obligatory 2 week flooting..'am i doing somthing wrong' post

[s1m0n]

If you're going to bust somebody's balls over spelling and grammar, make sure yours are perfect.

There's a entire 'Karma Korps' of irony gnomes whose job it is to ensure that all spelling flames come well-larded with errors of their own.

[awildman]

Yes. I'm sure there's an error or two somewhere in my post as well. I'm not perfect, after all. Almost, but not quite.

[chris_coreline]

If I understand you correctly, you are asking for general advise on flute playing, because you don´t want to spend time figuring things out for yourself. If this is the case, there are many similar threads you can browse, to leech on information regarding flute playing; technique (rolls, cuts, taps, embouchure), or other tips.

your half right; however, its not out of lazyness that i posted that, moreso a desire not to 'figure it out wrong', its not a quick fix im after, its pointers to avoid making mistakes which will cause real pain in the future, a stich, in time saves nine and all that

Sir James Galway Masterclass - Embouchure

there's a whole series of 'em....go fish http://www.youtube.com/user/LarryKrantz

spot on
that'll give me somthing to get my brain round when i go home, thanks!

Don't be discouraged, just keep playing. It will come with time and practice. The more you practice the the easier it will get to breathe. I actually find the "deep breathing exercises" to be invigorating.

i was warned before i even started that the flute is a damn trickey instrument; im going at it for the long run, not to be a great player, but to be good enough to contribute in sessions and woo the wimmins... and maby earn money from american tourists.

so currently, im playing through my repitoir slowley while 'mucking about' with my lips to try and find a sweet spot, experimenting with various contrasting air-pressures . Sometimes ill loose the ability to make sound out of the thing for hours! sometimes i can brease through a few fast tunes breathing only slightly harder then on the low whistle.

I shall consult Sir James's videos tonight!

[Flutered]

Sorry to go off topic.. but frankly, I'm amazed that this thread could survive so long without a contribution from our erstwhile colleague known as 'Cork'. What did MTGuru really do? I think it only honourable and just to mark his passing. May he rest in peace ..

[Denny]

alas poor Coric
he's come unthreaded

[mutepointe]

I didn't have a chance to read all the posts. When I first started, I played during commercials while watching TV because that's all the breath that I had in me. I'm big on multi-tasking.

[Kirk B]

I didn't have a chance to read all the posts. When I first started, I played during commercials while watching TV because that's all the breath that I had in me. I'm big on multi-tasking.

I did the same thing. I played during the commercials while watching the entire Stanley Cup Series.

- Kirk

[awildman]

Great series, too! I did quite a bit of noodling myself during the games(when I should have been doing homework instead). Detroit should have won it, but I"m glad the Pens pulled it out. Nice to see another kindred spirit out there. This area doesn't have much hockey, so everybody thinks I'm weird for liking hockey and Irish music; it is quite an unusual combination.

[Kirk B]

This area doesn't have much hockey, so everybody thinks I'm weird for liking hockey and Irish music; it is quite an unusual combination.

I'm about an odd combination as well with my hobbies of motorcycling and flute playing. Good thing is that the flute fits in the saddlebag quite nicely. It's just hard to lean over in the curves and play at the same time.

[chris_coreline]

This area doesn't have much hockey, so everybody thinks I'm weird for liking hockey and Irish music; it is quite an unusual combination.

I'm about an odd combination as well with my hobbies of motorcycling and flute playing. Good thing is that the flute fits in the saddlebag quite nicely. It's just hard to lean over in the curves and play at the same time.

ill be quoting this post from now on everytime somone calls me out for taking a whistle with me when i go rock climbing.

[MeaghanEryn]

Here are some breathing/breath control ideas:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0Kyg0FX ... L&index=10 This is a video my flute teacher made us watch in woodwind techniques...it's a bit controversial but if it makes sense to you I think it's worth experimenting with.

I am told that the Breathing Gym (set of DVDs) has a ton of good exercises too, but I'm only familiar with a couple of them. Does anyone know more about the Breathing Gym?

I just started doing some hot yoga, and there are actually some really good breathing exercises there. A lot of the poses focus on opening up the upper chest area, and there is a lot of focus on extending the breath and so on. One exercise we do involves quickly forcing the air out with the abs and letting the suction draw the air in...it really helps to find the muscles Nina is talking about in that clip I posted. I was really surprised at how easily those ideas transferred to playing a wind instrument! So if you're at all into yoga....

One of the things I'm finding when I play is that I can keep the sound more energized if I think of trying to expand the lungs even as I breathe out. It seems really strange and counter-intuitive, because obviously your lungs are going to shrink when there is less air in them, but it's an image that works for me! It also really helps with breath control. Also try thinking of the sound as originating from somewhere deep in the body (like the belly) rather than the upper chest or throat or head.

Hopefully you find something useful here!

[celticmodes]

I consider myself a beginner though others think I'm more advanced so I'll put in my 2 cents. I think play with the easy notes at first...top of the first octave. Trying to honk out a low D right off will just frustrate you. If you've never dealt with the embouchure before stay away from the second octave until you get a good c#, b, a, g, f# under your belt.

The good news is that as you learn to breathe deeper you also learn to control your embouchure so the air stream is smaller (i.e. you'll need way less air). The vision of a newbie huffing and puffing with an embouchure that could allow a sausage to pass comes to mind. That was me

If you still have difficulty, consider learning from a concert (silver) flute teacher the basics of embouchure and breathing. You'll change what you're taught a bit since the ITRAD sound is more reedy (i.e. slightly different embouchure or angle) but that's a change you'll do unconsciously as you emulate your favorite players.

[Kirk B]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0Kyg0FX ... L&index=10 This is a video my flute teacher made us watch in woodwind techniques...it's a bit controversial but if it makes sense to you I think it's worth experimenting with.

I just watched the video and it makes sense to me. When I was a kid my saxophone teacher would put his hand in front of my gut and tell me to take a breath. my abs would pull in as I filled my lungs and he laughed and told me I had it bass-ackwards.

Hey teach... who's laughing now! Hahaha

Kirk

[crookedtune]

I'm a relative beginner, at about three years, so I seldom offer advice. Instead, I'll pass on a bit from Matt Molloy, who has gotten somewhat further with it all.

He pointed out that even the best player will have days when he/she can barely get a note of out the flute. You may be able to work through it, or you might just need to hang it up for later. As you develop as a player, those days become fewer and further between. (I think Matt's last was in 1958).