

FluteTips 71 Tapers

FluteTips 11 Support – Ribcage Air

The post How to NOT Go Flat at the End of Notes appeared first on DoctorFlute.

Question #1

Do I need to stand when I’m practicing?

The answer to that is maybe. I think that standing is the best way for you to get the best posture.

My teenage daughters like to practice in their room with the door closed. When I open the door, they are sitting, not standing!  For them, when they sit, they do not have great posture. Since I am their mother as well as their teacher, I can go in and take their chair away. Then they have to stand to practice. Plus, I tell them to stand up straight and tall, and keep their head up. (It doesn’t always go over well!)

So, when I say that “maybe you need to stand when you practice” my daughters point out that I sometimes sit when I practice. You can sit to practice once you have learned to sit with a good posture so that your airstream is straight. Your airstream needs to be straight, coming from below and going all the way up into your sinuses. Most young flutists cannot do that sitting down.

It’s all about that straight airstream. If you are slouching or you don’t have of great posture when you are sitting, then you should be standing. Now there’s something to be said for having the sound come from your feet and go up. You are grounded when you stand, and your sound comes from below and comes out.

However, on a practical basis, some people are injured. They can’t stand for long periods of time. For you it is not wrong to sit. So, if you are having trouble standing for your whole practice time, it is okay to sit. But just make sure that you are sitting with great posture. Make sure that your back is straight so your airstream can come out completely straight, and that there is no bending that interferes with that path.

So, the answer is that you probably should stand to practice but there are circumstances that allow for correct sitting practice.

Question #2

Do I need a new flute?

The simple answer is that you might need a new flute. If you have been playing on a beginner flute and you feel like your skills have come up and your tone is developing, then it might be time to step-up. The bottom line for what you need is a solid silver head joint. The body can be something else. Many step-up flutes have a silver-plated body and a solid silver or Sterling silver headjoint.

If you have that, it can take you a, a long way, depending on your goals. If you want to be professional flutist, you will eventually need a professional model flute. You are the best judge as to whether and when you need a professional model flute.

Now you can get a good tone on a beginner flute but at some point, you are going to hit a wall, and your tone is just not going to get any better until you “step-up” to an intermediate level flute. These flutes may add silver or gold, and a more responsive finger action from a higher quality mechanism.

If you go from a step-up flute with a solid silver headjoint, to a professional model flute, you are not going to see quite the same immediate jump in tone quality. You will have to work for it. But the professional model will allow you to go so much further than the step-up.

Professional models are well worth the money, depending on your goals. I have had many students go to music school with a good quality step-up instrument. They have not needed a professional model until they are in grad school.  

I think that you do eventually need to go from a beginner flute to a step-up flute to continue your progress as a flutist. But, if you are the amateur flutists that plays a lot, perhaps you are in a community band, the step-up flute is probably all you will ever need. It can take you a long way.

However, if you have the extra cash, then I would say, yes, move up to that professional model flute. If not, and you are stuck with a beginner flute, don’t be discouraged. You can still get a nice tone on a beginner flute. Just make sure that its maintained. Get a regular clean oil and adjust; have the pads checked and replaced when needed. Then you can be sure that the beginner flute will work for you.

Question #3

What are flutes made of?

That depends on whether you are asking about beginner, step-up, or professional model flutes.

Beginner, flutes usually have a mixture of metals, like silver and nickel. This mixture makes it a hardier flute for younger students. It doesn’t bend or dent as easily, and it will therefore withstand rough handling.

Intermediate flutes will add silver, which is a more pliable metal, and therefore more delicate than beginner flutes. Step-up flutes usually have a silver-plated body and a solid silver headjoint. But some step-up flutes have a solid silver body as well. You also may have the option of adding gold to a step-up flute: gold to the lip plate, to the riser, to some of the keys, or sometimes they are gold plated. This of course adds to the cost of the flute.

Professional model flutes have a lot more options as far as the metals that are being used, including silver, gold, and platinum in various combinations, and even in mixtures called an amalgam. For example, Haynes produces a 5% gold alloy professional model flute. It is a solid silver hand made flute with a small amount of gold mixed in with the silver. The flute looks silver, but the gold gives it a different sound.

Powell makes a flute out of Aurumite. My friend Nicolle Chamberlain plays on a Powell Aurumite 9K.

Additionally, you have options to add certain metals, such as a gold head joint, a gold body, a gold lip plate – or platinum. My professional model Haynes flute is solid silver with a 14K gold riser.

Question #4

Why are flutes so expensive?

The main two things that make flutes expensive are the content of precious metals, and the amount of time required for master craftsmen to make a flute by hand.

The price of flutes will fluctuate with the market prices of silver, gold, and platinum. Beginner and step-up flutes cost less, as they contain less precious metals, and more of their components are factory made. Some step-up flutes will have a handmade Sterling silver headjoint, but a silver-plated factory-made body.

So, of course if a flute has more factory-made components, and less precious metals, if will cost less. This is the case for beginner flutes. The step-up flutes have a range of prices which increase as does the value of the metal and time put in it.

It pays to read the descriptions closely, so you know exactly what you are getting.

Professional flutes are the most expensive because they contain the most precious metals, and of course they are handmade. If you read the book Johnny Tremain, it was about a boy who wanted to be a silversmith. So, he apprenticed with a master to learn the trade over a period of several years. Professional flute making today is similar in that master craftsman spend years learning how to form the metals into flute heads, bodies, and keys. It is this care and precision that makes this level of flute so phenomenal and expensive.

Question #5

How do I get a better tone?

Well, I have a lot of videos on how to get a better tone but let me just give you my bottom-line ideas for improving your tone.

1. Drop your jaw, open up the space between your jaw.

2. Open up the space between your lips. Your teeth can be apart, and your lips closed in every octave, whether you’re doing high octave or low, the answer almost always is more space.

3. Open your throat, take a yawning breath, and keep the throat open while you play.

4. Use great support.

If you concentrate on those four things, you’ll be on your way to a fantastic tone.

Question #6

How do I tune the flute?

Well, the easy thing to say is you move the head joint in and out. But we need a much more subtle method of tuning because I can be in tune with my A, but my high D is wickedly out of tune. Or my low D is wickedly out of tune. What we must do is manipulate the airstream with our embouchure. That is how we raise and lower the airstream. You don’t want to raise and lower your head. I don’t want to get flat or sharp and change things with my head. I want to move my jaw to lower or raise the airstream because if I use my jaw, then I will maintain my sound. If I move my head, the tone is going to not be the same. So, if I change the intonation by rolling in or rolling out, not only is it flat, but the tone becomes dull. And if I raise it because I need to go sharp, it becomes just airy. Thus, I using my jaw to move the airstream up and down is going to help me to tune better while maintaining a good sound.

Question #7

Are all flutes in the same key?

Well, no, they’re not in the same key. However, most of them are. So, if we talk about the four basic piccolo, C flute, alto flute, and bass flute, three out of the four are in the key of C. The alto flute is the in the key of G. If you have the bass, the C flute and the piccolo, they can all play the same music. If you want to warm up with etudes or something without accompaniment, then all flutes can play the same music. It is only when you add accompaniment or you are playing in a group that you must worry about the different key.

Since an alto flute is in the key of G, it is not going to be able to play the same solo that a C flute can play in, unless the music is transposed to a new key.

There are bigger flutes, the Contra bass and the double Contra bass flute. There is a hyper base which is an interesting low flute. But of your main flutes, three out of four are in the key of C.

Question #8

What is support?

Well, support is a long and involved issue. So, I won’t take that time right now to fully explain it. You can read my other blogs and watch my videos on support. But I’ll just give you the basics. Support is when you breathe from your stomach and your ribcage then you tighten the muscles you will then create pressure inside. That’s what support is – internal pressure.

You should be playing with support 100% of the time. If you do not play with that kind of pressure built up inside, then you are not getting the kind of tone you really could get. Support helps you to get resonance and to get a lively tone that really carries in a group, in a band, in orchestra and in solo performances.

So, you want to use support. When I’m teaching my students, I often just use the word pressure. Do you have pressure? Because I think that depicts exactly what support is doing for your tone. Support is creating pressure inside by tightening my muscles and then pushing up on my tone.

Support is just like the beams in a house that help hold the ceiling up. It’s holding it up and you want to think of support as holding your tone up. It is this cushion of air that pushes up on your tone.

Question #9

Is gold or silver, better in a flute?

Well, that answer is preference. The one that you prefer, is the better one for you.

Gold gives you a warmer golden honey kind of sound. Silver gives you bright and edgy sound with a lot of color types in that sound.

If you do a flute trial with similar flutes except one is all silver and the others have some gold in part of the head, or the entire head, you will clearly hear the difference in the sound. Gold and silver sound different on a flute.

However, what your ear tells you sounds good is what is good for you. One is not better than the other.

In fact, teachers of old, like the famous teachers and concert flutists when I was growing up, they really criticized the gold trend because to them, the gold just doesn’t give you the same amount of color as silver. They insisted that silver has so many more colors than gold. I have never quite determined if that is true or not. But I do like to have some gold on my flute. I have a gold riser in my head joint, and I think that gives a nice edge, a little bit more bigness to my sound.

The only caution that I would give is that if you are not a really big player, I would not recommend a lot of gold in your flute.  Gold is a softer metal than silver, so it takes more air. I’m not the biggest air player around. So, for me, it doesn’t do enough for my tone, for me to switch over to gold. I like that I don’t have to work quite so hard with a silver flute.

That is the difference between gold and silver.

Question #10

Do I need an open hole flute?

That is a question for you to answer. I’ll tell you just some of the benefits of an open hole flute, and one reason not to get open holes. But it is up to you to decide.

The benefit of open holes is that it gives you a tonal resonance that you do not get on a closed hole flute. If I were to play a closed hole flute, I think you’d probably say my tone is still pretty good. You may not hear a huge difference if played on a closed hole professional model.

The openings of the holes give you a little bit more sound, a little more resonance. It is in how they make those holes, and how they make the keys. In this way there is more resonance and more tone.

Additionally, in late 20th and 21^st century music there are a lot of extended techniques that you need open holes to be able to play. So, it’s important to have for these reasons.

However, if you have some hand problems, closed holes will make it easier to play for you. You can still get a great tone without additional stress on your hands. So don’t feel pressured that you must have an open hole flute, if it is not going to be the best thing for the health of your hands.

Use your best judgment when deciding an open hole flute is right for you.

~

I hope you enjoyed my answers to these questions. Let me know what other questions you still have about the flute. Keep learning about the flute and keep practicing!

Have fun!

DoctorFlute

Watch me answer these questions:

10 Commonly Asked Questions About the Flute – FluteTips 143

The post 10 Commonly Asked Questions About the Flute appeared first on DoctorFlute.

Intonation is a lifelong battle. I don’t think any of us ever conquer it, and that’s because we play with an instrument that is not perfect. There are no perfect instruments, just like there are no perfect players, and so we are in a constant fight with intonation. We all need to work on it.

Our embouchure plays a large role in affecting our intonation both for good and bad. How we form the embouchure and then position that embouchure on the lip plate can create problems for intonation.

While we can tune each note, there are some other techniques that we can use to give us a general in-tune tone.

Here are a few things that are blatantly egregious errors in trying to play in tune. They are not going to solve all your problems. But working on these techniques will help you get on the right track for playing in tune.

Tuning

Whenever you are in a group and you play a tuning note, whether you’re playing a B flat in band or playing an A in an orchestra, we tune to that note. Do you know what? That does not mean every note is in tune. It does not mean that the entire instrument is now tuned, and therefore you don’t need to worry about intonation anymore. When we tune that one note, all that does is get the instrument in a general vicinity of being in tune. It is not the answer to all your play-perfectly-in-tune needs because all our registers are different. Our embouchure needs to change for every register. If we keep our embouchure in just one position, we will have intonation problems along with tonal issues.

Overblowing

Overblowing is one of the biggest problem areas I see with students. If you play sharp most of the time, probably you’re overblowing. How do you fix that? Well, more support. Support is almost always the answer.  It is often the case that having more support, better support, using your support in a more precise and concise manner is often the answer. If you don’t have enough support, you have too much air. The more air you play with, the sharper you get. By holding in the air with support you prevent overblowing. Having more support and holding that air is going to give you a better tone quality and help you to play in tune.

Angle of Air

Another area to consider is the angle of which you’re blowing across this strike edge. Too many times when someone is sharp, they think the answer is to roll in, because it is a way to fix it. If you are sharp or flat, you can bring the pitch down or up by moving your head up or down or you can roll in or out. However, that often effects tone quality.

The better way to combat intonation issues rather then moving your head is to move your jaw. To bring the pitch down you will want to lower the air stream. To bring the pitch up you will want to raise the air stream. Rather than moving your head, you move your jaw. The jaw can move in or out which lowers and raises the air stream. It’s all about how you angle the air stream by moving the jaw.

Lip Plate is tight against lip

Playing with the lip plate too tight against the lip is another reason for intonation problems. This particular problem is very common and almost always causes you to be flat. When it’s plastered or jammed against the lip you can see a red stress mark on your left first finger. If you think that you are doing this, then try loosening up with a tuner in front of you and see if your pitch goes up. It is a sure-fire way to check.

These are just a few easy fixes that you can do to help intonation problems. They’re not specific to every single note that you play. That would be a long but very helpful process to work on. However, fixing just a few of these common issues will go a long way toward helping you play in tune!

Have fun!

DoctorFlute

Watch me demonstrate this:

Why Do I Play Out of Tune? FluteTips 138

The post Why Do I Play Out of Tune? appeared first on DoctorFlute.

In this blog I will teach you 5 things that you could be doing right now that could be preventing you from achieving that great tone. I will explain to you what the problem is and then teach you how to fix that problem.

Problem # 1

Too much pressure with your lip plate to your lip. Think about this and then play and see if this is your problem. Do your press the flute into your lip with a lot of pressure? If someone cannot use one finger to gently pull the flute away from your lip, then you are pressing your flute too tightly to your lip.

When the lip plate is pushed too hard against your lip, your lower lip will cover too much embouchure hole. The tone then goes straight into the flute and keeps the tone covered. Your goal is to let the tone out and not keep it in.

Try loosening up when you play. The issue is usually the left hand first finger is pressing too hard. When you let up, you will be surprised at how much more comfortable it is to play. The tone relaxes as well and can come out.

Your air needs to be split by the strike edge at the right angle for optimal sound. When you cover too much embouchure hole you cannot use that strike edge to split the sound the right way.  

Problem # 2  

The mouth cavity is too closed. Or more to the point, everything is closed. That means that inside your mouth, your lips, your teeth are too close together. Being tight and small is really ruining your potential.

If you were my student, I would work on learning to open up one step up at a time.  Here I’m telling you what to do all at the same time, but I would suggest that you take one of these at a time and work on it.

Here goes:

Open your teeth

Open your lips

Open your mouth cavity

When these areas are closed your tone is small and tight. It is amazing that when you open up your teeth, lips, and mouth you can fix your tone immediately. Your tone opens up and becomes bigger immediately. It is miraculous. 

Problem # 3

Being rolled in too far.

During an online lesson, I noticed that my student was rolled in too far. Online lessons are great in today’s environment. But it is a little bit more difficult for me as a teacher to see how much a student is covering the embouchure. It took a little bit more creativity for me to see but, I was able to figure out that she was indeed covering too much of that embouchure hole.

Her problem was that she was playing with her head down. With the head down ¾ ths of the embouchure hole was covered. When she raised her chin, it was amazing how much her tone opened up and sounded so much better.

Another problem that got fixed by lifting her head was intonation. When you cover too much hole you are often flat.  When I’m looking at the student straight on, I generally want to see the outer edge of the tone hole. So, if you look in the mirror, you should be able to see the outer edge. If you see too much hole, you have rolled out too far.

Problem #4

You don’t change your embouchure in different octaves. Our embouchure is not set in stone. It can change and it needs to, absolutely needs to change depending on the octave you’re in. When in the low octave, I’m going to use my low embouchure and change when I’m in the higher octaves. My embouchure needs to be flexible. It needs to move.

My jaw should always be in a state of flux. It moves so that I can get the low register. I remember in high school and even in those early years of college, where I would play a piece and I thought halfway through that piece in that I was performing, my low register was gone. I got nothing, but puffs of air. I’m sure something came out, but it wasn’t great. It wasn’t until I really did this embouchure exploration and learned how my embouchure could be flexible that I realized it’s because I was keeping a high embouchure when I needed to change to a low register.

Problem #5

Blowing too much air.

I can’t tell you how many people I have that the answer to their tone problems is they are blowing too much air. Until you learn how to hold your air in, by support, you will not have the sound you want. Air pressure is the key to holding the air in and not let it come out. Learn how to take that breath and hold that air and tighten up those muscles and keep the air locked inside to control the pace of which that air comes out of your embouchure.

Those are just five reasons that ruin your tone, and you can fix them all today. They are not long hard techniques that take a long period of time to fix each one. If you feel like all five of those are a problem for you, work on them one at a time. You will see that you can get control over your tone and start having a fabulous sound.

Have fun!

DoctorFlute

Watch me demonstrate this:

5 Things That You Do That Can Ruin Your Flute Tone – FluteTips 136

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So, why is squeezing the embouchure a bad thing if it lets out less air, and is generally a softer tone? It does let out a lot less air. But you compromise on the quality of the sound, and the sound will be smaller not just softer. Yes when you play softly, the sound is smaller. But when done correctly, the the smaller sound carries further than does a small sound done incorrectly.

One way to begin learning how to play softly is playing long tones with crescendos and diminuendos. This teaches you the level your soft can actually get to. Plus you work on proper production at the same time. If I want a student to work on learning how to play softly without closing up their embouchure, I will start them with a forte B and they have to diminuendo over as long a period as they can.

Let’s get more specific on how you make that diminuendo.When you begin, your embouchure should be nice and open while playing a fantastic forte B. Now still use your vibrato as you begin to diminuendo. Begin to diminuendo by bringing your jaw up and out very slowly. If you have worked on tapers before it is basically a slow motion taper. The air steam pressure stays strong. But as the embouchure comes up and out, it does close up, and the air stream ceases to be quite as strong.

Think of the diminuendo as a note that has a tail. Tails get smaller as they go. The same applies to the diminuendo with a taper at the end. When we taper or diminuendo over a long period of time, we’re just drawing out that tail.

One thing to make sure is that you have enough support from your stomach muscles. You take your breath, tightening up the stomach and rib cage creating that support. Now hold on to that note and keep the pitch right where it should be. Don’t let it drop as you get soft.

I have in front of me, Toan-Yan by Ferroud, which is part of his Trois Pieces for Flute Alone. In the bottom of the first page he has written pp and then just when you think you’ve made it through playing softly, the very next phrase is pppp! If that is played with too tight an embouchure from the pp you will have nowhere to go for a pppp. However, a relaxed embouchure that is open on the inside but has a smaller aperture can control that tone and be able to make a difference between those two softs.

Another aspect of playing softly to think about is what do your lips feel like when they are playing softly? If you play a diminuendo taper where do your lips end up right before the end? The fact is they end up slightly out. My lips are out for the up-and-out part of the taper, but I stop short of completely closing off the taper at the end. When I figure this out then I can begin a section softly, because I know how to do it.

Now does the embouchure close up a little bit between a forte and a piano? Yes, I think it does. But you know what? I don’t want to think about it. I’m not really thinking about closing up, and I’m not going to tell my students, especially my younger ones to close up that embouchure. Because younger kids always go to the extreme and do it too much. I want them to think about controlling that sound with support – their air pressure – by holding that air in. They need to think about bringing their lips a little more forward, and thinking of taper.

Practice playing softly. Practice your tapers. That’ll help you get there. Do fortes and diminuendos into a piano so you can really feel how your embouchure works. It’s flexible. It moves. It is not squeezed and tight. If you are unable to hold onto that piano you probably don’t have enough air pressure or support for that note.

When you control your piano’s, it’ll make a world of difference in your solos. It’s amazing when I hear someone play a forte and then immediately play softly it’s something that makes me take notice. It can be breathtaking. Because the ability to go from a forte to a piano with nothing in between is something to admire.

Have fun working on your soft playing. It can be accomplished, and you can stay in tune while you do it.

Have fun.

DoctorFlute

Watch my video of this: FluteTips 98 Playing Softly

FluteTips 31 Learning How to Crescendo and Diminuendo

The post Playing Softly appeared first on DoctorFlute.

Control is what you want when the ensemble director yells for you to play softly on a 3rd octave B. You as a college student are looking at the director thinking “are you crazy? It’s a high B! I can’t possibly play that softly.” That’s precisely when the embouchure just closes right up. Yes, it helps to play softer and control that sound. But you lose the resonant tone quality. Plus it’s rife with intonation problems.

When I work with a student, that has a very tight embouchure in the upper register, I let them know that they have a very nice tone. Because a small embouchure takes out the air. A tone with little air becomes clear and controlled. The problem is that it has the depth of a half millimeter.

That’s as much as you’ve got.

You don’t have any range. That kind of tone can’t get loud and it doesn’t get much softer either. The tone stays right there.

To work on your high register, you need to do the opposite of your instincts. Open up more than you think you can. Being more open will give you a more resonant tone quality. Because opening up the embouchure allows more partials or harmonics to appear in your tone. Sometimes students don’t believe that you can actually play a note when you are that open. But when they actually try, they believe! You just have to believe that opening up, keeping it more open than you possibly think is the best way to go.

We also want the 3rd octave to have as much of a dynamic range as possible. When you open up, all of a sudden there’s some sound and it’s not tiny. This sound could be played softly but also could be a forte!

I remember when I used to have a tight embouchure. Anytime I had to play any length of time in the 3rd octave, my cheeks got so tight and tired. I felt like I needed a facial massage to loosen my cheeks. By opening up, it loosens the embouchure up. Because you can’t be tight and open at the same time. They don’t go together.

Believe me, it can be fun to play in your third octave. You don’t have to be afraid of it. So try opening up your upper register. Don’t let it be tight. Open your teeth and your lips more open than you possibly think you can.

Have fun working on that. Your upper register, your third octave can be fun and beautiful, without being screechy and harsh.

Have fun!

DoctorFlute

Watch me demonstrate this FluteTips 90 Opening Your High Register

FluteTips 66 Easy High Notes

Getting Spin on Your Third Octave Notes – FluteTips 171

Octave Slurs for Better High Notes on the Flute – FluteTips 125

Perfecting Your Third Octave Flute Tips 105

The post Opening Your High Register appeared first on DoctorFlute.

Do you know that when approaching a note from below it could be flat and the same exact note is sharp when approached from above? Crazy man!

If You Have a Piccolo You Have Tuning Issues

Professional piccolo players change their fingering depending on whether the note is approached from below or above. An avid piccolo player will learn those fingerings and how and when to use them. But sometimes you just need to pay the piper and work with a tuner. You need to learn where your piccolo is in tune. You need to learn where your low A is in tune and how the pitch changes as you move to the middle A and high A. I don’t think that tuning each note with a tuner is the best use of your time.

You Need to Learn Where Your Piccolo is in Tune

One of my teachers (who was a student of Walfred Kujala) said that a great technique for learning the intonation on the piccolo is to tune arpeggios. This technique for tuning arpeggios is perfect! It places each note of the arpeggios in context with the notes above and below so you get a true picture of where that note stands from it’s approach above or below.

At first, when I begin to work with my tuner and arpeggios, I will tune every single note of that chord. Much later when I am gain some confidence, I will look at the tuner less. I will just tune specific notes such as, only tuning the octaves, or the 5th of the scale. You’ll notice over time that you ear begins to develop. I began to hear where I was flat or sharp within a solo much more then before. You will find out yourself how much your ear develops when working with a tuner.

You’ll Notice That Your Ear will Develop

Don’t be afraid of that piccolo intonation. Just pull out your tuner and get to work!

Have fun getting your piccolo in tune!

DoctorFlute

Watch me demonstrate this: FluteTips 67 Piccolo Tuning

How to Get in Piccolo Shape

The Basics of Starting the Piccolo

The Dreaded Piccolo Buzz

Can I Just Start with Piccolo?

Sattoh for Piccolo and Percussion by Katsutoshi Nagasawa

The post Piccolo Tuning appeared first on DoctorFlute.

Let me tell you what you already know: it’s all about the embouchure.

Intonation is All About Embouchure

Almost all flutes that come to me that have never taken private lessons, or only group lessons at school, play with their embouchure way too tight and their lip plate smashed against their lip.

Take a look at the students who are sitting in band. Some might practice and some might not, but all can fix their embouchure. So, there is at least a chance for them to play more closely in tune.

There are some simple things that can be done to the embouchure to get a student to be on the right path toward playing in tune.

Look First at the Corners of Their Mouth

Are they pulled back? Generally, though not every time, the corners are pulled too tightly and most of the time that means a flat tone. Relax the corners. The embouchure should have a natural look.

Next is to open the teeth. I have never had a student who didn’t need to be told to open the teeth. The tight embouchure inhibits opening the teeth. So, by loosening the embouchure you allow the teeth to separate. Along with the teeth is opening the lips. Keep space between the teeth and lips. By opening more the sound can be released and allowed to come out.

Open Up Your Teeth

Lip Pressure

My problem in high school was being flat all the time. My head joint was pushed all the way in but it still wouldn’t bring the pitch up enough. I just played flat. It was much into my life as college student that I discovered that the pressure of my lip plate to my lip was the cause. Try it, you can hear that pushing your lip plate against your lip lowers the tone. It’s quite eye opening.

Try these things with your students. By correcting these simple aspects of the embouchure you will hear the difference in your flutes, and you will hear the difference in your band! If you’re a flutist – do this! It is a great journey of discovery.

Have Fun!

DoctorFlute

Watch me demonstrate this: FluteTips 59 How Does a Non-Flutist Band Director Get the Flutes in Tune

See Also:

FluteTips 6 Intonation Lip Pressure

FluteTips 7 Intonation Hole Coverage

FluteTips 8 Intonation Air Stream

FluteTips 9 Teeth Spacing

FluteTips 10 Relaxed Embouchure Improves Tone

The post How Does a Non-Flutist Band Director Get the Flutes in Tune? appeared first on DoctorFlute.