Embouchure Development

Irish Flute
1

Okay, folks, I been blowing on this flute for a little more than six months, now, unsuccessfully trying to get it to sound Irish- like Conal, or Kevin, or Seamus, or any one of dozens of excellent players.

So far, all I can get it to do is occasionally sound a little “flutey”. No honks, or growls, or barks, or sheepnoise, nothing. I have asked several other players, including some on this board. The best answer I got was “blow hard”. I did, and got flute sounds, and damn near fainted from the exertion. The only thing Irish in this house right now is whiskey.

Lacking other sources to check, I have decided that it is the fault of my embouchure, or lack of one.

The question is, without a local teacher who can demonstrate one on one, how in the world can I “develop”, strengthen, tighten, build, or otherwise improve mine?

Does anyone have any exercises, routines, practice techniques,that can first strengthen the muscles needed to form said embouchure, and second, any ideas on how to tell if it is improving and going in the right direction? Any input would be appreciated. I have been searching around my area for anyone who teaches traditional flute with no success.

I got a compliment on my flute playing last week. The A/C man came by and heard me practicing. He said it sounded real nice to him. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that he had been listening to a Seamus Egan CD.

2

As another flute learner (sometime whistle player) I can sympathise. I’ve found the following advice works for me, although ultimately the tone I get has as much to do with the instrument as embouchure. You didn’t say what flute you play. Mine’s a Tony Dixon polymer three piece, and I can get a strong reedy tone. I played (attempted) a first class instrument belonging to someone else the same way (an unamed, keyed body with an awesome Abel head) and got a more mellow tone but greater volume.

First mouth shape - with a full bottom lip, relax and form the word “pure”, without compressing the lips or pulling in the corners of your mouth. Second flute head orientation - I find twisting the flute head towards me slightly so that the back edge of the hole is in line with the center of the finger holes helps. An experienced player told me not to do this because it restricts your ability to alter the tone but when I first started I found it the only way to get a consistent sound and get the feel of the instrument. Thirdly blowing - imaging you are pushing the air down the pack face of the hole. When you hit the spot right the instrument comes alive. Not only do you get strong sound but you can feel vibration running through all the finger holes. The instrument sings and you don’t have to blast air to get decent volume. Lastly keep practicing. It took me three months to be able to nail a note.

I’m interested to hear what advice more experienced players can give.

3

I’m not sure “Blow hard” is a good idea. It’s probably easier to get an aggressive tone by blowing harder, but it’s not how you want to do it: you might want to get an aggressive tone while playing quietly, or you might want to be able to play through a whole tune without passing out.

Best thing I can say is to just play with your embouchure and see what it does. (Yes, that means long tones, but not consistent long tones.) Try pulling your mouth back into a smile, bunching your lips up in a kiss, and everything in between, and see how it affects the sound. Move the flute around, too – rotate it and move it up and down and see what happens. Use a mirror to make sure the flute isn’t crossing your lips at an angle and to make sure your mouth is centred on the hole.

You’ll see relationships developing, and as time goes on you’ll find yourself able to pull the sound you want out.

As for a starting point, my own embouchure improved quite a bit when someone at a session here pointed out to a non-flutist that the thing you do with your lips feels like you’re trying to shoot a grain of rice across the room. :slight_smile:

Cheers,

    -Rich
4

I have finally reached the point where my embouchure is somewhat consistant. I can now pick up the flute without warming up and get thru a tune. As a fellow beginner (I feel I will always be one)I think the advice here has been great. One thing I might add, that is do not base your embouchure on the look of someone else. As has been mentioned..focus on feel. I tried looked at pictures of other’s and even tried to mimic my instructors face..but never succedded in drawing the corners of my mouth down as he did. When I finally gave up and stopped lessons for a while I discovered what worked for me. I remembered as a kid taking empty 22 shells and making them whistle by holding them up to my lips and blowing down into the top. This gave me some confidence that I could at least focus a stream of air into a tiny shell surely I should be able to aim the air-stream at the other side of the embouchure hole to get this flute to sound.
Everyone’s face and lips are unique and you will best find your embouchure by feel, sound and lots and lots of practice…

The feeling like you are going to pass out will pass after a while. I sometimes would practice laying flat on my back on my bed. I remember as I would practice and get that airy feeling I would actually begin to see little lights flicking across the ceiling back and forth as I slowly began to loose consiousness. It took a while but it doen’t happen anymore. I played for my parents the other day and was a little happy when my father said “Geesh when are you going to take a breath”. That’s how Irish Fluting first sounded to me until I realized that your breathing and rythm are inseperable and your breathing can help accentuate the rythm. When your embouchure develops you will have enough air eventually to decide where a breath (pause) sounds best in a song and learned to cut a note out here and there.

Good luck and all the best,
Craig



Good luck,

Craig

5

Hi!
I’ve played flute for quite a while now, but I’m afraid there’s no easy answer to the old embouchure question… The only suggestion I can make is that you start with a really loose, relaxed mouth - almost as if you were blowing bubbles. (Open lips, no forcing air from your cheeks). By blowing like this, you should be able to get a really airy sound - almost no actual tone. Then, gradually tighten your lips from the corners, until you start to get the kind of tone that you want. This allows you to feel exactly what muscles you need to use to get various levels of tone. When you find an embouchure that works for you, then you’ll be in a better position to pinpoint which parts of your face are causing the tone (I know, this isn’t a very elegant way of putting it, but hey :slight_smile:).
Turning the headjoint towards your body will also help. Don’t worry about this restricting your playing - if and when that starts to happen, you’ll realise it, and it’s not difficult to adjust to the headjoint angle.
You could also try checking out the angle between your flute, and your lips, when you play. Ideally, to get the most consistent tone, the flute and your lips should be parallel. [I know what I mean, but it’s hard to describe!] This seems like a little point, but it’s incredibly easy to pull your right shoulder (if you play flute right-handed) backwards as you play, and re-adjusting - just pushing the end of the flute further away from your body - can have an instant and noticeable effect on the efficiency of your blowing.
This probably isn’t any consolation right now, but eventually you will be able to play tunes using about the same amount of breath as you would on the whistle… As the old saying goes, it’s not what you have, it’s what you do with it :wink:!
Good luck!
Deirdre

[ This Message was edited by: fluter_d on 2002-08-12 18:35 ]

6

As a beginner, I’ve had one lesson that still serves me in each practice. Listen and experiment.

Make the air stream faster, taller, wider, narrower, slower, and combinations of each (fast narrow, slow narrow, fast wide, slow wide, etc.) focus the stream on the various parts of the back of the hole and from various angles. Rotate the flute forward and a way, swing the end out and in, experiment with all the different sounds, volumes, clarity, and tempor of the tones you get. Now try to repeat a tone, louder, softer, shorter, longer, then play the next note in the scale with the same volume, temper, and rythym. My teacher’s point was that the tones that were most usable would surface and the simularities be habituate. Her other point was to keep experimenting and keep listening. That way when I want the rasp of defiance, the whisper of the maiden’s accent, the mornfull dole of the last shovel of dirt on the grave. All those tones will be available and I would no how to bring each out of the flute.

I’m still learning my instrument. I’ve picked up a couple tunes that play with my habituated tones, and a couple that need some edge that I’m still searching for.

BTW, I too am learning with a Dixon 3 piece polymer, the broad range of rich tones available with the dixon still impresses me. Now if I can just get the same tones out it twice in a row …

Enjoy Your Music,

Lee Marsh

[ This Message was edited by: LeeMarsh on 2002-08-12 17:00 ]

7

Hi:

One word: patience. It’ll take time, but you’ll get there. Having put in 6 motnhs, you’ve got a ways to go (this from my own experience and what others have told me). Just keep experimenting, as others have said, and be mindful of what works. After a while your muscles will develop and you’ll be able to hold the position that works for you, and then after a while you’ll be able to hold it longer and longer.

Tim

8

Yeah, I’ve gotta pretty much agree with the others: Lot’s of practice and experimentation, most important: Be CONSISTENT with your practice - do it every day if at all possible, even if it isn’t for as long as you’d like.

I won’t even go near the whole “Tight vs Relaxed” embouchure topic, except to say that I’m finding both are required in order to get the widest variety of tonal colors from my flute (like Lee mentioned). Try as I might I’ve not found anyway to get that reedy, hardedged and biting Irish tone without using the “Lips stretched tightly over the teeth” embouchure. However some tunes just sound better with the purer sweeter tone you get from the “lips relaxed pushed out a bit (pouting fish)” emboucher. So, I find each type of embouchure valuable, and therefor I practice both, however practicing the relaxed lip for too long in a practice session often wreaks havoc on my tight lip ability :frowning:

Just one more reason I should practice even more…

Loren

9

Hello Ronbo
Its very difficult to give you good advice without actually hearing you play (and indeed knowing what quality of flute you are playing). As someone has said earlier, six months is not a long time to be playing and good tone development takes a considerable time.
Personally I am not a fan of the loose lips embouchure, although I do not reccommend the lips of iron approach either. A slight stretch of both the upper and lower lips should do the trick. However the muscle control to maintain this consistently takes some time.
Blowing hard is not a good solution either…instead focus on getting as high a percentage of the air air as possible into the flute while still achieveing that air stream split at the far side of the embouchure hole. I have also found that turing the headjoint in helps but folks differ on this.
Many things influence tone quality and almost all of them improve with practice
e.g. air control, maintaining your embouchure formation, ability to hold the the flute steady and parallel to your lips, stamina and your ability to respond to slight adjustments that may be required. Loren recommended daily practice and this is something I would also endorse. Start by playing a simple tune you know well to warm up the flute and yourself. Do about 5 minutes of blowing long tones and then finish off with a few tunes you are learning. If at any stage your tone deteriorates drastically stop and make the necessary adjustments to get it acceptable.

Just as a note of encouragement, when I was a youg fella staring out I’d blow until I fell off the chair with dizziness, recover and get back up. Gradually my time sitting upright improved…along with my tone!

Beir Bua
Conal
http://www.scoiltrad.com
…the virtual music school

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11

While I’ve not been playing the flute any longer than you, Ronbo, I think I have one tiny piece of advice to add to the reams of good advice given so far… when I get a ‘good, irish tone’ (usually not for very long…) I can feel the tone in my fingers, the vibrations of the air pressing up on the holes I’m covering… while I’m in this ‘good spot’, the flute is -much- more responsive to large pitch jumps, and I think a good bit louder, even though it doesn’t seem to be requiring much, if any, more air.

Now, if only I could get that sound consistently… anyway, that’s all I really have to say, is to feel the sound with your fingers (or if you’ve really got it, with your mouth… the airstream vibrates right back out of the flute sometimes…)

Maybe some more experienced player will now tell me this is a terrible thing to be getting, but it’s sure the closest thing to the ‘irish’ sound that I get out!

–Chris

12

Many times before I guess that you have maybe read that I am starting to learn how to play the flute. I have the same problem. I have experience playing a classical flute. I had the joker rollin out tunes the first month. Trying to learn the Irish flute is a whole new ball game. I have almost passed out several times playing. Believe me, no fun thing.
Thank you so much for the advice kgharper and rich. I think I would have some more people to thank, but my eyes got tired and it all got blurry and I couldnt read any more.(sorry!) Thank you again!!