Playing Softly Without Pinching

Tags

breath control, dynamics, embouchure, flute intonation, flute pedagogy

Once you have confidence that your students know how to blow with a steady air stream in at least two or more octaves of the flute, it’s time to help them develop a dynamic palette from piano to forte, so they can begin to practice and understand balance and style. How many of you have tried teaching your students to play more quietly only to have a host of weird compensating behaviors magically appear, not to mention having the pitch go haywire? Things like:

• Pinched aperture, shrill tone and sharp pitch
• Rolling in/covering to much of the blow hole, dull tone and flat pitch
• Clenched teeth, tight sound lacking resonance, probably sharp
• Tight throat, strangled, dull tone and probably flat
• Slow air resulting in flat pitch, trouble placing and controlling high notes, thin, bleating tone

Ok, so the problem with all of these “solutions” is they miss the point that makes the difference and you wind up with all kinds of compensations that just make a poor situation worse. The point is to understand that there is a difference between the quantity of air and the speed of the air. Youngsters and anyone who doesn’t really ‘get’ flute have trouble conceptualizing the difference between air quantity and air speed. In fact, for kids speed and quantity are the same thing. The way I explain it is that until you understand better, air speed and air quantity function like a bad marriage, needy and codependent. One cannot exist without the other, but to the detriment of the both partners.

In order for a player to be able to control dynamics and pitch, air speed and air quantity need to get a divorce and be able to operate as separate entities. The speed of the air stream has to be maintained (supported) while the quantity of air determines the relative volume of the sound. You need to maintain the air speed/pressure using the abdominal muscles while decreasing the quantity of air you are blowing. Here are a couple other concepts to incorporate into the mix to get good dynamic and pitch control:

• Maintain the oval shape of the aperture without flattening it out
• Maintain the position of the flute on your lip without rolling in or out
• The less air you blow, the more you need to raise the blowing angle towards more straight across the blow hole to maintain pitch
• Keep back teeth apart and mouth cavity open
• Keep a relaxed and open throat. Think of how your throat feels right on the edge of yawning
• Keep the speed of the air, just less air

As always, if you find these entries useful, please subscribe, share with your colleagues and come back regularly. Feel free to comment. If you have a topic you would like to see explored more fully, you can contact me via IM/Messenger on Facebook or email me at dr_cate@sbcglobal.net. For information about clinics, workshops and performances, click here.

Shaping a Flute Aperture

Tags

beginning flute, embouchure, flute pedagogy, flute tone

It seems to me that understanding how to shape a flute aperture with your lips is likely the biggest mystery for non-flutists who teach beginning flute players. Surprisingly, this is one of the simplest concepts to grasp if you know the trick. The trick is to shape your lips as if you are saying the sound of the letter “W”, as in “what” or “wonderful”. Notice a few things when you do this:

• Your awareness is focused on the middle of your lips, almost as if you are gripping a drinking straw
• The corners take care of themselves and seal themselves. No attention needed
• Your lips naturally form an elliptical opening
• The perimeter of the resulting aperture is actually rather firm

For yourself and your students, try starting out without a flute headjoint. Put an index finger under your lip and say, “what” or “water” a number of times. Then shorten it and say “waaaa”. Then just shape your lips for the “W” sound and blow through the resulting opening. Voila! Flute aperture 101.The next step is to shape your lips and tongue behind the teeth where gum and teeth meet on the top while blowing through the aperture, “too, too, too……”, keeping a steady air stream. Finally, go through the above process with a flute headjoint on your chin.

Of course there is more to getting a characteristic sound than just shaping the aperture. And there are seemingly more variables than specific immutable features to making a good sound. Pretty much the headjoint itself is the only constant. People, their lips, size of their teeth and oral cavity are unique to themselves. Remember to:

• Bring the flute up to the bottom lip from below to rest where the chin and lip meet. Adjust up a little for a very full bottom lip, adjust down for a thin bottom lip. Avoid the so-called kiss and roll because this puts the flute too high on the bottom lip for everyone. It’s a one size fits all solution that fits no one. The sound will be thin, light and probably sharp.
• Keep the blow hole open approximately two thirds. This is easier to do if the flute is a little lower on the chin than higher for most people. Having any more of the bottom lip in the blow hole than 1/3 will make a stuffy, dull and flat sound.
• The corners will take care of themselves, provided your lips are shaped as if to make the “W” sound. Really! Try for yourself.
• Roll your bottom lip (not the flute!) out a little to go up the octave or raise the pitch. Reach over a little with your top lip to play low notes or lower the pitch.

As always, if you find these entries useful, please subscribe, share with your colleagues and come back regularly. Feel free to comment. If you have a topic you would like to see explored more fully, you can contact me via IM/Messenger on Facebook or email me at dr_cate@sbcglobal.net. For information about clinics, workshops and performances, click here.

Tuning Tendencies of the Flute

Tags

flute intonation, flute pedagogy, flutes

Only this week I came across a chart on a high school band website listing notes on the flute that have tuning problems with recommended fingerings for correcting pitch. It is taken from a Guide to the Understanding and Correction of Intonation Problems, Al Fabrizio, Meredith Music Publications, 1994. In looking through the chart, I realized that the advice it was giving was based on the old scale flutes that were available back in the early and mid-1990s. The scale of instruments has changed since that time. A LOT.

When the modern flute was invented, the schematic of the placement of tone holes was based on a lower pitch than we play at today. “Normal” pitch in the mid-1800’s, according to Theobold Boehm, was A=435. Therefore, the schematic he created for the flute was for an instrument that played in tune at A=435. Over the rest of the 19th century and well into the 20th century, pitch has climbed to A=440 and even A=442 or in extreme cases A=444. For a really long time, the solution for getting a flute up to pitch was to make a shorter headjoint, by several millimeters over what would play in tune at A=435. The consequence of this practice was that the low register of the flute would be flat and the third octave would be sharp. The open C# would be hair-raisingly sharp. In order to have a hope of playing these flutes with short headjoints in tune,  all kinds of compensating fingerings were created to correct the pitch. This included things like adding right hand fingers to lower the pitch of the C# and half-holing right hand keys. Student flutes with this older scale were widely available until fairly recently. Think old mainline American student brands, especially Armstrong, Gemeinhardt, Bundy, Artley, etc.

Fortunately, there has been a revolution in flute making brewing from the mid-20th century started by flute makers and players including Albert Cooper, Eldred Spell, Trevor Wye, William Bennett and even James Galway to bring the schematic of the flute up to modern pitch. Most every flute made today, by every reputable manufacturer, at every price point, has a scale that has its basis in the work of these pioneering flute makers and players. Many of the old compensating fingerings are unnecessary and even undesirable with a modern scale. The first and second octaves are now in tune, and only minor adjustments are needed in the third octave.

The C# is still an issue, but not because it isn’t in tune. It is more because it is the shortest tube and therefore the most bendable pitch. It also reveals the player’s expertise in focusing and directing the air correctly. If the C# sounds high, it means that the blowing angle is too shallow. It is absolutely true that if you can fix the pitch and tone quality of the C#, you will vastly improve the tone and intonation on the rest of the flute. More on tone, tuning and C# in another post.

If you find these entries useful, please subscribe, share with your colleagues and come back regularly. Feel free to comment. If you have a topic you would like to see explored more fully, you can contact me via IM/Messenger on Facebook or email me at dr_cate@sbcglobal.net. For information about clinics, workshops and performances, click here

What is Transit Time? And Why You Should Care

Tags

dynamics, embouchure, flute embouchure, flute pedagogy

When it comes to understanding how to teach your students to play with characteristic flute tone, it comes down to being able to teach your students to conceptualize the transit time and maintain consistency in the transit time. So what is transit time? It is the time from when the air exits the aperture to when it hits the strike edge of the blow hole. Having the optimal transit time has everything to do with whether the sound is focused and in tune rather than being dull, shrill, diffuse and out of tune.

In this blog, we have been looking at this issue in as many ways as I can think of over the last two school years. These articles include “The Value of Consistency“, “To Roll or Not to Roll“, “Independence for Lips“, “Why do my Flutes Sound Thin and Squeaky in the Third Octave?“, “What do you do with your corners?” and “The Legend of Kiss and Roll“.

Here is a video to demonstrate consistency in the transit time contrasted with rolling in and out. You will notice that when I am being consistent with my embouchure, I never cover more than about a third of the blow hole. You will also see that I often reach quite far over the embouchure hole with my top lip (I do have an overbite), but that the relationship of the bottom lip to the opening and blowing edge is consistent. When I roll the flute on my bottom lip, notice how much not only the pitch changes, but also the tone color. You will see that the amount of the blow hole you can see goes from less than half open to completely open. However, you can see when I restrict the movement to just my lips forward and back, I can still manipulate the pitch, but the amount of coverage of the blowing hole (approximately 1/4-1/3) remains the same. There is not nearly the change in color doing it this way than if I’m rolling the flute in and out. This is because when I am moving my lips independently, I am still maintaining consistent transit time, thus preserving the tone quality even while adjusting for register, dynamic or pitch.

There is no question that learning where to place the flute on your bottom lip and learning consistency in the transit time is a challenging idea to conceptualize. But it is also really the crux of the matter when it comes to producing characteristic flute tone. We have to rely on ourselves to develop that consistency rather than on the equipment as with reed or brass instruments.

Have a great summer, everyone. I may pop in occasionally over the summer with an announcement or two. And I’ll be back in the fall with more flute tips for you. If you find these entries useful, please subscribe, share with your colleagues and come back regularly. Feel free to comment. If you have a topic you would like to see explored more fully, you can contact me via IM/Messenger on Facebook or email me at dr_cate@sbcglobal.net. For information about clinics, workshops and performances, click here

Revisiting “To Roll or Not to Roll”

Tags

flute embouchure, flute intonation, flute pedagogy

There isn’t time this week to do another full entry here on Dr. Cate’s Flute Tips so I’m sharing a link to the most read post since starting the blog – “To Roll or Not to Roll: That is the Question“. Helping flute students improve their intonation is an ongoing issue for all of us, band directors and flute teachers alike. Hope you find these suggestions helpful.

If you find these entries useful, please subscribe, share with your colleagues and come back regularly for more flute tips. Feel free to comment. If you have a topic you would like to see explored more fully, you can contact me via IM/Messenger on Facebook or email me at dr_cate@sbcglobal.net. For information about clinics, workshops and performances,  click here.

Intonation and Dynamic Control

Tags

dynamics, flute intonation, flute pedagogy

How many times have you heard your flute students play sharp when the dynamic is forte and flat when the dynamic is piano? I’m pretty sure it is one of those examples where you would say, “If I had a nickel for every time I heard……., I’d be rich”. So how can you help your students learn to play in tune regardless of the dynamic marking? The answer lies in helping them understand how to change the direction of the air at the different dynamic levels, rather than rolling in and out, as is commonly taught in school music programs.

The first aspect you need to address with the students is developing a consistently fast air stream regardless of the quantity of air one is blowing. I explain it by saying that when we first start playing, air speed and quantity are like a married couple going hand in hand. Air speed and air quantity need to get a divorce, go their separate ways. The air speed (and the size of the aperture) is pretty consistent regardless of dynamic or register. What changes with different dynamics is the quantity of air and the direction of the air stream. How can you teach this kind of steadiness of the speed of the air stream? I like slow melodies (like the chorales so many bands use to warm up), Remington intervals and slow scale exercises. Pay particular attention to not just blowing on the notes but blowing between the notes.

Here’s an example of a simple scale exercise you can use with all your winds. You can adapt it for keys your students know and/or use it for teaching unfamiliar keys (for flutes in band, that would be sharp keys). I believe the only way you can really learn to blow with steady air is to play slowly. Finger technique is a distraction to learning to blow steadily, so remove it and encourage your students to pay attention to how the air moves through the line and between the notes.

Secondly, the guidelines for staying in tune through all dynamics are for loud dynamics, blow down more by reaching forward with the top lip, and for soft dynamics raise the air stream by pushing the bottom lip out more. Remember Independence for Lips? Getting good control of the direction of the air takes attentiveness and practice. Here is an exercise I recommend doing with a tuner. First, have the student establish a good baseline pitch for the given note at mezzo forte. Then have them start the same note as softly as possible, with a light and fast air stream, gradually get louder and then diminuendo again while maintaining the pitch center. Do this exercise first with a tuner, but with more experience, try it by ear to further train your ear. Finally, have the student try diminuendos of different lengths, first longer duration and then gradually shorter note values.

Helping your students learn to play in tune at any dynamic level is about making sure they understand the necessary physical skills and helping them developing their ears.

If you find these entries useful, please subscribe, share with your colleagues and come back regularly for more flute tips. Feel free to comment. If you have a topic you would like to see explored more fully, you can contact me via IM/Messenger on Facebook or email me at dr_cate@sbcglobal.net. For information about clinics and workshops click here.

To Roll or Not to Roll: That is the Question

Tags

dynamics, flute embouchure, flute intonation, flute pedagogy, flute tone

Do you ever feel as if getting your flute section to play in tune is like herding cats? Have you ever told your flute students to roll the flute in or out to adjust the pitch? Me and my flute teaching colleagues are all holding our ears and crying, “Noooooo!” Why the extreme reaction, you might ask? The answer is because rolling in and out to change the pitch is a chewing gum/rubber band solution for the issues of pitch awareness. It really doesn’t address the underlying issues of embouchure formation and pitch awareness. The student might be more in tune for the moment, but they won’t really learn what “in tune” really means and rolling in/out has a really negative impact on tone quality. And the next time they play the same passage, you are back to where you started because it will be just as out of tune as it was before you asked them to roll in or out the first time.

What are the tone problems caused by rolling in and out? If you roll in, you wind up covering the blow hole too much. This will make it flatter, but it also makes the tone dull, small, lifeless and impossible to play with any kind of dynamic range. If you roll out, the pitch will be somewhat sharper, but the tone will be thin, weak, won’t project and makes it impossible to play with any dynamic range.

It is essential to understand that correcting pitch problems means correcting embouchure and placement issues. Embouchure flexibility, dynamic and pitch control are basically one issue. As developing flutists, we all have to learn consistency in where we put the flute on our bottom lip/chin and how we direct the air. The best place to put the flute is where you can get the most resonance from the flute. This is different for each person because of the endless variation in size of lips, teeth and oral cavity. The only way to achieve a good, in tune sound is through experimenting with blowing angle, how much to open or cover the blow hole and teaching students lip independence. When students are not energizing the air column sufficiently (supporting), you see all kinds of compensating behaviors including pulling corners, pinching the aperture, closing the throat, clenching the teeth. All these behaviors cause pitch problems.

Here are some general guidelines for pitch and dynamic control:

• To raise the pitch, push the bottom lip forward to raise the airstream, while making sure the top lip is directing the air at the blowing edge.
• To play more softly and in tune, raise the air stream
• To lower the pitch, reach over with the top lip to direct the air down more
• To play more loudly and stay in tune, blow down more
• Be sure to blow with an energized air column (support) at every dynamic level.
• Stay relaxed in the throat, jaw, cheeks and use a focused air stream through the aperture in the lips.

Try this exercise with your students individually and in sectionals. Use a tuner and maintain the pitch with crescendo and diminuendo using the guidelines above.

If you find these entries helpful, subscribe, share with your colleagues and come back regularly for more flute tips. Feel free to comment and ask questions. What do you want to know about flute pedagogy? Maybe the answer to your question will be the next flute tip. Find me on Facebook or email me your questions at dr_cate@sbcglobal.net. For information about clinics and workshops click here.

Solving the Problems of Releasing on Flute

Tags

articulation, flute embouchure, flute intonation, flute pedagogy

You would think that releases are an easy thing on flute. After all, you just stop blowing.  It seems simple enough, but as we flute players know, there can be a bit more to it than that. There are two basic kinds of releases — short and long — which obviously depend the on tempo and style of what is being played.

Surprisingly, the short release can be fraught with the potential for picking up some really nasty habits for beginners and less experienced students. This can happen very easily if you don’t give the kids some direction about how to release but just ask for a quick release. I’ve identified two main problem releases among flute students: the tongue stop and the jaw drop. In both cases, the higher the note, the more pronounced the effect; neither attractive nor musical. The tongue stop is created by jamming the tongue into the aperture to stop the air. The jaw drop is created by abruptly opening the jaw, which also stops the flow of air.

The best way to do a short release is indeed to just stop blowing. Tongue stays low in the mouth, maintain the shape of the aperture and position of the jaw. Also, let me say that while using the tongue to release may be correct on other wind instruments, it is not correct on flute in most cases. The only cases in which it might be correct would be in certain advanced jazz/popular contexts, and then only in the hands of an already thoroughly trained flutist. Here is a quick demo of correct and incorrect short releases.

Have you ever noticed that in slower and more lyrical contexts, your students let the pitch drop when doing a slow release? Why is that and what can you tell the kids that will help them do that tapered release without sacrificing pitch? The answer to why the pitch can droop is that as you blow less, the speed of the air column is also diminishing somewhat. To compensate, you need to raise the blowing angle either by pushing out your bottom lip a tiny bit or even raising your head slightly. Personally, I’m not a big fan of raising your head, but for some people, this works well. This skill is the same as being able to change the blowing angle to change register (as discussed in The Very First Notes), though a bit more subtle. Here is an exercise your students can do either on their own or in a class setting to learn how to control the pitch in slow, tapered releases:

If you find these entries helpful, please subscribe, share with your colleagues and come back next week for another flute tip. Please comment and feel free to ask me questions. Maybe the answer to your question will be the next flute tip. Find me on Facebook or email me at dr_cate@sbcglobal.net. For information about clinics and workshops click here.

Helping Your Flute Students Play in Tune

Tags

flute intonation, flute pedagogy, flute students

It is extremely common for young flute players to play with the flute placed too high on their bottom lip (see the first post, The Legend of Kiss and Roll for more on this issue). Playing this way causes the sound to be thin, shrill and sharp. Another common problem is covering too much, i.e. more than half, of the blow hole with the bottom lip. This will cause the sound to be dull, pinched and flat. Another kind of weirdness I have observed with some kids is that they are not supporting the flute against their bottom teeth. This will also cause flatness and problems playing third octave notes at all. And lastly, for now, pulling corners when shaping the blowing aperture with the lips also causes sharpness. To quote Suzanne Duffy’s comment on this blog a couple weeks ago, “There’s the big problem in the intonation in these developing groups: incorrect tone production. . . So the best fix is actually changing how those students blow their instrument.”

So how do you go about helping your flute students play better in tune? Does rolling in and out work? Let’s just say no, not really. Constantly changing the relationship of lips to the blow hole does nothing to improve basic tone quality. If it is always changing, the tone will never be consistent. Also, rolling in and out does not really afford a very big difference in pitch on many notes, especially longer, right hand notes like F, E, Eb and D.

What does work, then? In a nutshell, the three things flute players value more than anything else are flexibility, sensitivity and independence of top and bottom lips. These qualities enable us to play with a focused sound, play with different tone colors and to adjust tuning as needed. You and your students can actually visualize this with a tool like the Pneumo Pro. Top and bottom lips need to move independently not only change register, but also control pitch and dynamic level. So if the pitch is too low, push the bottom lip out a little. Conversely, if the pitch is sharp, extend the top lip out a little in order to direct the air at a lower angle into the flute more. With dynamics, in order to play loudly and in tune, direct the air lower, and to play softly and in tune, raise the air stream. As an exercise, have your students sustain a note and go from soft to loud to soft, using a tuner. Maintain the tone color and change the direction of the air to correct the pitch.

If you find these entries helpful, please subscribe, share with your colleagues and come back next week for another flute tip. Your comments and questions are always welcome.