It has been almost 1 year I took up flute and I am still not happy about the sound I get. I have an ormiston flute and still don't have this full and rich sound I wish I could have. I was listening to a Bavan recording this morning and almost cried when I heard how beautiful Conor Byrne's sound was. So here is my question :
What kind of exercise do you recommend to improve the quality of the sound ? To avoid leak and to get a strong embouchure ? I am always feeling dizzy after playing and have the feeling when I listen to myself that there are leaks when I blow.
It's funny because when I played at my local session few days ago I was very happy about my sound but when I came back at home I couldn't get the same sound. Weird ! Sometimes I am thinking about giving up flute...
I know how you feel. Sometimes I get this really great sound and it scares me to death! Wow! Where did that come from? If only I could reproduce it at will.
Long tones are what you are supposed to do. But I don't find them all that useful if I can't get a good tone to play long to begin with.
I have noticed that a lot of the time when I'm not getting a good sound it's my fingers as much as my embouchure.
Anyway, not to helpful there, but I know how you feel. Don't give up though.
Yo
Just keep at it. There is no easy way out. As in learning a language, you have to go through many stages of embarassment and self doubt before you become fluent. Even when you are fluent and receive compliments from others , you will know there is still along way to go.
The flute is the same; many, many hours of practice, much patience and a desire to improve.
Does anyone think they have achieved the perfect sound?
Never become discouraged but beware of any easy fixes. What you put into learning the flute is what you will get out.
scroll down to my post that has an outline of how to increase resonance (on that site i am david_boveri), which works on your embouchure.
if you work on your resonance, you will use less air, your tone will get better (no matter what tone you are after), and you will have more room for expression.
beyond resonance, it sounds like you need to strengthen your muscles. play in front of a mirror. make sure you have a frowny and pouty embouchure, not a smiley one. one way to work on this is to work on your frowning--without your flute. drive in the car, and frown. see how quickly your muscles give up! these are the same muscles that will keep your embouchure from cracking.
then, when you put your flute up to your face, start off frowning. you will find then that you will have to bring your lips forward (pout) to make a sound while your muscles are frowning. at first it may be difficult to make a sound, but it will be a step in the right direction.
sbhikes-the difference is in the resonance. some days it will all click, and the inside of your mouth and the shape of your lips and the roll of your headjoint will all line up so well and the flute will sing as if you had nothing to do with it. who knows why some days it doesnt all fit together!
i find if i have a good embouchure day, it is usually on purpose, but the next day, i spend all my time playing thinking about the day before, that i dont do the things i was doing on purpose the day before, and then my tone suffers. bummer! cant have your cake and eat it too.
And don't tell the complete beginners or it might put them off but ... one year is not long in terms of this job. It's quite normal to take three, four, or five years before your sound gets satisfactory. So don't be discouraged. The work you are doing now almost certainly *is* moving you forward, even if it doesn't always seem like it.
And don't forget how important breath support is. Without a good steady uninterrupted flow of air to the embouchure, none of the rest can happen right either.
I think flute is deceptive - it's looks simple, it sounds 'simple' when you hear a good player but in truth there's a lot of balance and fine subtlety required to play it any way well.
Like yourself I'm in the early years and it is often frustrating but then you stick at it and things get better. I've heard better players say it often takes them a half hour or so of playing to be happy with their tone ... so if you like the sound, then stick at it! I've also heard it said that it can be a struggle for a few years but the longer you play, the easier it gets until it's just as easy as breathing. We live in hope....
I agree with Crackpot: breath support is fundamentally important to making a good sound. Take a leaf out of the classical wind player's/singer's book and fill your lungs when you breathe in, so your abdomen rather than your chest swells. Learn to use your diaphragm to punctuate notes and try to keep your throat 'open' when you breathe into the flute (otherwise you make residual creaky noises!) Practice huffing 'ha-ha-ha' (like you're laughing) into the flute and moving from, say, bottom A to top A without tonguing - that's what using your diaphragm feels like! And don't give up - it takes years to get a good, controlled tone and probably a lifetime to perfect it!
And, by the way, I've recently bought myself a keyless Ormiston flute having played on a metal flute for 27 years and have found that you need a tighter embouchure for the wooden flute, but the extra work is definitely worth the effort: it makes a gorgeous sound. Good luck with your playing!
In addition to all the good stuff above, part of learning the flute is learning what "good" tone is. This can be disheartening, because after a couple of years of practice, you find you've learned to listen to a good player and recognize what a great tone he/she has, compared to what you can produce. This is actually progress, but it may not seem like it at the time.
Whenever I asked this question in the past, I was always told, "Play long tones". This is still good advice - not only do you practice your embouchure, but it gives you a chance to listen to your tone and compare it with your desired sound. But it's a slow process.
One exercise I found really helpful (after the long tones) was to play octave jumps (Dd, Ee, etc.) only using the embouchure and not the breath. This takes a bit of practice to stop using the breath to make the octave, but it really works your lips in a good way.
After playing about 2.5 years I figure I'll get a truly good tone consistently in another 3. Or 5, or more.
It just takes a long time. Enjoy the good spots when they come, which they will.
- Daiv's ideas at C & F really work - I've tried them.
-Stick with one flute, if it's decent
-Try playing in a good accoustic environment. You won;t have to force the volume more than is good, and you will sound better.
-If you sound like garbage, try popping your ears to clear them out. (Not literally but it feels like it.) Hold your nose and try to exhale anyway. You will end up popping your ears. It's not harmful.
-Most importantly, accept that you will have good days and bad days - this is like baseball season. The long haul is much more important than any single game.
Thx for ur replies ! (Hi Saint )
I am trying to do your excercices daiv, trying to find the harmonics.
There are a few things I want to know :
Are your lips relaxed when you play ? Or do you squeeze them hard ? How is it possible to have a frowny and relaxed mouth at the same time ? Maybe I didn't understand what frowny means ...
Do you have any excercices to improve the 2nd octave ? It takes me always 1 h to get a satisfacotry sound...
I also want to know what's the difference between rudal and pratten ? Which one is the more suitable for a beginner like me ?
ralex-it is hard to describe. maybe your idea of relaxed is different then mine, or of the other people in the threads. the opposite of what i am talking about would be smiling and playing.
the harmonics will improve your second octave, as they quite literally strengthen your muscles. it may take a while... it sounds like you're working well. if it takes an hour to get the sound you want, i say, good for you for spending the hour!
i will make a video for you tomorrow morning and put it on youtube, to show you what it generally looks like. everybody's mouth will look different when playing, but the same muscle combinations are involved.
I would suggest you invest in Grey Larsens Flute tuition book, it helps develop good habits on playng and breathing from the outset....the book has shown me how to correct a few bad habits I developed, keep at it
" would suggest you invest in Grey Larsens Flute tuition book" ....
only problem is ... if you buy that book you'll spend so much time wading through it and trying to figure out what's useful to you ... you won't have any time left for flute playing!! :(
Your lower lip should be tawt; your upper lip, relaxed. When you start to play, center yourself on low G. It is the easiest note to play in the first octave that is also fairly low. Learn to find the "sweet spot" where the tone is most resonant, and then try to carry that through the rest of the notes. In the first octave, your breath should be more of an exhale (slow warm air), and in theupper octave, it should like blowing out a candle (fast cool air). Play standing up so you don't develop the habit of crunching down on your abdomen while sitting.
Prattens have a larger bore and tone holes than a Rudall. It is louder and arguably more "Irish" in sound, but it is harder to play (the dizzyness you spoke of).
Good luck, and keep at it. Play at least 15 minutes every day if you can.
Here's some things that people have said to me that I have found useful.
Think of blowing into the hole, not across the hole. (More like blowing a crumb off your chin than blowing out a candle).
Don't think of making a hole between your lips (the result will be too big). Instead think that the breath passing over your lips forces your lips apart just enough to let the air out. If you keep a little tension in your lips, the hole that results when you force your lips apart by blowing will be a narrow slit, usually not as wide as the hole you are blowing into.
There's a terrible temptation to try to improve tone by blowing harder, especialy in the second octave. The answer is to focus the air more, and to slightly change the direction you blow, not to blow harder.
I found instructions about relaxing this part of my mouth/lips and tightening that part confusing. A lot of my problems in the beginning because I was too relaxed. In hindsight, there has been a long periord where the problems came from trying too hard. This may sound too Zen, but I think there is something to be said for just noticing your sound all the time, and noticing when it is good and when it isn't, and when it is in between. The brain, lips, and muscles will unconsciously solve a lot of the problems for you if you just pay attention to the sound quality..
The one handed scale exercise made me realize where the muscles that have to be contracted are. When I started this exercise, I ended up getting too tight, so the sound was thin and forced, and then had to learn which parts of my mouth I could relax, and still do the exercise.
The one handed scale exercise also made me realize where one had to blow to get different sounds, and made me realize what 'focus' felt like.
Breath support and an open throat is where it all comes from.
Even now, there are days where I like my sound, and days when I sound pathetic. The sound I get is a pretty good indicator of how tired and stressed I am. No point beating yourself up if it is one of those days. There is a point in trying for the best sound you can get on any given day, and in always aiming to get a better sound.
For whatever reason, I often find that my sound improves after I've been playing for a while (20 minutes or so). I suspect that this comes from relaxing the bits that need to be relaxed, even while keeping the bits that need to be supported, supported.
One year really isn't long. Keep at it. Try taking lessons if you have another flute player in your area, or take them when traveling to towns with good flute players or when music festivals are in town.
The key is simply not giving up.
I was at my lesson last week, about 10 minutes into it learning a new tune (and how to breath properly, improve my rolls...man, I need help), and I noticed how dissonant the two flutes sounded. 10 minutes later and magically we had meshed and sounded really good - and the difference was obviously in my tone.
The point being, playing with other good flute players is also important. My tone has improved more by having lessons, but it's not something my teacher has ever said I need to do...it's just osmosis.
I'm about 6 years or so on the wooden flute now, and I'm still learning.
As said above, flute is deceptive and it takes a lot of work, and years, to make it sound easy.
I'll second what Eric and Gzeg mention--listening to flute players with good tone. In person is best, but recordings are better than nothing. Find a fluter who you want to sound like and then immerse yourself in their sound. Listen to it a lot, and deeply. The more accurately you can hear their tone, the easier it will become for you to some day produce the same tone. Your mind's ear needs that target to aim for.
Some other notions that helped me get better tone on flute:
Keep your throat and back of your mouth open wide. It feels almost like yawning--that cavernous space in the back of your mouth.
Keep your head up. Look toward the joint where the wall in your room meets the ceiling. This helps keep your windpipe straight and open.
Spend some time each day playing as softly as you can but still keeping a clean, clear tone. Use as little air as possible. This helps focus your embouchure and airstream.
Also spend some time each day concentrating on playing very softly in the upper octave, and as loud as you can push your flute in the lower octave. All while keeping the intonation spot on. This too is good for focusing your lips and airstream.
And don't give up. When the flute comes alive, vibrating under your fingers and singing, it's worth every second you've invested.
I when I was on trying to improve my flute sound I found a book in a normal music store called something like "building tone on the flute". When I looked inside, the whole book was nothing but the same exercise on various notes. I didn't buy the book, but I went home and tried the excercise, which really helped. It was starting on a note (say bottom D), playing it as softly as possible, then gradually increasing the volume until it was as loud as possible, then gradually decreasing the volume until it once again was as soft as possible. This is all done on one long breath. I discovered that this excercise dramatically improved my focus and tone. Strangely, I discovered that I really only needed to do this on bottom D, and the entire scale would improve including high B etc.
I also would practice going from bottom D to every other note, the transitions done only with the emboucure, no tongueing. I would play slowly:
D E D F# D G D A D B D C D d D e D f# D g D a D b
and back down. It takes a lot of control to go from bottom D to high b smoothly with embouchure.
Another thing which might really help is to take some lessons on tone with a good "classical" flute teacher. I did some and it helped tremendously.
Oh I forgot to say about the exercise where you play the one long note from soft to loud to soft on one breath, that you have to keep the PITCH of the note exactly the same the entire time. If you just blow harder and softer, the note will be flat when you blow softly and sharp when you blow hard. If you don't have a good ear, watch an electronic tuner and keep the needle pointing exactly the same whether you're playing the note very softly or very strongly.
Lots of good exercises. I like playing wider intervals like sixths and tenths for shorts periods of time like 2 minutes max before playing tunes.
Tunes teach good tone too.
Acquiring a big repertoire of tunes that are different in as many aspects as possible ie range, rhythm, melodic shape and tempo is, I think, more important for developing musicality in your tone.
Lastly, stay in shape, reduce stress, relax, don't smoke, invest in abdominal exercise. Go easy on the Guiness.
Yeah!
I've seen Kevin Crawford play several times and have noticed that he tends to raise the lower part (right hand) of the flute up during a set. I tried it myself and found that it gives me a better tone. I have a habit of dropping my right arm a little as I play and it negatively affects the sound. Play around with it and see if it helps, especially when you know you had a good sound and can't get it back.
Hey, I have been playing flute for about 14 years now, and i still struggle with sound. Don't fret over it, especially if you are still learning. I suggest playing with the angles of the instrument. Also practice using a mirror so that you can see what your embrochure is doing. Being able to get the amazing tone that everyone strives for is a great start for being able to consistently play with great tone.
As for breath support, and this may sound weird, but my teacher always suggested getting a bread bag (plastic is best) and bunching it in one hand and then try to blow it up. Also long tones which are great. One exercise that i do is start on a B or B flat (middle line of the staff) thinking about pitch, and tone, once you've got a good tone going move down by semi tones, so to an "A" if you've started on B flat. If your instrument is not capable of semi tones than do whole tones. ONLY MOVE ON TO THE NEXT PITCH WHEN YOU 'MASTER' THE PREVIOUS PITCH.
Flute sound
Flute sound
It has been almost 1 year I took up flute and I am still not happy about the sound I get. I have an ormiston flute and still don't have this full and rich sound I wish I could have. I was listening to a Bavan recording this morning and almost cried when I heard how beautiful Conor Byrne's sound was. So here is my question :
What kind of exercise do you recommend to improve the quality of the sound ? To avoid leak and to get a strong embouchure ? I am always feeling dizzy after playing and have the feeling when I listen to myself that there are leaks when I blow.
It's funny because when I played at my local session few days ago I was very happy about my sound but when I came back at home I couldn't get the same sound. Weird ! Sometimes I am thinking about giving up flute...
Help !
# Posted on November 9th 2007 by Ralex
Re: Flute sound
I know how you feel. Sometimes I get this really great sound and it scares me to death! Wow! Where did that come from? If only I could reproduce it at will.
Long tones are what you are supposed to do. But I don't find them all that useful if I can't get a good tone to play long to begin with.
I have noticed that a lot of the time when I'm not getting a good sound it's my fingers as much as my embouchure.
Anyway, not to helpful there, but I know how you feel. Don't give up though.
# Posted on November 9th 2007 by sbhikes
Re: Flute sound
Yo
Just keep at it. There is no easy way out. As in learning a language, you have to go through many stages of embarassment and self doubt before you become fluent. Even when you are fluent and receive compliments from others , you will know there is still along way to go.
The flute is the same; many, many hours of practice, much patience and a desire to improve.
Does anyone think they have achieved the perfect sound?
Never become discouraged but beware of any easy fixes. What you put into learning the flute is what you will get out.
# Posted on November 9th 2007 by jeandegingins
Re: Flute sound
ralex- click on this link: http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php?t=53133&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=15
scroll down to my post that has an outline of how to increase resonance (on that site i am david_boveri), which works on your embouchure.
if you work on your resonance, you will use less air, your tone will get better (no matter what tone you are after), and you will have more room for expression.
beyond resonance, it sounds like you need to strengthen your muscles. play in front of a mirror. make sure you have a frowny and pouty embouchure, not a smiley one. one way to work on this is to work on your frowning--without your flute. drive in the car, and frown. see how quickly your muscles give up! these are the same muscles that will keep your embouchure from cracking.
then, when you put your flute up to your face, start off frowning. you will find then that you will have to bring your lips forward (pout) to make a sound while your muscles are frowning. at first it may be difficult to make a sound, but it will be a step in the right direction.
sbhikes-the difference is in the resonance. some days it will all click, and the inside of your mouth and the shape of your lips and the roll of your headjoint will all line up so well and the flute will sing as if you had nothing to do with it. who knows why some days it doesnt all fit together!
i find if i have a good embouchure day, it is usually on purpose, but the next day, i spend all my time playing thinking about the day before, that i dont do the things i was doing on purpose the day before, and then my tone suffers. bummer! cant have your cake and eat it too.
# Posted on November 9th 2007 by daiv
Re: Flute sound
And don't tell the complete beginners or it might put them off but ... one year is not long in terms of this job. It's quite normal to take three, four, or five years before your sound gets satisfactory. So don't be discouraged. The work you are doing now almost certainly *is* moving you forward, even if it doesn't always seem like it.
# Posted on November 9th 2007 by Lingpupa
Re: Flute sound
And don't forget how important breath support is. Without a good steady uninterrupted flow of air to the embouchure, none of the rest can happen right either.
# Posted on November 9th 2007 by Crackpot
Re: Flute sound
I think flute is deceptive - it's looks simple, it sounds 'simple' when you hear a good player but in truth there's a lot of balance and fine subtlety required to play it any way well.
Like yourself I'm in the early years and it is often frustrating but then you stick at it and things get better. I've heard better players say it often takes them a half hour or so of playing to be happy with their tone ... so if you like the sound, then stick at it! I've also heard it said that it can be a struggle for a few years but the longer you play, the easier it gets until it's just as easy as breathing. We live in hope....
# Posted on November 9th 2007 by the wounded hussar
Re: Flute sound
Alex I meet you when you were only playing 3 months and it sounded great ,I can't imagine how you sounds now
regards
eddie
# Posted on November 9th 2007 by Saint
Re: Flute sound
Ralex,
Just remeber the fun is in the Journey..........also see this online course note there are a dozen of so clases not just this link......http://www.expertvillage.com/videos/irish-flute-practice-tones.htm
Slán
# Posted on November 9th 2007 by Enigma
Re: Flute sound
I agree with Crackpot: breath support is fundamentally important to making a good sound. Take a leaf out of the classical wind player's/singer's book and fill your lungs when you breathe in, so your abdomen rather than your chest swells. Learn to use your diaphragm to punctuate notes and try to keep your throat 'open' when you breathe into the flute (otherwise you make residual creaky noises!) Practice huffing 'ha-ha-ha' (like you're laughing) into the flute and moving from, say, bottom A to top A without tonguing - that's what using your diaphragm feels like! And don't give up - it takes years to get a good, controlled tone and probably a lifetime to perfect it!
# Posted on November 9th 2007 by west-coaster
Re: Flute sound
And, by the way, I've recently bought myself a keyless Ormiston flute having played on a metal flute for 27 years and have found that you need a tighter embouchure for the wooden flute, but the extra work is definitely worth the effort: it makes a gorgeous sound. Good luck with your playing!
# Posted on November 9th 2007 by west-coaster
Re: Flute sound
In addition to all the good stuff above, part of learning the flute is learning what "good" tone is. This can be disheartening, because after a couple of years of practice, you find you've learned to listen to a good player and recognize what a great tone he/she has, compared to what you can produce. This is actually progress, but it may not seem like it at the time.
Whenever I asked this question in the past, I was always told, "Play long tones". This is still good advice - not only do you practice your embouchure, but it gives you a chance to listen to your tone and compare it with your desired sound. But it's a slow process.
One exercise I found really helpful (after the long tones) was to play octave jumps (Dd, Ee, etc.) only using the embouchure and not the breath. This takes a bit of practice to stop using the breath to make the octave, but it really works your lips in a good way.
# Posted on November 9th 2007 by Gzeg
Re: Flute sound
After playing about 2.5 years I figure I'll get a truly good tone consistently in another 3. Or 5, or more.
It just takes a long time. Enjoy the good spots when they come, which they will.
- Daiv's ideas at C & F really work - I've tried them.
-Stick with one flute, if it's decent
-Try playing in a good accoustic environment. You won;t have to force the volume more than is good, and you will sound better.
-If you sound like garbage, try popping your ears to clear them out. (Not literally but it feels like it.) Hold your nose and try to exhale anyway. You will end up popping your ears. It's not harmful.
-Most importantly, accept that you will have good days and bad days - this is like baseball season. The long haul is much more important than any single game.
# Posted on November 9th 2007 by wormdiet
Re: Flute sound
Thx for ur replies ! (Hi Saint
)
I am trying to do your excercices daiv, trying to find the harmonics.
There are a few things I want to know :
Are your lips relaxed when you play ? Or do you squeeze them hard ? How is it possible to have a frowny and relaxed mouth at the same time ? Maybe I didn't understand what frowny means ...
Do you have any excercices to improve the 2nd octave ? It takes me always 1 h to get a satisfacotry sound...
I also want to know what's the difference between rudal and pratten ? Which one is the more suitable for a beginner like me ?
# Posted on November 9th 2007 by Ralex
Re: Flute sound
ralex-it is hard to describe. maybe your idea of relaxed is different then mine, or of the other people in the threads. the opposite of what i am talking about would be smiling and playing.
the harmonics will improve your second octave, as they quite literally strengthen your muscles. it may take a while... it sounds like you're working well. if it takes an hour to get the sound you want, i say, good for you for spending the hour!
i will make a video for you tomorrow morning and put it on youtube, to show you what it generally looks like. everybody's mouth will look different when playing, but the same muscle combinations are involved.
# Posted on November 9th 2007 by daiv
Re: Flute sound
I would suggest you invest in Grey Larsens Flute tuition book, it helps develop good habits on playng and breathing from the outset....the book has shown me how to correct a few bad habits I developed, keep at it
# Posted on November 9th 2007 by Dave_
Re: Flute sound
" would suggest you invest in Grey Larsens Flute tuition book" ....
only problem is ... if you buy that book you'll spend so much time wading through it and trying to figure out what's useful to you ... you won't have any time left for flute playing!! :(
# Posted on November 9th 2007 by the wounded hussar
Re: Flute sound
Also, maybe check out the 'one hand scale' exercise. You can read thru the topic over at the C&F website. Its a great warmup tool and anytime for just practice.
http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php?t=47360&highlight=one+handed+scale
# Posted on November 9th 2007 by trad2nz
Re: Flute sound
Your lower lip should be tawt; your upper lip, relaxed. When you start to play, center yourself on low G. It is the easiest note to play in the first octave that is also fairly low. Learn to find the "sweet spot" where the tone is most resonant, and then try to carry that through the rest of the notes. In the first octave, your breath should be more of an exhale (slow warm air), and in theupper octave, it should like blowing out a candle (fast cool air). Play standing up so you don't develop the habit of crunching down on your abdomen while sitting.
Prattens have a larger bore and tone holes than a Rudall. It is louder and arguably more "Irish" in sound, but it is harder to play (the dizzyness you spoke of).
Good luck, and keep at it. Play at least 15 minutes every day if you can.
Cheers.
# Posted on November 9th 2007 by Ailin
Re: Flute sound
I think I will also post a video on youtube so people could tell me what is wrong with my sound....
# Posted on November 9th 2007 by Ralex
Re: Flute sound
Here's some things that people have said to me that I have found useful.
Think of blowing into the hole, not across the hole. (More like blowing a crumb off your chin than blowing out a candle).
Don't think of making a hole between your lips (the result will be too big). Instead think that the breath passing over your lips forces your lips apart just enough to let the air out. If you keep a little tension in your lips, the hole that results when you force your lips apart by blowing will be a narrow slit, usually not as wide as the hole you are blowing into.
There's a terrible temptation to try to improve tone by blowing harder, especialy in the second octave. The answer is to focus the air more, and to slightly change the direction you blow, not to blow harder.
I found instructions about relaxing this part of my mouth/lips and tightening that part confusing. A lot of my problems in the beginning because I was too relaxed. In hindsight, there has been a long periord where the problems came from trying too hard. This may sound too Zen, but I think there is something to be said for just noticing your sound all the time, and noticing when it is good and when it isn't, and when it is in between. The brain, lips, and muscles will unconsciously solve a lot of the problems for you if you just pay attention to the sound quality..
The one handed scale exercise made me realize where the muscles that have to be contracted are. When I started this exercise, I ended up getting too tight, so the sound was thin and forced, and then had to learn which parts of my mouth I could relax, and still do the exercise.
The one handed scale exercise also made me realize where one had to blow to get different sounds, and made me realize what 'focus' felt like.
Breath support and an open throat is where it all comes from.
Even now, there are days where I like my sound, and days when I sound pathetic. The sound I get is a pretty good indicator of how tired and stressed I am. No point beating yourself up if it is one of those days. There is a point in trying for the best sound you can get on any given day, and in always aiming to get a better sound.
For whatever reason, I often find that my sound improves after I've been playing for a while (20 minutes or so). I suspect that this comes from relaxing the bits that need to be relaxed, even while keeping the bits that need to be supported, supported.
# Posted on November 9th 2007 by flutefry
Re: Flute sound
One year really isn't long. Keep at it. Try taking lessons if you have another flute player in your area, or take them when traveling to towns with good flute players or when music festivals are in town.
The key is simply not giving up.
I was at my lesson last week, about 10 minutes into it learning a new tune (and how to breath properly, improve my rolls...man, I need help), and I noticed how dissonant the two flutes sounded. 10 minutes later and magically we had meshed and sounded really good - and the difference was obviously in my tone.
The point being, playing with other good flute players is also important. My tone has improved more by having lessons, but it's not something my teacher has ever said I need to do...it's just osmosis.
I'm about 6 years or so on the wooden flute now, and I'm still learning.
As said above, flute is deceptive and it takes a lot of work, and years, to make it sound easy.
Eric
# Posted on November 10th 2007 by Jayhawk
Re: Flute sound
I'll second what Eric and Gzeg mention--listening to flute players with good tone. In person is best, but recordings are better than nothing. Find a fluter who you want to sound like and then immerse yourself in their sound. Listen to it a lot, and deeply. The more accurately you can hear their tone, the easier it will become for you to some day produce the same tone. Your mind's ear needs that target to aim for.
Some other notions that helped me get better tone on flute:
Keep your throat and back of your mouth open wide. It feels almost like yawning--that cavernous space in the back of your mouth.
Keep your head up. Look toward the joint where the wall in your room meets the ceiling. This helps keep your windpipe straight and open.
Spend some time each day playing as softly as you can but still keeping a clean, clear tone. Use as little air as possible. This helps focus your embouchure and airstream.
Also spend some time each day concentrating on playing very softly in the upper octave, and as loud as you can push your flute in the lower octave. All while keeping the intonation spot on. This too is good for focusing your lips and airstream.
And don't give up. When the flute comes alive, vibrating under your fingers and singing, it's worth every second you've invested.
# Posted on November 10th 2007 by Will CPT
Re: Flute sound
I when I was on trying to improve my flute sound I found a book in a normal music store called something like "building tone on the flute". When I looked inside, the whole book was nothing but the same exercise on various notes. I didn't buy the book, but I went home and tried the excercise, which really helped. It was starting on a note (say bottom D), playing it as softly as possible, then gradually increasing the volume until it was as loud as possible, then gradually decreasing the volume until it once again was as soft as possible. This is all done on one long breath. I discovered that this excercise dramatically improved my focus and tone. Strangely, I discovered that I really only needed to do this on bottom D, and the entire scale would improve including high B etc.
I also would practice going from bottom D to every other note, the transitions done only with the emboucure, no tongueing. I would play slowly:
D E D F# D G D A D B D C D d D e D f# D g D a D b
and back down. It takes a lot of control to go from bottom D to high b smoothly with embouchure.
Another thing which might really help is to take some lessons on tone with a good "classical" flute teacher. I did some and it helped tremendously.
# Posted on November 10th 2007 by Richard D Cook
Re: Flute sound
Oh I forgot to say about the exercise where you play the one long note from soft to loud to soft on one breath, that you have to keep the PITCH of the note exactly the same the entire time. If you just blow harder and softer, the note will be flat when you blow softly and sharp when you blow hard. If you don't have a good ear, watch an electronic tuner and keep the needle pointing exactly the same whether you're playing the note very softly or very strongly.
# Posted on November 10th 2007 by Richard D Cook
Re: Flute sound
Lots of good exercises. I like playing wider intervals like sixths and tenths for shorts periods of time like 2 minutes max before playing tunes.
Tunes teach good tone too.
Acquiring a big repertoire of tunes that are different in as many aspects as possible ie range, rhythm, melodic shape and tempo is, I think, more important for developing musicality in your tone.
Lastly, stay in shape, reduce stress, relax, don't smoke, invest in abdominal exercise. Go easy on the Guiness.
Yeah!
# Posted on November 10th 2007 by red_tiger
Re: Flute sound
I've seen Kevin Crawford play several times and have noticed that he tends to raise the lower part (right hand) of the flute up during a set. I tried it myself and found that it gives me a better tone. I have a habit of dropping my right arm a little as I play and it negatively affects the sound. Play around with it and see if it helps, especially when you know you had a good sound and can't get it back.
# Posted on November 11th 2007 by O'Lehane
Re: Flute sound
Hey, I have been playing flute for about 14 years now, and i still struggle with sound. Don't fret over it, especially if you are still learning. I suggest playing with the angles of the instrument. Also practice using a mirror so that you can see what your embrochure is doing. Being able to get the amazing tone that everyone strives for is a great start for being able to consistently play with great tone.
As for breath support, and this may sound weird, but my teacher always suggested getting a bread bag (plastic is best) and bunching it in one hand and then try to blow it up. Also long tones which are great. One exercise that i do is start on a B or B flat (middle line of the staff) thinking about pitch, and tone, once you've got a good tone going move down by semi tones, so to an "A" if you've started on B flat. If your instrument is not capable of semi tones than do whole tones. ONLY MOVE ON TO THE NEXT PITCH WHEN YOU 'MASTER' THE PREVIOUS PITCH.
I hope this helps some.
Megan
# Posted on November 12th 2007 by Megan