Very young flute players struggle to hold the flute and often develop incorrect technique that can be difficult to correct as they mature.
Embouchure The correct embouchure will find the lips in a relaxed and somewhat natural position with the corners pulled back slightly.
The lower lip is loose, almost like a out and the upper lip is somewhat firmer. Make sure to put the lip plate under the pink part of the bottom lip.
I often use the syllable “poo” to help students attain that embouchure formation. Keep the corners of the embouchure down. You can think of “pursing” lips. The mirror is a beginners best friend.
Performance problems encountered with flute players at every level are: The aperture is too big causing an airy tone. They are covering too much or too little of the lip plate. They re playing with their heads down.e They are rolling in or out too much They are not supporting their tone They are not demonstrating correct instrument carriage They are playing out of tune at the end of phrases or when playing soft They roll the head joint too far in.
The lip plate and the
embouchure are where
many playing problems begin.
This can often be a visual check if you know what to look for
Posture and instrument carriage Posture will help students to breathe more efficiently and hold the
instrument correctly. Incorrect posture leads to out of tune/tone flute playing!
The pictures below illustrate few problems many encounter in the band room.
This young student
These 5th graders look great!
sounds good but by
This is fairly extreme and nothing else needs to be
holding her flute taller
explained!
and sitting taller she will
avoid neck and shoulder problems.
Hand Position To play with good hand position it is important to find the balance point that is comfortable for each student. Students often do the following: They align the foot joint rod with the flute body rod. They play with their elbows too far in or out. Wrists are bent the wrong way or not enough.
You can do some quick visual “checks” by: Make sure they are holding their heads tall.
Check the right hand thumb (it is very important in terms of balancing the flute) The fingers should be curved and relaxed. The wrists should also be relaxed. Make sure they are sitting in a comfortable position to play with correct technique.
Hand position helpers Bo pep produced several inexpensive add ons to help students keep their hands in the correct position. They work!
Sitting in an ensemble Give your flute players enough space to hold their flutes up. Keep their stands tall enough so they keep their heads tall
Seat your best player on the conductor’s tight so the best sound can be heard by the rest of the section.
Make sure they are seating to play in the most comfortable position
possible.
Fingerings and trills Make sure student understands how to properly execute these with the correct fingerings! Yes....there is an app for this:
This is called Flute in Reach and can be found on the itunes app store. This app includes fingerings, trills (extremely useful), terms and some audio.
What you might hear from your flutes Small or puny tone:
Almost always the tone is not supported or the lip plate is rolled in. The bottom lip is covering too much of the lip plate.
Fuzzy or too open tone:
Head joint might be rolled out too far.
Too much embouchure hole is open and they play sharp. Loud/ugly/overblown tone:
They are not controlling the airstream and need to listen better.
Often the airstream is not steady and you can do some exercises to help this!
Shrill High Register:
The aperture is too big and they aren’t listening.
The air stream needs to be more concentrated.
Students often over blow because they think these notes are hard Inability to control soft tones:
The tendency is to play flat when playing soft.
Need to play with a steady, concentrated airstream.
Lifting the head can also help accomplish a good soft dynamic. Vibrato Many students will learn this if they take private lessons BUT not all do. A simple method to help them learn vibrato is to get them to say a sustained “SHSHSHSH”
and it feels like ab crunches with sustained air. It needs to be loud to be effective With the flute have them play a 1 and do one “SH” for each beat. When they have mastered that move to 2 all the way to 8. Students need to be able to control this in a calm fashion before being able to play with vibrato effectively. Remind them that it takes time to develop a good vibrato.
Resources: Teaching the Flute A Method for Instruction
Carol Hester
(Carol teaches at Luther College and her book is used for basic pedagogy classes. I think it is well done!)
www.jennifercluff.com (The section on embouchure formation is excellent
www.flutediva.com
(Again lots of excellent pedagogy tips.
www.larrykrantz.com (Incredible amounts of information for every level)
A few extras Is your student too small to realistically handle the flute? Try a curved head joint. It isn’t very expensive and helps students to develop excellent technique as they grow!
Get them to listen to professionals Some of my favorites: Katherine Borst Jones from Ohio State James Galway
Jonathan Keeble (University of Illinois) Kim Risinger (Illinois State University) Greg Patillo-Beat box flute
