I’ve been playing the baroque flute for some time and only the other day I had a breakthrough: I would play nice but after 5min of playing my high notes would get hissy and demand a “spit” of air or articulation to trigger them, while before this I could do buttery smooth crescendo on them. I discovered that if I curl slightly my lower lip the air passes smoothly through the soft, wet skin and everything is smooth. Previously, I’d have my lower lip having the air pass through the outer skin and this gets dry and rough after 5mins and starts to hiss. Also (I don’t know if this is only the baroque flute..) approaching these high, and hard to play silently, notes with slightly bigger opening than usual, while pushing these curled lips forward, gives the most gradual, rounded and almost deep high note - the opposite of a beginner’s “shrill”. Thank you so much for your lovely vids and amazing loving and generous personality!
I've been playing C flute casually for over 30 years, main instrument is guitar. However, I took up Celtic open hole flute, key of D, several years ago and have a repertoire of about 30 celtic/bluegrass tunes I play at jam sessions. I will soon be playing celtic flute at gigs and can't afford an occasional inability to hit 3rd octave notes. It only happens after playing non-stop for more than 5 minutes. (Additionally, if I play successive up tempo tunes in row, same issue.) After those 5 minutes, I can't even hit highest A at all, when 5 minutes ago it was no problem. All the notes that were crystal clear and loud are now filled with air and half the volume. I will try the lower lip hint shown in Rosin Fairfield's post. Has anyone else had the problem I describe, and what did you do to resolve it?
jess if your jaw is not locked then you’re fine. I need to hear you to know what you’re doing but try to think of the top of your tongue gently touching the roof of your mouth and say tu
jess try saying “du” instead of “tu”, it is the same thing but it is a transient touch of the palate by the tongue, as opposed to the idea of the tongue doing a short “stop” like on the “tu”. The idea of the “t” sound is that the air is collected under pressure before “exploding” it and the tongue is stopped while the air is growing behind it. While the “d” sound can be done brushing the palate in a cursory fashion with a continuous air flow, no need for collecting pressure and explosions. Then also do not press to hard. Cheers!
Laurennnnn it's been so long. Where have you been? So I had a quick question. My high F is really sharp compared to the other notes, so I always have to roll in and it doesn't sound as good. Do you have any suggestions?
Replied earlier but didn't show on UA-cam :/. So sorry if you've gotten multiple replies ;p Anyway, yes the F# fingering I'd recommend is the one using right hand 2 and pinky instead of the usual right hand 3 and pinky. It's flatter and for me sounds much more easily than the regular fingering :)
"Frown in the lower register" is great advice! Thanks for a great video!
Thank you! you have changed my lower register for the better in 2 videos. Thank you thank you!
Love your videos , and have been very helpful
Thankyou so much! This was so helpful!!!
Glad it was helpful, thank you!
Thanks your tutorial really help me a lot
I never noticed how important releasing tension in your jaw was, but it really makes a huge difference. Thanks for the video!
Great video. Thank you sooooo much for all the work you do.
I’ve been playing the baroque flute for some time and only the other day I had a breakthrough: I would play nice but after 5min of playing my high notes would get hissy and demand a “spit” of air or articulation to trigger them, while before this I could do buttery smooth crescendo on them. I discovered that if I curl slightly my lower lip the air passes smoothly through the soft, wet skin and everything is smooth. Previously, I’d have my lower lip having the air pass through the outer skin and this gets dry and rough after 5mins and starts to hiss. Also (I don’t know if this is only the baroque flute..) approaching these high, and hard to play silently, notes with slightly bigger opening than usual, while pushing these curled lips forward, gives the most gradual, rounded and almost deep high note - the opposite of a beginner’s “shrill”. Thank you so much for your lovely vids and amazing loving and generous personality!
I've been playing C flute casually for over 30 years, main instrument is guitar. However, I took up Celtic open hole flute, key of D, several years ago and have a repertoire of about 30 celtic/bluegrass tunes I play at jam sessions. I will soon be playing celtic flute at gigs and can't afford an occasional inability to hit 3rd octave notes. It only happens after playing non-stop for more than 5 minutes. (Additionally, if I play successive up tempo tunes in row, same issue.) After those 5 minutes, I can't even hit highest A at all, when 5 minutes ago it was no problem. All the notes that were crystal clear and loud are now filled with air and half the volume. I will try the lower lip hint shown in Rosin Fairfield's post. Has anyone else had the problem I describe, and what did you do to resolve it?
This helped do much!!!
what does "relaxing the jaw" actually mean? do you mean opening your mouth a little more?
also, when I play, my tonguing is always really loud and the "tu" sound is very audible. how can i get rid of this? thank you!
jess if your jaw is not locked then you’re fine. I need to hear you to know what you’re doing but try to think of the top of your tongue gently touching the roof of your mouth and say tu
jess try saying “du” instead of “tu”, it is the same thing but it is a transient touch of the palate by the tongue, as opposed to the idea of the tongue doing a short “stop” like on the “tu”. The idea of the “t” sound is that the air is collected under pressure before “exploding” it and the tongue is stopped while the air is growing behind it. While the “d” sound can be done brushing the palate in a cursory fashion with a continuous air flow, no need for collecting pressure and explosions. Then also do not press to hard. Cheers!
The only video that helped me on this topic. Thanks a million!
Laurennnnn it's been so long. Where have you been?
So I had a quick question. My high F is really sharp compared to the other notes, so I always have to roll in and it doesn't sound as good. Do you have any suggestions?
Replied earlier but didn't show on UA-cam :/. So sorry if you've gotten multiple replies ;p Anyway, yes the F# fingering I'd recommend is the one using right hand 2 and pinky instead of the usual right hand 3 and pinky. It's flatter and for me sounds much more easily than the regular fingering :)
@@laurenteachesflute3583 Haha I noticed that too, but I was able to read it through my phone's notifications. Thank you very much!
Does different keys have different breathing?
Airy tone is a waste of air. Wide stream and bad angle.