conquering urge to swallow???help

Kitty · Post by **Kitty** » Mon Oct 16, 2006 12:59 pm

I have recently changed my flute playing to include tonguing which i could not do before.
How do you stop your mouth filling with saliva when you are playing thus giving you the dreaded urge to swallow half way through a set.
I can't get through a whole set anymore.
please help
Kitty.

jim stone · Post by **jim stone** » Mon Oct 16, 2006 1:06 pm

Dont' know if it will help, but glottal stops are
an option, sometimes favored, in fact.
Can be used exclusively or mixed
with tonguing.

johnkerr · Post by **johnkerr** » Mon Oct 16, 2006 1:19 pm

If tonguing is causing you to salivate, it probably means you're using too much of your tongue. You really only need to move the very tip of your tongue to separate notes when playing the flute. It's a less-is-more approach that can take a while to learn, but once you've got it right you should find that the airflow across your tongue is enough to dry up any saliva that might be released due to the minimal stimulation your salivary glands will receive from the subtle movement of your tongue.

Another thing: Be sure not to eat right before you play. Eating right before playing always does seem to induce a lot of saliva, at least for me.

Il Friscaletto · Post by **Il Friscaletto** » Mon Oct 16, 2006 1:52 pm

Just go ahead and drool right into the embrochure hole. Maybe it seems somewhat disgusting, but it's just taking advantage of the flutes intrinsic features.

;)

Cathy Wilde · Post by **Cathy Wilde** » Mon Oct 16, 2006 4:24 pm

johnkerr wrote:If tonguing is causing you to salivate, it probably means you're using too much of your tongue. You really only need to move the very tip of your tongue to separate notes when playing the flute. It's a less-is-more approach that can take a while to learn, but once you've got it right you should find that the airflow across your tongue is enough to dry up any saliva that might be released due to the minimal stimulation your salivary glands will receive from the subtle movement of your tongue.

Another thing: Be sure not to eat right before you play. Eating right before playing always does seem to induce a lot of saliva, at least for me.

Ditto on drinking.

And honey, if you need to swallow, just take a longish breath break and swallow. It's not worth dying over. You'll sort it out eventually.

Chiffed · Post by **Chiffed** » Mon Oct 16, 2006 8:27 pm

Sorry. Wrong thread.

Denny · Post by **Denny** » Mon Oct 16, 2006 8:52 pm

Chiffed wrote:Sorry. Wrong thread.

it has...ah...been...ah...difficult...

How many options can you find?

Half way through the B part, the second time, and she drowns.

treeshark · Post by **treeshark** » Tue Oct 17, 2006 2:45 am

I used to get this, the trouble was that thinking about salivating causes it to occur... I don't know how it stopped it just did, but now I've been reminded... oh no!

Sylvester · Post by **Sylvester** » Tue Oct 17, 2006 3:35 am

Just play in front of an audience

Cathy Wilde · Post by **Cathy Wilde** » Tue Oct 17, 2006 8:35 am

Sylvester wrote:Just play in front of an audience

!!!

Preferably on a hot day.

Sylvester · Post by **Sylvester** » Tue Oct 17, 2006 9:29 am

Cathy Wilde wrote:
Sylvester wrote:Just play in front of an audience
!!!

Preferably on a hot day.

and cameras recording.

Chiffed · Post by **Chiffed** » Tue Oct 17, 2006 11:58 am

"Paging Dr.Pavlov......."

Cathy Wilde · Post by **Cathy Wilde** » Tue Oct 17, 2006 3:31 pm

Please report to the rat room stat .... DING!

lesl · Post by **lesl** » Wed Oct 18, 2006 10:46 am

How do you stop your mouth filling with saliva when you are playing thus giving you the dreaded urge to swallow ...

Tilt your head back a little. Also, along with the anti-eating advice, don't be eating a blue cheese salad in the middle of a session when suddenly someone starts to play your favourite tune (yes this happened to me..).