flutefactsp3

ARTICULATION

    “This is difficult to practice for long periods. The base of the tongue gets tired quite quickly. Try flutter tonguing – using the tip of your tongue – between bouts of practice: it will help to relax your tongue. Articulation isn’t something you can tackle to the exclusion of all other problems: it needs frequent short bursts of practice.” (Trevor Wye – “Proper Flute Playing”).

      Some important things to remember:
           1. Keep the tongue forward an against or between the front teeth.
           2. Keep the lips very still.
           3. Keep the action of the tongue in front to keep it clean and fast.
           4. Move the tongue as little as possible.
           5. When double tonguing, find the syllables that sound and work the best for you.
           6. Keep the airstream continuous so that the tongue works effectively.

     Technique: Never practice mindlessly like watching TV. Play in all registers, not allowing the lips to move much as you attack the notes. In the lower range, move more slowly.

      Types of attacks:
           1. Clean attack without accent
           2. Hard attack
           3. Soft, gentle attack (no tongue)
           4. Accented attack
           5. sf – expressive accent, leaning into the note
           6. True sf

     Play each kind of attack in all registers. Get four notes to speak instantly in the type of attack you choose. Then play a whole note. It should speak instantly as well.

EMBOUCHURE

    The embouchure controls the angle of the air and helps to control the amount of air you use. A good example is the water hose theory. After turning on the water hose, you’ll notice that the water flows freely with very little effort. With your thumb start to slowly cover the end of the nozzle. What happens to the water? It starts to squirt out – the more you cover the further it squirts. The embouchure is very similar.

     The lips should remain supple. Do not smile or frown too much. Let the lips remain as natural as possible. Consider the following:
           1. The size and shape of the lips
           2. The amount of hole that you cover with your lips
           3. The direction of the air
           4. The throat space which includes your mouth and soft palette
           5. And the quality of your flute.

TONE

    The flute has always been described as having a beautiful tone. There are many things that contribute to a flute that helps us produce a good tone like the cut of the blow hole and its shape, the lip plate, the taper of the headjoint, and the quality of the medal used in the flute.

     Besides the kind of flute that you play there’s also your physical make-up that contributes to tone. Your embouchure is the biggest part that helps to produce a good tone. The shape of your lips and the way you make your blow hole are very important. This comes through experimentation. The more you cover the hole the less projection you’ll have and, of course, the less you cover the more the projection. But there is a limit as to which way to go and a good teacher can help you with these things.

     A direction of the air is also important. The direction needs to be at a right angle. If you cover too much and blow through too small a hole, a thin, reedy tone will be produced. If you don’t cover enough and blow through too large a hole the tone will be airy and unfocused. For most people the edge of the hole is best placed on the edge of the red part of the lip.

     Basically, the air needs to be centered directly over the hole, the sound needs to project, you need to play in tune, and you need to be able to play in different colours.

     If you seem to be having problems other than those listed above, check to see if you are doing the following items correctly.
           1. Keep the throat open and the jaw down.
           2. Keep the tongue down and the soft palate up.
           3. Keep the tone supported through air pressure.
           4. Check to see that the angle of the flute and the angle of the lips are the
               same. Use a mirror.
           5. Keep your head level. If your chin is too high or too low, this may restrict
               the flow of air.
           6. Keep your flute parallel to the stand without moving your lower body.
               (See Body Position).

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