For those who has V shaped upper lip at the centre

[Tchie]

I noticed that some people share the same problem as I have:
V shaped upper lip at the centre

I wonder how the other people manage to blow and sound nice.

For me, because of this v shape on the upper lip (at the centre), I make the embouchure on the left. As I have small hands and arms, I can gain some distance (in others words, my face is placed pretty right to the normal facial position of the normal people) You do not have problem with airly sound?

[Jon C.]

I noticed that some people share the same problem as I have:
V shaped upper lip at the centre

I wonder how the other people manage to blow and sound nice.

For me, because of this v shape on the upper lip (at the centre), I make the embouchure on the left. As I have small hands and arms, I can gain some distance (in others words, my face is placed pretty right to the normal facial position of the normal people) You do not have problem with airly sound?

Kevin Krell can chime in at some point on this thread...

[Jayhawk]

I have that problem, too, and I also tend to blow a bit off to the side...poor genetics and getting hit with a fire hydrant cap when I was sevenish are to blame.

Eric

[Gaaslaj]

I too have a V upper lip, so I play on the left side of it and close my lips on the right side. This has been on the forum before, but go to this website and click on the letter "O". There's a lot of funny looking embouchures that work, J.

http://www.larrykrantz.com/embpic.htm

[kkrell]

I noticed that some people share the same problem as I have:
V shaped upper lip at the centre

I wonder how the other people manage to blow and sound nice.

For me, because of this v shape on the upper lip (at the centre), I make the embouchure on the left. As I have small hands and arms, I can gain some distance (in others words, my face is placed pretty right to the normal facial position of the normal people) You do not have problem with airly sound?

Kevin Krell can chime in at some point on this thread...

Why me? OK, I have the "teardrop" and thus would likely be kicked out of the Boehm flute player's club. Of course, I'd first have to leave because I didn't start playing at age 7, 6, 5, or even 4.

BTW, mildly off-topic, is an interesting article about other embouchure-related problems, and exercises toward solutions, in the Spring 2000 issue of the Flutist Quarterly, a publication of the National Flute Association. The article is "Myofunctional Disabilities and the Flute" by Judith Thomas. It discusses the primary muscles involved, the "buccinator" (jaw) muscles, "masseter" (chewing) muscles, and the "orbicularis oris" (moustache or whisting) muscles, and their use in focusing the airstream and controlling tone.

Anyway, I don't think anyone is doomed to be unable to play flute because of the teardrop condition. The most common solution I've seen discussed previously, whether on the woodenflute list or somewheres on C&F is to play with the airstream offset to one side of the teardrop. The main thing is to be able to find a position that allows you a reasonable amount of consistency.

I find that insisting to try and play in the center of the lip means that I will have more daily variation and frustration than just adapting to one's anatomy. However, I have also found over time, that the greater the control of the muscles in the face around the lip, that appropriate tension for flute playing also seems to pull the teardrop up and flatten my upper lip, so perhaps my problem is less pronounced now.

Kevin Krell

[Dana]

Why me? OK, I have the "teardrop" and thus would likely be kicked out of the Boehm flute player's club.
Kevin Krell

Nope, you'd be most welcome. Rampal (world-famous Boehm French flutist, now deceased) also played off center, but I gather that he didn't actually have the teardrop, he just naturally played off center.

I do have a bit of a teardrop, and play toward the left of my embouchure. Trying to force it towards the middle is a losing battle, in my opinion. My goal as an admittedly Boehm player is to maintain a clear, resonant, big sound, with the most natural position for my mouth. I've spent years perfecting this, and my best position has always been off center. (Others' mileage may vary). As an aside, I think it might be a bit harder at first for some of us with a teardrop. When I started flute at age 11, I couldn't get much sound out of a bottle.

Dana

[Gaaslaj]

I found that mine would "flap in the wind"! J.

[Dave Parkhurst]

oooohhh.... like Angelina Jolie! She is sooooo foxy!!!!!

Dave

[Unseen122]

I have a teardrop shape, but I never payed any attention and don't play to the side and it sounds just fine.

[BillG]

And so maybe stupid is as stupid asks but, what is a tear drop upper lilp?

BillG

[Denny]

check here
M through Q

[BillG]

I just went back into Krantz' flute site and sutdied all of the embouchures there. I noticed they all rested their flutes ON the meaty part of the lower lip and not just below the line separating the chin from the lower lip. I can't remember if I played that way when I played Boehm and I now ask:

How any of you wooden flute players rest the embouchure hole bottom ON the beefy part of your lower lip? Mine likes to sit lightly there and stays pretty well when I force the rest of me to relax - arms, fingers, pressure, et al.

BillG

[Dana]

I have a teardrop shape, but I never payed any attention and don't play to the side and it sounds just fine.

I don't guess that anyone actually aims to play off-center. I certainly didn't. I'd played for quite a few years before I noticed the off-center aperture. That location is just where my best, most flexible tone occurs. I hadn't noticed till recently that I had a teardrop - in fact, I'd never heard the term used till a couple years ago.

Dana

[Walden]

Do folks with a harelip need to do the opposite?

[Dana]

H'mmmm, I'll have to think about that one.