Playing "on the shoulder"
- Sylvester
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I play on the shoulder too. No pain or stress so far. I feel confortable playing this way, it gets my very often erratic tone better.Jim Troy wrote: having the flute ON the shoulder allows you to have the throat open more , for a better air flow , as with the head up higher , there's less constriction .
From a musical point of view, no matter how you grip, posture or blow as long as you are happy with it. I agree that alternative exercise is important. As many others, I can't play as long as I would, but after some days of longer periods playing (weekends, holidays, Fleadhs...) my whole body (and not only my neck) thanks heartedfully some sports activity.
Except swimming. All those chemicals make my nose, lungs and eyes go crazy.
- Matt_Paris
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- Nanohedron
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- Tell us something.: Been a fluter, citternist, and uilleann piper; committed now to the way of the harp.
Oh, yeah: also a mod here, not a spammer. A matter of opinion, perhaps. - Location: Lefse country
- Cathy Wilde
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I have one flute that I often want to put on my shoulder and sometimes do; not so much with the others.
This particular flute, a keyless Murray, seems to be longer between the embouchure hole and the crown than my others. Something about the difference in length and balance makes it just gravitate toward my shoulder. Weird, but there it is.
This particular flute, a keyless Murray, seems to be longer between the embouchure hole and the crown than my others. Something about the difference in length and balance makes it just gravitate toward my shoulder. Weird, but there it is.
Deja Fu: The sense that somewhere, somehow, you've been kicked in the head exactly like this before.
- Cathy Wilde
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- psychih
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flute players always strike my fancy. how they hold the flute is besides the point....'tis how they sound that mattersSylvester wrote:Sure? I'm constantly asked by lots of beautiful girls why I hold the flute that way. They all want to try it. Otherwise they'd only pay attention to the piperRo3b wrote:All other issues aside, if you don't rest the flute on your shoulder, it looks much cooler.
- bradhurley
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- cocusflute
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Vacuous teachings
Teachers and musicians who argue too much for one position or other do so because they haven't got a lot to say about the music. When you think of all the great players, and how many different ways they hold their instruments, it's obvious that it really doesn't matter much.
Violin teachers generally stress the importance of a straight wrist, a la classical players. But Kevin Burke and James Cullinan, for instance, collapse the wrist when they play, like old-timey fiddlers - except when they go up the neck, or want more vibrato perhaps -- i.e., when they don't want to collapse the wrist.
Catherine McEvoy has been playing with flute on shoulder for about forty years, with no problem. Harry played flute on shoulder for two whole previous lifetimes with no problem. Brad Hurley, aside from not being able to hear other musicians, plays flute in head. But he's got the room.
It really doesn't matter that much.
Violin teachers generally stress the importance of a straight wrist, a la classical players. But Kevin Burke and James Cullinan, for instance, collapse the wrist when they play, like old-timey fiddlers - except when they go up the neck, or want more vibrato perhaps -- i.e., when they don't want to collapse the wrist.
Catherine McEvoy has been playing with flute on shoulder for about forty years, with no problem. Harry played flute on shoulder for two whole previous lifetimes with no problem. Brad Hurley, aside from not being able to hear other musicians, plays flute in head. But he's got the room.
It really doesn't matter that much.