Flute Tips for Music Teachers and EVERYONE!
By Liliana Lazzari
www.flutediva.com
Embouchure and Tone Production
Playing in all the registers
And Intonation
Playing Softly in Tune
Posture and Hand Position
The Three B-flats
I’m not sure why band directors don’t teach all three. We teach the A-Saxes to play 3 different Bbs. We teach clarinets to alternate fingerings between left and right hands, side keys, etc…. Why should flute be different?
Harmonic Fingerings
Harmonic fingerings can be used for hard, fast, high passages. The player fingers the note a perfect fifth below the written note and overblows, for example: finger C# for High G#, C for High G, B for High F#, A# for high F, A for high E, G# for high D#, G for high D, F# for high C#, F for high C…etc… These are only be used in hard fast passages, sometime tone quality and intonation may be compromised (some might be actually better in tune) when using these fingerings. Usually though, the use of these fingerings goes unnoticed. Try to avoid using them in long sustained notes. The use of these fingering is almost essential when playing “Russian Christmas Music”. Look at the example below from “Prime Time Tune Review” to see one instance when these fingerings can be used very effectively.
Vibrato Production
Common Trill Fingering Errors
Playing Piccolo
Some on-line resources for you
Products:
www.fluteworld.com\
pneumo-pro – to correct embouchure problems
Bo-pep and Thumb port for thumb problems
Advice:
www.larrykrantz.com he has an amazing list of links.
www.jennifercluff.com lots of info. Video lessons too.
www.realfluteproject.com Nina Perlova also has a lot of great teaching videos on YouTube.
www.flutediva.com my website.
www.musictheory.net a website that has music theory lessons and training games.
www.flutediva.com
Embouchure and Tone Production
- Don’t smile, FROWN! The bottom lip should be relaxed and flat or curved into a frown. The bottom lip is like a reed for the clarinet, it just sits there. The top lip should do all the work.
- When you place the embouchure plate on a student’s lips take into consideration the following:
- Do they have a thick bottom lip? If it is thick place the embouchure plate on the red part of the lip so that they don’t have to struggle to move their bottom lip out of the way of their embouchure hole. You might have to roll in a little if this is the case.
- Do they have a thin bottom lip? Then place the lip plate under the lip, in the curve of the chin. You might have to roll out a little if this is the case.
- Does the air come out of the center or to the side? Do they have a tear-drop upper lip? Don’t have students struggle to blow directly down the center. Work with what they’ve got; place it wherever the air stream tells you to by checking the condensation on the lip plate. Sometimes muscles on one side of the face develop faster or more than the other side, its too hard and not worth it to have them try to change that. Also, they will have to move the tear-drop over to one side or the other to get it out of the way. Many famous players play off to one side or the other.
- Do they have crooked bottom teeth? It might be necessary to angle the flute to accommodate their bottom teeth, out with the right arm or further in with the right arm.
- Do they have braces? A prominent lower jaw? A short upper lip? You might need to position the flute higher up on the lower lip and roll in. Tell them to really pull their top lip over their front teeth in order to angle their air into the instrument. You can also try the tape trick, you take peices of electrical tape and put between 2-7 layers on the embouchure plate were it rests on the lip/chin. You will have to experiment with all of these to see what works. If they have an overbite as long as it’s not to extreme it is ideal for playing the flute.
- Do they have a Herbst appliance (used with braces to move the bottom jaw forward and correct over bite). This changes the angle of the airstream so that the air stream is aimed higher than before. You will probably need to place the flute higher on the lower lip and roll in. Sometimes though, you will have to experiment with placing the embouchure plate below the braces, above the braces or right on the braces. Tell them to really pull their top lip over their front teeth in order to angle their air into the instrument. You can also try the tape trick, you take peices of electrical tape and put between 2-7 layers on the embouchure plate were it rests on the lip/chin. You will have to experiment with all of these to see what works
- The single most detrimental thing that a director can do is to force young inexperienced players to play softly before they are ready! Especially in the high register. They don’t know how to do this yet and they don’t have the control yet. They’ll end up with pinched, tight, out-of-tune sounds that you won’t like. Some will be super flat and others super sharp. If you were teaching trumpets to play “C” above the staff you wouldn’t also be trying to make them play it as soft as possible. None of them would learn to play the upper register. Unfortunately, very few students have the control that is needed to play in the upper register softly until they are in college. Have 90% of the section play down an octave. Chose only 1 or 2 players to play the higher register. Thin the section when it is pp. Make them play soft before they are ready (especially in the upper octave) they will be horribly out of tune and they will develop horrible habits.
- Relax! This is related to #3. They won’t learn to do this if you try to make them play soft before they are ready. One of the biggest problems students have is maintaining a relaxed embouchure. If the embouchure is too tight the sound is pinched, small and flat. If the embouchure is too loose (generally not the problem, and don’t worry about beginners) the sound is hollow, small and flat. Allow, even make, your flute students puff their cheeks and play loudly at first. It is much easier to refine their tone when they have some experience than to open up their sound after years of a tense embouchure. Many students who do not relax will develop uncontrollable lip quivers. Also there has been some speculation that a tense embouchure might contribute to muscle dystonia concentrated in the lip area.
Playing in all the registers
And Intonation
- If a student has a relaxed embouchure the high register should not be a problem. To get to the high register the air has to be going at a higher velocity. A lot of people believe that you just have to make the embouchure tighter or smaller in order to go higher. For the beginner and intermediate student this is a bad approach, encourage the student to use more air a faster speed so that they feel like they are doing sit-ups or “yelling” at someone with their flute. They should also picture aiming their air higher on the flute or moving their lips forward into a “kiss”. Have the student bring their bottom lip forward or bottom jaw forward, lip flat or squished against the lip plate. By starting them out this way they might at first have to play the upper register loudly but they will be developing a better method of support for the air column and they won’t be developing bad habits such as pinching the notes out, or even worse, pinching the notes and rolling the flute in at the same time. You can also liken air speed and aperture to a garden hose and watering a garden. Most students have done this or at least messed around with a hose...lol. You have too big of an aperture even if the hose is turned on fully the water will land at your feet. With the same water pressure if you cover too fully you end up watering the next door neighbors' grass. There are so many different combinations to work with experimentation is key!
- If when they are first playing these notes they sound sharp (they will) have the students pretend they have really bad buck teeth and to stick their top lip out and over the teeth to aim the air column down, this will usually correct the intonation. Puffing, or allowing the cheeks to inflate, will instantly lower the pitch and allow for a fuller tone as well. Some students will have the opposite problem of playing too flat in the upper register, they are probably not supporting and not using enough air or their air column is aimed too low. If it’s the air column have them pretend that they are with their friends and something really disgusting just happened and make them say “eeeww” scrunching up their top lip and their nose. This will help them get the feel for lifting their top lip and help them develop the muscles of their upper lip. Tell them that if it’s too embarrassing to do in front of other people to do it when they are alone at home.
- Low notes generally sound unsupported and hollow in young players.
- Have the students make the opening smallest for the low register and biggest for the high register; they might not actually do this but they will psychologically avoid the overly large opening in the low register and the pinched one in the upper register. Also have them make their lips firmer for the low register and very relaxed for the high register. They will develop a more even tone in all the registers this way so they won’t sound like different flute players depending on what octave they are playing.
- Have the students aim for the opposite edge of the embouchure hole and pretend they are cutting the air stream to get those lower notes…which they are. You can also have them pretend that their air is like a laser that has to travel all the way across the room when they are playing in the low register (or any register).
- Tell them to practice cracking the low notes so they know exactly how much air and speed it will take them to do it. Tell them that playing the flute in any register should feel like they are walking close to the edge of a cliff, always just one step away from cracking a low note or breaking a high note down. They’ll have more energy and better tone when they are thinking this.
- After adjusting the head joint by pulling in or out, intonation in general should be controlled by the upper lip. Further over and focusing the air down into the flute will lower the pitch, and air that is aimed higher by lifting the upper lip, pushing the bottom lip forward and focusing the air higher will raise the pitch.
- At the ends of phrases when flutists tend to go flat…sustained long notes etc… Try having your whole section raise their chins (this effectively rolls out). You can watch the section correct the pitch this way and it works.
Playing Softly in Tune
- Students need to first aim their air higher by lifting their upper lip and pulling their bottom jaw forward and out. Both lips go forward into the kissing your mom position. Have them make their opening smaller, firmer, and decrease the amount of air.
- You can do an exercise were the students start playing loudly and relaxed, have them slowly bring their jaw or bottom lip forward, reduce their air and close their opening until they are playing so softly that no sound is coming out anymore. This will help them gain the control they need for soft playing.
- You can also have them purse their lips like they are about to kiss their flute. This forward embouchure raises the air stream and also makes it smaller.
- You can also do a pitch bending exercise just using lips and not rolling in and out. Good for improving lip flexibility.
Posture and Hand Position
- Have students position their chairs to their right at about a forty-five degree angle to their stands. Their flutes, when they put them up, should be parallel to the position of the stand but at an angle with their body (the same way violins and violas should sit). Head should be turned so that it is facing the stand looking over the left elbow.
- Students’ left hand should be collapse against the flute. A lot of students might complain about this hurting their hand, or that they get sore. You can buy Dr. Scholl’s foam padded moleskin or cushions, cut it into small rectangles, and stick it onto their flute where their left hand is resting. You might have to put them on double thick. They won’t ruin the finish and the adhesive easily comes off with rubbing alcohol.
- Students’ right hand should have the fingers gently curved and the fingers close to the center of the keys.
- Right hand thumb should be in one of two positions:
- For a four-point balance the thumb should be placed directly underneath the index and middle finger, so that the flute gently rests on the side of the thumb. In a four-point balancing position the flute is balanced using the bottom lip, the collapsed left hand, the right hand thumb and the right hand pinky. The student might complain of a sore thumb, good thing for Dr. Scholl’s, you can once again place the padding directly onto the flute; this might also help maintain good hand position. You can also have them go spend between $10-$20 for a “Bo-pep” or a “Thumb port”. Some people feel that this position 1) puts too much pressure on the right hand little finger and 2) is not as stable with all fingerings. This can be avoided using the three-point balancing position – it’s just a little harder to teach.
- For a three-point balance the thumb is on the backside of the flute pressing forward. The three-point position is based on the concept of a lever with the collapsed left hand being the fulcrum. The bottom lip is pressing out, the left hand is pressing towards the body, against the bottom lip and the right hand thumb is counter-balancing it by pushing the flute away from the body. This position is a very good position for children with small hands, short thumbs or short little fingers. It is also especially good for students who have hitch-hiker’s thumb.
The Three B-flats
I’m not sure why band directors don’t teach all three. We teach the A-Saxes to play 3 different Bbs. We teach clarinets to alternate fingerings between left and right hands, side keys, etc…. Why should flute be different?
- Thumb Bb: This is the most desirable of the three Bbs. It should be used whenever possible, especially in flat key signatures. The thumb key may be left down for all notes that normally have the thumb down except for F#2. It is acoustically the best sounding. It will also allow players to play more fluently. It takes a little bit of training to make students aware of when they will have to take the thumb key off in order to prepare for an upcoming chromatic passage, B natural, or high F#.
- Side, prepared, lever or hook Bb: This is the second most desirable of the three Bbs. It should be used in chromatic passages. The hook, which most students don’t know what it is for, can be left down on any note and it will not affect it. You can prepare for a Bb ahead of time even when there is a B natural soon after. It is closer acoustically to the Thumb Bb.
- F/Bb: This is the least desirable of the Bbs and should be avoided unless Bb occurs directly before or after a D, Eb, E, or F, when followed by a B natural or an F#.
Harmonic Fingerings
Harmonic fingerings can be used for hard, fast, high passages. The player fingers the note a perfect fifth below the written note and overblows, for example: finger C# for High G#, C for High G, B for High F#, A# for high F, A for high E, G# for high D#, G for high D, F# for high C#, F for high C…etc… These are only be used in hard fast passages, sometime tone quality and intonation may be compromised (some might be actually better in tune) when using these fingerings. Usually though, the use of these fingerings goes unnoticed. Try to avoid using them in long sustained notes. The use of these fingering is almost essential when playing “Russian Christmas Music”. Look at the example below from “Prime Time Tune Review” to see one instance when these fingerings can be used very effectively.
Vibrato Production
- If you want to get students started on producing vibrato you can have them start by saying a sustained “SHSHSHSHSH” using ab-crunches…REALLY LOUD. Practice slow 1 sh per beat. Then go on to eighth notes, triplets, sixteenths. After each speed go from saying “SHSHSH” to playing the air pulses into their flute (not saying sh anymore but more like hahahaha, or puffs of air). Keep it slow paced. Do quarter note vibrato for at least a week before speeding it up.
- Don’t let students use their throat. We want to avoid them sounding like nanny goats. There has been a lot of research about exactly how vibrato is produced. Despite x-rays it’s still fairly mysterious. Even players who say they don’t use any throat show some throat involvement when x-rayed. We don’t want the kids to know this.
Common Trill Fingering Errors
- If you can invest in this book of flute fingerings and trill fingerings: “Alternative Fingerings for the Flute-2nd edition” by Nestor Herszbaum
- Middle of the staff c, c# to d is 1st trill key.
- Middle of the staff c to eb is 2nd trill key.
- High c, c# to D is 2nd trill key.
- High c, c#, d to Eb is BOTH trill keys.
- B to c# is both left hand first finger and thumb or just 1st finger.
Playing Piccolo
- When advising a student on what kind of piccolo to purchase or purchasing one for your school always go for wood or plastic. Avoid metal piccolos. They are very shrill sounding and are even harder to control and play in tune than the other 2 types. It’s already hard enough.
- When starting a student on piccolo you should tell them to place it further up on the bottom lip and to have the top lip out more than they are used to.
- The biggest problem young piccolo players have is courage. The more timid the piccolo player the worse the piccolo will sound. I know this first hand. The more I stress out about pitch and get nervous and try to “disappear” into the band sound, the worse things get. Why? Because piccolo needs a lot of air support, especially in the high register. Usually young piccolo players are very flat in the high register (sounds “great” with those super sharp young flutists in the high register); good players can easily go flat in the high register too. The best thing to do is to, I know this is HARD!, encourage you piccolo players to play out and play proud. It might be loud and obnoxious for a while (like a beginning oboe) but it is much better in tune and in the end will be more pleasing to the ear. Composers know the piccolo is loud and high, if they wrote for it they should be prepared for what they get. Having the piccolo set a little higher on the lip is also very helpful with pitch.
- Don’t let your piccolo players pinch!!! Their lips will buzz when they least want them to. They should be super relaxed like upper register flute, even puff their cheeks and under their top lip if they want to. Everyone has different take on puffing, but some of the finest players in the world do it, James Galway, William Bennet…etc… Players get very tired if they have a tight embouchure, puffing doesn’t allow the player to have a tight embouchure!
- The piccolo’s pitch tendencies are almost completely opposite to the flute. High register is flat, low register is sharp. Remember that it’s going to clash with the flutes if they are playing in the same “written” octave.
Some on-line resources for you
Products:
www.fluteworld.com\
pneumo-pro – to correct embouchure problems
Bo-pep and Thumb port for thumb problems
Advice:
www.larrykrantz.com he has an amazing list of links.
www.jennifercluff.com lots of info. Video lessons too.
www.realfluteproject.com Nina Perlova also has a lot of great teaching videos on YouTube.
www.flutediva.com my website.
www.musictheory.net a website that has music theory lessons and training games.