Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Version 2.0
Revision Date - 9/9/97

Section 4

2.1.62 What to do for a slippery flute.
(From Kailan)

I got some moleskin as a few people suggested and put a piece on the flute under the right thumb and one under where the flute sits on the side of the left finger and this seems to have done the trick! I noticed an immediate improvement in the tone of the 2 students whose flutes I added the moleskin to--with the flute steady, they could concentrate on getting a good, focused sound.

I have tried using the Dr. Scholl's corn pads under the right thumb before (the round ones with the hole in the middle). I have put it on during the student's first lesson and called it the "parking garage" so the child would know where to "park" the thumb... ...but I've found that students often have a funny habit of curving the thumb so it fits *inside* the hole on the bunion pad instead of keeping the thumb straight! So I was wondering if the "parking garage" was causing more problems than it was solving. I think the moleskin will be the perfect solution.

2.1.63 What material is best for piccolo, plastic, wood, or silver?
(From Julie Averill)

wooden:
Definitely the best, depending greatly on the brand name (I've had bad luck with Armstrong and Yamaha wooden piccs, but some Yamahas are better than others) Also, it is important where you are going to use it and at what level you play piccolo. Beginners maybe shouldn't start out on wooden piccs- but this depends as well. Also, NEVER use a wooden picc in marching band or frequent parades. I have seen wooden piccs literally disintegrate- the keys fell off along with the wood splintering in the middle of my friend's m.b. performance. The wood simply cannot handle the stress... you'd never see a violinist playing in the rain on a strad would you??? However, for orchestral and indoor bands, wooden is essential- (my opinion)- especially if you are at the advanced h.s./college level. I've played an Armstrong, tried my friend's new Burkart, and now play my school's old but awesome powell. Powell is def. my fave, by far.

plastic:
There are a few types of plastic piccs... plastic body with silver or nickel silver head, and plastic body with plastic head. I've also seen plastic piccs with silver heads and gold liplates (a total waste of money in my opinion) I first started on the plastic with nickel head and find them superior to all plastic. Then again, they were not top of the line piccolos, so there may have been tiny things that caused me to like the plastic/silver better. It is correct that plastic and silver/nickel is much easier to play/keep in tune for a beginner. I would recommend these for marching band and concert band, but never orchestra. The sound is simply not blendable enough- yes I did just invent a word!

Metal:
Most high schools have these, usually very old and in need of repairs. I feel that metal piccs get a bad rap because of this. I know someone who gets a great tone out of a metal picc- although it is a Haynes. Also, these are good for marching band- but really loud and out of tune if you have a beginner playing. My main problem with metal piccs is the size of them. Although some have extensions that help them fit the hands better, I find myself struggling to hold onto them and keep them in place. I've had best luck with Gemeinhardt metal piccs- aside from Haynes of course!

2.1.64 What can I do when my lips tremble?
(From David Dahl)

Trembling lips became less of a problem for me when I moved the flute off my lower lip and adopted a more relaxed embouchure. When the flute is on the lip, I require more pressure to keep it in position. Placing the flute under my lip is much more comfortable, for both lips and hands, and I even sound better.

(From Barbara Jean Duncan)

I have the problem of trembling lips occasionally, especially in the lower register and I've noticed that it seems to happen when I don't breathe well. If I just stop after a phrase and take a deep long breath, I seem to regain control.
 

FLUTE
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Version 2.0
Revision Date - 9/9/97

Section 5

2.1.73 What are Long Tones?
(From Larry Krantz)

Long tones are tones that are played for a long time. :-)) Sorry about that - just couldn't resist the temptation. When tending to the task of developing the beauty and quality of one's sound it is useful to spend time working on individual notes. Playing individual notes for extended periods of time allows one to work on subtle aspects of timbre.

2.1.74 What is the best music lyre to use while marching?
(From Edward L. Justen)

After 10 1/2 solid years of military marching experience, I can tell you that the ONLY way to go is to memorize your music. If you can't, then the shoehorn type of lyre is the best kind of flute lyre to use; HOWEVER, those lyres work best with piccolos and are almost impossible to use with the flute. They also take some time to get used to. Keeping your left arm clamped down on the darn things so that they will stay in place is awkward enough, but trying to balance the thing on your forearm is even WORSE!!!!!

So try to memorize as much music as possible. Believe me, you will be the envy of your band buddies when no matter what the director calls, all you have to do is put your ax to your mouth while they are still fumbling for music. Plus, not only do you play the smallest lightest instrument in the band, but now your are liberated from your music and you don't have to deal with that hassle at all!!! So ...memorize that stuff as fast as you can. I must have about 30 marches memorized by now, and all the newbies I work with are amazed that I NEVER use music.

2.1.75 Teaching rhythm with words.
(From various FLUTE members)

Sometimes associating words with certain rhythmic patterns can make things easier to grasp for some students (huckleberry, alligator, etc. for four sixteenths, tri-ple-et, etc. once-a-gain for dotted quarter, eighth).

Mississippi hot dog (4 sixteenths, 2 eighths)
My teacher (eighth note pick up)
Watermelon (4 sixteenths)
tri-puh-let
6/8 time: Am-ster-dam (dotted eighth, sixteenth, eighth)
for quintuplets: U-ni-ver-si-ty
London Bridge (dotted quarter plus eighth)
peanut butter (sixteenth notes)
rutabaga (sixteenth notes)
Washington (triplets)
celery (triplets)
grasshopper (triplet)
today (sixteenth, dotted eighth)
Katherine (triplet)
Shawn (quarter)
Heather (two eighths)
Mexico (triplets)
Your Mother, your Mother (accent on the MO for MOther) (eighth rest, eighth note, eighth note, eighth note)
Hamburger (eighth, 2 sixteenths)
french fried (2 eighths)
apple pie (2 sixteenths, eighth)
quarter pounder (four sixteenths)
coke (quarter)
Grapefruit, pineapple, watermelon (two eighths, one triplet, four sixteenth notes, all in a row)
Watermelon, kiwi (four sixteenths and two sixteenths with an eighth note rest)
hippopotamus (quintuplet - equal group of five notes)
international and geophysical for quintuplets.
triplets: "strawberry" or "hamburger"
5: "opportunity"
7: "doublt-opportunity"
semibiographical - set of 7
Follow the yellow brick road - a set of 6 followed by a quarter on the next beat

2.1.77 Prescription for tightness and pain in the jaw.
(From David Dahl)

I can only suggest what worked for me. Two of the main causes of my tightness (of not only face, but also hands and shoulders) was improper breathing and "incorrect" embouchure. I put incorrect in quotes because I realize that there are different ideas on what is correct. In my case, incorrect meant a tight smiley embouchure. The hole between my lips was too large, and my upper lip was too far out.

To help correct my breathing, I have been working with a breathing bag. I have worked to relax my face and lips as much as possible. To be more aware of the difference, I would first tighten up on purpose, and then try to loosen what was tight. If I can feel loose blowing and sucking the breathing bag, I place the flute up to my lips and try not to lose the feeling.

A great part of why I was tight, was the way in which I used too much of my lips to control the air. By relaxing the sides of my lips and using only the center of my lips to control the air, much more of my face, and everything else, is relaxed. A favorite technique of Keith Underwood is to gently pull down the corners of the student's mouth while the student plays. I can even do it to myself when I play long tones on left hand notes.

Until I was already relaxed, there was no way that I could get air in my cheeks. In my case, the suggestion to let my cheeks puff out a little was only frustrating. Now when I am relaxed, it is hard to believe that it was once so difficult.

(From Alexa Still)

At the risk of stating the obvious, I would suggest first checking that the player doesn't have tremendous pressure at the chin/lip plate (due to problems holding the flute etc), and that they don't have the jaw in an extreme forward or back position while playing. Beyond this, something drastic needs to happen to reduce the tension that apparently is there.

Abandoning the player's usual tone is probably the best next step, just because this tension is such a hard habit to break. Experimenting in front of a mirror, making "ridiculous" sounds a la beginners etc, discovering that *a* sound can be produced using a totally loose feeling mouth, without the usual tension, and then working differently (relaxed!) for control (ie localized middle of the embouchure muscles and abdominal support) maybe more productive in the end than doing battle with the person's current way of playing. I can understand the breathing bags really helping because it is such a relaxed action combined with the usual blowing.

Sometimes when I have students with bad tension problems in posture, I get them to play sitting and leaning, or even lying down (difficult, needing the flute to be suspended for best results) just to get a concept of producing a sound with less tension. It seems that the concept part is the hardest thing. The rest is steady work, but getting the idea in the first place can be so hard!

Any hypnotist teachers out there?

2.1.78 Should flutists exercise?
(From Monika Thomas)

Aerobic exercise will improve cardiovascular fitness. Not only will that improve your overall health... but soon you'll notice that when you play your flute, your breathing is also much more improved! My dad convinced me to start exercising regularly when I complained about having trouble breathing when playing... not taking big enough breaths, etc. As far as weight lifting goes, I use light weights (5 lbs in each hand right now) and do a variety of exercises to tone my muscles. My dad suggested that I do wrist curls also when I do weights - when I play my violin I especially realize how weak my wrist muscles are. The wrist curls have really helped a lot, and I noticed that my right wrist doesn't get all weird-feeling when I play my flute anymore.

I do aerobics 3 or 4 times a week, and weights 3 times a week... With weights you don't want to do them 2 days in a row. I think it has to do with preventing injury to the muscles.

2.1.78 The importance of teaching rhythm.
(From Richard White)

One of my several incarnations as a musician is that of piano teacher. It has been my experience that rhythmic skill are more often than not the weakest and often sorest spot in the development of young musicians. But this need not be so.

I'll even go so far as to say this includes many, many professional musicians. Is there anything worse than playing music with someone who is&127 rhythmically deficient? I play lots of chamber music (piano, viola) and, while I can abide intonation mishaps, wrong notes (yes, even my own), I cannot abide rhythmic problems arising from a lack of attention to the pulse (beat); in fact they are intolerable.

It probably goes without saying that many beginning students are overwhelmed by the amount of information that has to be processed very quickly in order to successfully interpret even a simple melody from the printed page into sound, and, at the right time I might add. i.e., pitch, time and key signatures, accidentals, rhythms. This, of course, does not include any physical or technical manipulations necessary to produce a sound on a given instrument. While I am not breaking any new ground here, the obvious solution to the complexity of interpreting music from the printed page well - in all its facets - is to isolate those parts that are particularly troublesome, in this case rhythm. I find the whole subject of rhythm so vitally important, that it occupies the first third of my own book on how to read music. (Sorry, it is currently being proofed and edited and is not currently available.)

However, even after repeated explanations and demonstrations I often find that students, after a time, forget the vital relationship between rhythm and its source, the beat or pulse. They go, as the old song says, '. . . together like a horse and carriage.' This, in my opinion should be made abundantly clear, demonstrated, and monitored over a period of time, if not continually, during the student's studies. In fact, it should be checked during each lesson, whether or not the student is made aware of it. To allow a student to become rhythmically sloppy is, in my opinion, egregious. Naturally, some students seem to show a propensity for rhythm, some do not. It is possible, however, to teach good rhythmic skills to virtually anyone when it is isolated and practiced diligently.

As for using the metronome: It's as indispensable to rhythmic training as the grid used by visual artists to ensure proper perspective. Neglect it at your own peril!

2.1.84 How to choose a piccolo.
(From Dr. John G. Zornig)

First, don't spend your hard earned money unless you plan to practice on your new piccolo. A piccolo is a different instrument than a flute and will need separate practice.

You can actually get a pretty good piccolo for well under $1000 in plastic, a Yamaha for example. If you have the money a Zentner is a very good value at just under $2000, I think (unless Miles has raised his prices).

I wouldn't bother with a silver head. Piccolos are quite bright enough with wood or plastic heads. For serious playing, silver heads have really become obsolete.

> Does Pearl make piccolos? - I really love my Pearl flute.

Many people do, but not nearly all good flutemakers make good piccolos. I've never heard that Pearl made piccolos. Think of buying a piccolo as a separate endeavor, like buying a saxophone.

> Would it be better to get a new picc or a better used one?

Well, of course it depends on the condition of the used one. If you find a used piccolo that attracts you, I'd recommend:

- have it looked at and played by an experienced piccolo player. You will not be able to tell, yourself, whether it's in good shape and plays well.

- add the cost of a clean-oil-adjust (COA) and some pad work to the price to judge what it will really cost. Even if the instrument appears to be in great shape, it is very likely to need at least a little work.

On the positive side, a used instrument can be more cost/effective. It's also "broken in" so that the probability of cracking is lower. Piccolos don't crack nearly as much as clarinets, but it's a consideration. If I were in your shoes, I would certainly look for a good used instrument.

2.1.85 Are there differences among makes of flute pads?
(From Jim Phelan)

To be sure, there is a difference between flute pads. The differences are, in descending order of importance:

The skin
The overall thickness
The felt (it's all wool, whether woven or needle)
The card (or backing)

The skin, also known as goldbeaters' skin, is derived from cows' stomachs. Because it is what makes the seal, it is the most important component. Because it is an animal product, it varies in quality. Pad makers examine skins for thickness, porosity, and surface finish. The best pad skins have a rather silky feeling; not dry and 'crinkly'. The companies that produce the sheets of skin used for pads are highly secretive about the difference between yellow and white skins. I've been told, perhaps tongue-in-cheek, that the yellow skins are treated with egg yolk and that the white skins are bleached. The most important thing is how well the pads are installed. That is what you perceive as a player.

The overall thickness should conform to the cup height and cup depth determined by the maker. In general, it is better to have a somewhat thinner pad than thicker.

I've always preferred woven versus needle felt, but that's just me. This is a personal preference and either one can produce a good pad job.

The cardboard backing adds stiffness to the pad. Again, it is a matter of personal preference on the part of the padder.

My advice is, don't get wrapped up in pad skins :-). If the pads cover the toneholes, the flute plays.

By the way, David Straubinger's pads are really a delight to use. Having padded hundreds of flutes with lumpy pads, my hat is off to the man who has made a FLAT pad! They don't change as much as traditional pads either.

2.1.86 How much should the headjoint be turned, in or out?
(From Larry Krantz)

The question of head joint alignment comes up quite often and there are nearly as many opinions about the subject as there are flute players. My approach has been to begin with a position which is pretty much in line with the row of keys (center of blow hole in line with the center of the key holes). Over time I have gravitated to a setting in which the head is aligned outward a slight amount - somewhere between a 16th and an 8th of an inch. I tend to hold my flute so that the keys are in a pretty much vertical position (keys pointing straight up).

I normally request that my students begin with a 'straight in line' configuration and then gradually find the 'sweet spot for them' which could be slightly (emphasis on slightly) in or out. I like to use nail polish dots to mark the head and the flute body so that the students can set their heads exactly the same way each time they play.

When head placement experimentation begins we can then use the nail polish dots as a guide for the slight adjustments to the head that we might wish to try. Body alignment and approach to holding the flute is crucial to determining where to align the head. As far as I can determine, there is not a 'right way' to do any of this stuff - only accepted practice by individual players. As usual, I look forward to the contributions of others about this topic.

2.1.91 What is the best method for fixing sticky pads, dollar bills?
(From Edwin V. Lacy)

Unless the bill is a brand new, uncirculated one, this is probably a bad idea. A well-worn dollar bill will have all kinds of abrasives embedded in it, and this cannot be good for pads. And, you don't even have to bring suspicion on yourself by going to a grocery store and buying cigarette papers.

Instead, go to a barber and beauty supply store, and buy "end papers." Being of the male persuasion and having never patronized a beauty salon, I can't say what the primary purpose of these papers might be. But as Kelly's Mom, I do know.  They are the wrapping papers for perms.  :)  But, they clean pads very nicely. They are less expensive, tougher, yet less abrasive than cigarette papers, and more absorbent and cleaner than dollar bills.

I bought some at a concern called "Sally Beauty Supply," and the person in charge told me that there are over 2,000 of these stores in the US. Seems like quite a few, but even if her estimate was somewhat optimistic, it shouldn't be too hard to find one.

2.1.92 Is Vaseline okay for lubricating the flute tenons?
(From Dr. John G. Zornig)

It's a pretty dangerous thing to do. Here's why.

When you first lubricate a metal-metal tenon, like a flute joint, it seems to work fine. As time goes on, however, dirt and small metal grains get into the lubricant - vaseline in your case - and form an abrasive paste. As you continue to assemble and disassemble the joint, the paste sands away metal, further reducing the metal and thickening the paste until the paste is the only thing keeping the flute together. I once found a paste so thick on a student's flute that when it was removed the flute was too loose to use and had to go to the shop.

Metal-metal tenons need no lubricant at all - not spit, not vaseline. If they do, they are either dirty or not fitted correctly. They should be kept completely clean, inside and out, so that they slide together with just the right amount of resistance and no wear. I clean mine every time I disassemble my flute.

So, go clean off that vaseline before it's too late.

2.1.93 Suggestions for teaching double-tonguing.
(From Mike MacMahon)

Various people have raised the question of how to teach (or just improve) double-tonguing. Just asking the learner to say a 't', then a 'k', or a 'd', then a 'g' won't necessarily work. Here are some ideas that might be worth considering:

1. The tongue is far larger than most people think, and its volume is about three-quarters that of a tennis ball! It goes much further down in the mouth than it seems to when we look at it in a mirror, and the very back of it, facing the throat, is well out of sight. Its muscular composition and its links to other parts of the head are quite complex. Yet, when we double-tongue, there are only two relatively *small* areas of it that we should be using.

2. The tip of the tongue is much more sensitive than the sides and, particularly, the area further back. This is why one finds it relatively easy to feel what the tip is doing during 'normal' tonguing ('d'), but not so easy during the 'g' part of double-tonguing. Many people imagine they can't double-tongue, simply because they can't feel the 'g' part of 'd-g' properly. They shouldn't blame themselves. The explanation lies in the way the nerve-endings in the tongue have evolved in human-beings.

3. Learn to become aware of the sides of the tongue. This is very important and I don't think it's emphasized enough. Even to do normal 'd' type tonguing, there has to be an air-tight seal between the sides of the tongue and most of the upper teeth - otherwise the air can't be pressurized to create the attack for the 'd'. Consciously feel the sides of the tongue pressing against the side teeth and/or the roof of the mouth as you whisper a series of 'd's whilst you're reading your way through this email. Do the same for a series of 'g's. (During a 'g', you'll probably feel the sides better than the middle part of the tongue that momentarily blocks the air for a 'g'.) Because of differences in the shape of the mouth and teeth, there'll be some variation between individuals as to how much of the tongue makes contact with the side teeth and precisely where the contact is. It's worth 'comparing mouths' with another flute-player - and don't feel embarrassed about poking your finger around the sides of your own (!) mouth and moving the upper lip out of the way to get a better view of the sides of the tongue and the upper teeth.

4a. *Say* the words WIDTH and GEESE slowly. The sounds to concentrate on are the 'd' and the 'g'. You'll find that you don't need to move the tip of the tongue very much for the 'd', nor the middle of the tongue for the 'g'. Furthermore, the distance between the two places on the roof of the mouth where the sounds are made is really quite small, only about 4 to 5 cms. It may feel more, but this is because you can sense a lot of fine muscular changes taking place elsewhere in the tongue as you move from a tip-of-tongue to a middle-of-tongue movement.

Now bring your jaw up a bit further as you would when playing the flute, and *say* WIDTH and GEESE again. It probably feels a bit cramped - this is OK. However, don't imitate the normal 'speaking' versions of 'd' and 'g' in their entirety. Instead, go for much lighter, more subtle, more precise movements. Think of the way ballet dancers have to control very precisely what they do with their feet, particularly the tips of their toes. It's this same precise control that's needed for double-tonguing. Make your tongue 'tip-toe'; don't push it around your mouth as you would for speaking. Remember as well that all you need to do is to pressurize the air (for a 'd', then for a 'g') without letting air escape over the sides of the tongue at any point. You certainly don't need the larger-scale movements of the tongue that we tend to use when speaking. Compare the delicate 'd' and 'g' movements in WIDTH and GEESE with the way we move our tongue and jaw around in words like FAR, HAT, or SLASH.

4b. It might also help to practise saying the words 'eenie-meenie' two or three times - but as a young child would say them. This is so that one feels how the tongue can be bunched up in the mouth, and well forward, with the sides preventing any escape of air. Many people naturally favour this sort of positioning of the tongue when they single-tongue and double-tongue.

4c. Pretend to be a ventriloquist and make 'd' and 'g' sounds without moving your lips or jaw - but *don't* tense the lips and jaw. Whisper DIG, DEED, EAGER, GIG. As you do so, *feel* (a) the relative lack of movement of the tongue, and (b) how close the 'd's and 'g's are on the roof of the mouth.

5. Some people block the air in their throat when they tongue - and especially when they try to double-tongue. What they're doing is closing the vocal folds (vocal cords) in their larynx (=voicebox) just when they're making the 'd' and 'g' sounds in their mouth. (One reason for this is that they transfer across to their flute-playing certain actions they instinctively use in their pronunciation of 'd' and 'g' sounds in their own language or accent.) To avoid this happening, practise making a series of 'd-g-d-g-d-g' movements with air flowing absolutely unhindered from the lungs and into the mouth. In other words, *breathe through* the 'd's and 'g's. But deliberately use far less air than you would for speaking; this will also help to concentrate the attention on those precise movements of the tongue.

6. If you want to try the old-fashioned 'd-l' type of double-tonguing, you can work out how to do it by saying the words GLOVE, GLAD, GLEE with 'dl-', not 'gl-', at the beginning of each one. (Make sure you say DLOVE, DLAD, DLEE, not DuLOVE, DuLAD, DuLEE, though!) Now *whisper* them in their DLOVE, DLAD, DLEE forms and feel what's happening in the 'dl-'. (The 'l' is equivalent to the 'g' of modern 'd-g' double-tonguing.) There are only two drawbacks to 'd-l' for double-tonguing. One is that the air-jet for the 'l' isn't as precise as for the 'd'; the second is that the air for 'l' doesn't come out quite in the mid-line between the teeth - it cascades over one or both sides of the tongue. (This may suit some people, of course, depending on the arrangement of their teeth.) On my Boehm flute, I use 'd-g'; but on my early 19th-century six-keyed flute, which has a rather different embouchure hole and no lip-plate, I find 'd-l' tends to work better.
7. See if you can get away with practising double-tonguing (of the 'd-g' variety) on a train, plane or bus (fluteless, of course!) without anyone noticing. The ultimate test, I suppose, would be to sit in the audience at a concert and double-tongue the solo in the 'Midsummer Night's Dream' scherzo whilst the flautist on stage was playing it. If your neighbour glares at you, you'll know your tongue movements have been too strong!