Embouchure help: I'm playing too flat

[Cyberknight]

I've been playing flute for the first time over the last few months, and I've been teaching myself. The problem is that I can't get the thing in pitch no matter how hard I try. Other players play my flute and they can easily get it in tune. But when I play it, the entire first octave is about a semitone to a quartertone flat, except once in a blue moon when I magically find the perfect embouchure...and then inevitably lose it again.

If I push the tuning slide all the way in, I can play in pitch on the first octave...and then the second octave is painfully sharp.

What's the secret? It seems like the instrument naturally wants to fall down in pitch, and you're constantly having to fight it to get it sharp enough to be in tune. Is there a tutorial video that someone would recommend for fixing this? It's very frustrating. I feel like I've plateaued with the instrument, because it's too flat to play with other people.

[Terry McGee]

Do you have access to any other flutes to compare your results with? It's conceivable that there is something unusual about the flute.

And have you checked the location of the stopper compared to the middle of the embouchure hole? Normally set somewhere around 19mm (3/4") back from the middle of the embouchure hole, but may be better further back or forward. Moving it back flattens the upper octaves while strengthening the lower.

And would you say you are playing "tentatively", i.e. not pushing very hard? Try pushing it harder to see if that helps. Play loud!

Anything here of help? http://www.mcgee-flutes.com/Getting_the ... k_tone.htm

[Cyberknight]

Do you have access to any other flutes to compare your results with? It's conceivable that there is something unusual about the flute.

And have you checked the location of the stopper compared to the middle of the embouchure hole? Normally set somewhere around 19mm (3/4") back from the middle of the embouchure hole, but may be better further back or forward. Moving it back flattens the upper octaves while strengthening the lower.

And would you say you are playing "tentatively", i.e. not pushing very hard? Try pushing it harder to see if that helps. Play loud!

Anything here of help? http://www.mcgee-flutes.com/Getting_the ... k_tone.htm

Other than my M&E flute, I have a Hall crystal piccolo in C. I play it extremely flat as well. Those are the only flutes I have.

I'm not really sure how I'd check how far back the cork is. But I haven't messed with it since I bought the flute.

I try playing hard, playing soft, playing any way I can. Nothing seems to work. Once in a blue moon it's like something clicks and I can actually play it in tune. Suddenly the first octave is much sharper and has some overtones from the second octave in it, and switching octaves is effortless. And then, I lose it, and I can't get it back. So I'm pretty sure it's the embouchure. I wish I could remember what I'm doing when I can get it to work.

I haven't checked out that page on your website, so thanks for the suggestion! I'll take a look at it.

[Terry McGee]

Easy to check cork position. Find something that will go up the head bore (knitting needle, back of cleaning rod, pencil, whatever). Drop it in there until it's stopped by the stopper. (That's why they call it the stopper!). With a pencil or similar, mark the centre of the embouchure hole onto the aforementioned item. Tip it out and measure from end to the mark.

Now, you mentioned trying the flute on other players who seemed to be able to play it in tune. They are probably in a good position to work out what's going on. Most flute players are pretty helpful. They remember only too well the hurdles they had to get over to get going.

[Sirchronique]

When I first started playing flute I played flat for almost the first year or so. I had the head pushed all the way in and even then I was still a tiny bit flat. As my embouchure got better and my tone became stronger, I had to pull out the head more and more over time, and now I have a tendency to blow at what I believe is sharper than average, unless I intentionally blow flatter.

So, it might simply be something that will change and correct itself with time.


It could also be the cork, as has been stated above, but I’m not sure that it’s uncommon for beginners to sometimes have a tendency to blow a bit on the flat side. At least, that was my own experience.

[jim stone]

Possibly rolling the flute out (away from your face) in the first octave will lift the pitch. Sometimes flute have to be 'blown in tune.'

[David Cooper]

The only flutes I have are quenas, so the blow-hole is a little different in design (using the lower lip to close the near side of it), but I can vary the pitch by nearly a semitone just by pushing in closer towards the far side of the hole or opening the hole wider. The further back I go, the more careful I have to be in producing the jet of air so that it's still well formed when it reaches the notch/wedge at the far side of the hole. I suspect you're getting flatter notes because you're blowing from too close to the far side of the hole, covering too much of the hole with your lower lip, and you're doing that because you don't need such a well formed jet of air to produce nice notes. This is why the problem will disappear over time as you improve your jet formation, thereby allowing you to blow across at the far side of the hole from a millimetre or two further back.

[Steve Bliven]

Another option is to get a lesson or two from a competent teacher. Ideally, it would be with someone who plays a simple system flute but, failing that, even a classical flute teacher could assess your embouchure and approach to the "cutting edge" of the flute. It might save you a whole bunch of self experimentation.

Best wishes.

Steve

[Cyberknight]

I just want to say thank you to everyone offering me advice! Terry, your website was super helpful as always. I think I finally figured out what the issue is. It's pretty simple, really. I was playing with my bottom lip just a tiny bit too close to the blow hole. Spacing it out just a millimeter or so more than I was inclined to do makes the pitch of the first octave rise by several cents and brings the whole instrument into tune.

I think the problem is that I was misinterpreting internet advice on how to play with proper embouchure. I always hear stuff about how if you want a strong low D on an Irish flute, you should blow more "in" to the hole, and not as much over it. I interpreted that as advice as telling me to rotate the flute in till my bottom lip was very close to (and practically inside) the blow hole. I'm guessing that's not what people really mean, because the closer I put my lip to the blow hole, the flatter and more muffled the low D ends up playing.

[jim stone]

Second Steve's suggestion that you see a teacher. That's a good idea at the beginning even if you aren't having trouble.

[jim stone]

Second Steve's suggestion that you see a teacher a couple of times. Good idea at the beginning even if you aren't having problems. Check your grip too.

[Cyberknight]

Second Steve's suggestion that you see a teacher a couple of times. Good idea at the beginning even if you aren't having problems. Check your grip too.

Yes, I plan to once I'm back in Boston! I think even having a single lesson would likely help.

[jim stone]

Yes, Enough to iron out wrinkles about embouchure and grip and... Fundamentals. Can save you years. IMO a lesson or two at the beginning will do it. From then on the occasional workshop or even a lesson.....

[Steve Bliven]

If you're in the Boston area, you might check with Shannon Heaton https://shannonheatonmusic.com/about/ . She's a good instructor for either short-term or ongoing lessons.

Best wishes.

Steve

[stringbed]

I also have a chronic problem with playing too flat on any and every of the direct-blown wind instruments I’ve used. I compensated for it in the hardware when I was a kid (extra short barrel on my clarinet, short staples on oboe reeds) and finally realized what was causing the problem quite a while later. My body temperature is about 1°C lower than what is regarded as normal. (I have a fever at 37°.) This effects the temperature of the air inside the instrument I’m playing, slowing the velocity of sound that propagates through it. The audible upshot is that I’m playing too flat and it has nothing to do with technique. I’ve corroborated this with other people who are similarly “cool.”

So a question that might seem utterly irrelevant — but is your own body temperature normally on the low side?