Please help me with baroque flute embouchure.

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gerardo1000
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Re: Please help me with baroque flute embouchure.

Post by gerardo1000 »

Yes the problem with Irish flute is that it is not really chromatic, also I find the use of half-covered holes not satisfying because the tone suffers too much.
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Re: Please help me with baroque flute embouchure.

Post by fatmac »

Fair enough. :wink:

(Most of what I tend to play, I can transpose easily enough.)
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Re: Please help me with baroque flute embouchure.

Post by dubrosa22 »

This is quite a good book with both modern and classic texts for the Baroque or Classical flute:

https://www.amazon.com/Method-One-Keyed ... 0520214471

"This is the best introduction to the one-key (baroque) flute for Boehm system flute players available today. With her comprehensive knowledge of the numerous historical treatises and tutors and her extensive practical experience as a player and teacher, Jan Boland has fashioned a guide that is at the same time informative and enjoyable. I only wish it had been available when I set out to learn the one-key flute. It would have saved me much time and led me directly to the most important sources."―John Thow, composer and Professor of Music at the University of California, Berkeley
'...I want to warn you that playing the flute is impossible for those who have no tongue, for all notes must be led by the tongue; therefore, those of you who take pleasure in playing the flute should guard your tongue against mould, which is to say, drink often.'
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Re: Please help me with baroque flute embouchure.

Post by cac »

Chet, I have a question, maybe a naive question. If I decide to focus on learning the baroque flute, how much will I be limited in the range of music that I could play, compared to a Bohem flute? I mean: is it possible to use the baroque flute to play also other kind of music, like jazz, classical, pop, Irish? I know that the traditional silver flute is incredibly versatile, but I find myself very attracted to the baroque flute. I am 67 and will never be able to be an accomplished player of both kind of flutes.
I'm afraid that the blunt answer is 'very limited'. The cross fingerings that are necessary to play a chromatic scale on the baroque flute affect tonal quality greatly (something which, to some extent, was appreciated in the baroque era) and also speed, so playing jazz and classical on the baroque flute would not work. The sound is much too soft for Irish music, and the F sharp is significantly flatter than on Irish or simple system flutes and requires too much adjustment with the lips (or rolling the flute out) to work for anything at speed in Irish music. My own preference is a baroque flute for baroque music, a simple system flute or a Boehm flute for early to mid 19th century classical music, a Boehm flute for the rest of classical, and a modern-made Irish flute for Irish music. Sadly, I don't play jazz flute, although I listen to it. Although there are a few Irish flute players who play on a silver flute (e.g. Joannie Madden, Áine Heslin, Billy Clifford), and Joannie in particular is really outstandingly good, I can't imagine even trying it myself.

My advice to you is to start with the flute that you have, work through Jan Boland's book (which regrettably doesn't go very far), continue with your silver flute and get a keyless Irish flute. If your health is good, you will have many years of happy playing ahead of you. I realize now that I've left off pop music. But since I know nothing about that, perhaps you'll excuse me doing so!
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Re: Please help me with baroque flute embouchure.

Post by benhall.1 »

gerardo1000 wrote:Yes the problem with Irish flute is that it is not really chromatic, also I find the use of half-covered holes not satisfying because the tone suffers too much.
There is, of course, no such thing as the "Irish flute". However, when I hear the term, I think of a keyed flute, generally with 8 keys. That makes it fully chromatic.

But maybe this is a digression of mine, in which case, apologies.

By the way, I only quoted your post, Gerardo, to illustrate what I was getting at, not because I was trying to argue with your post in itself - the issue arose a few posts earlier with the idea of a "Celtic" flute.

I've tried a baroque flute a few times. I have to say that I've found the embouchure very challenging indeed. Maybe it's so different that you could train your brain to just think of it as an entirely different instrument.
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Steve Bliven
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Re: Please help me with baroque flute embouchure.

Post by Steve Bliven »

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=107141

Best wishes.

Steve
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