Relax Your Embouchure to Improve Your Tone

If you’ve been reading any of my blogs (or watching my videos) you will know that I think a relaxed embouchure is the best way to get a good tone. I don’t think that is controversial either. The embouchure is the gateway to tone of course since that is where it is produced. So, everything you do with your embouchure is going to affect the tone that you produce.

I have seen all types of embouchures in my years of teaching. If you watch professional flutists perform, you will see all types of embouchures as well. But I think that no matter what it looks like, to the professional flutist, their embouchure is relaxed. Since we all have different shapes to our mouth, relaxed is going to look slightly different.

Let’s talk about how to do that – how to relax your embouchure.

Did you learn to form and embouchure long ago from those beginner books? They have the most atrocious pictures in the front demonstrating how to form an embouchure. In the book that I started with, there was a man who played. It showed various forms of the “correct” embouchure. These pictures were just no good. Not only was the shape of the embouchure not demonstrative of what I would teach today, but the man also had a moustache. Now moustaches are fine. But if you are taking pictures for a book on flute embouchure don’t choose pictures from a mustached gentleman. All of us little girls in fourth grade screamed in delighted horror because we thought it looked like a caterpillar! We were in no way looking at the shape of the embouchure. In truth you could barely see it for the bushy mustache. It just was not the most flattering picture to show us.

Today there are so many sources out there to show a correct embouchure that those pictures aren’t even necessary in beginner books. What I have never seen in any beginner book is descriptions of a natural embouchure.

Natural Embouchure

When I look in the mirror at what my face looks like when I’m just neutral, I can see what I should look like when I play the flute. All I need to do is then open up, slightly firm the corners, and play. Easy right?

I don’t want to pull the corners back or pull them down, or really do anything with the corners. I want them to fall where they may. Our embouchure is not the shape that our lips naturally go in. But when I play, I want to keep as natural as possible. If I were to pull the corners back, it would close my embouchure. That closed embouchure keeps the tone in. It gives you a small sound with very little color opportunities. When my embouchure is natural then I can open up and let the sound out. It’s going to free up my tone, and it’s going to let it come out. The tight embouchure closes in your tone, keeps it all inside.

The best way to work on the embouchure is to use a mirror to help you see what relaxed looks like for you. It’s going to be different for everybody.

Have Faith

Then you must have faith. Here’s where a lot of people go wrong. You must have faith that a relaxed embouchure is still going to get you good tone. I have had many students that have not had the faith that this relaxed embouchure will work. For them it has been a longer struggle to change the embouchure. If you have been playing with a tight embouchure, then you have relied on that tight pressure to give you tone. Then when you totally relax you feel that you have no control over your tone production. This is where faith comes into play.

Just opening up, leaving it relaxed is something that it takes a little while to believe in. Allow yourself to say “I can get a good tone, even with a relaxed embouchure.” You do not have to rely on pulling those corners back. Believe that it’s going to happen. Even if it is fuzzy and bad at the beginning. That’s the way it goes.

Hold in Your Air

You can eventually work this out when you learn to hold in your air. Because that is generally the problem. When you relax your embouchure, it opens up and more air comes out. Then your tone is more airy. You then must learn to hold your air in while keeping your embouchure relaxed and open.

Whereas when it is really pulled back, your embouchure tightens manipulating how much air can come out. So, this sort of gives you a better tone at the beginning because you have made it so small, only a little bit of air comes out. Then when you relax your embouchure more air comes out. If this is a mystery to you, please read my other blogs on support.

Work on that relaxed embouchure. Use a mirror and see if you are pulling back and using a really tight embouchure. Then work to change it for a more open and resonant tone. Your tone will get bigger and better and you will be able to have a lot more colors.

Have fun!
DoctorFlute

Watch me demonstrate this idea:

Relax Your Embouchure to Improve Your Tone – FluteTips 154

Relax Your Embouchure to Improve Your Tone - FluteTips 154