What Does It Take To Learn The Flute?

Trying to learn to play the flute? You might have heard a few flutist who didn't

go through formal training but still were able to master the instrument. But even then, there are many benefits to having a flute teacher teach you the basics of playing the flute.

Granted that you might be able to save some money when you teach yourself but that benefit is easily overcome by the benefits you get.

For beginners, the basic things to learn are blowing into the flute and finger positioning. Blowing into the flute's mouth hole creates a vibration, which in turn produces sound. The frequency of the vibration depends on the length of the air column in the flute. To produce the desired tones, certain key holes have to be covered by the fingers.

Working With the Mouth Hole and Finger Keys

Aside from the blow hole, the flute has a set of key holes along its main body. If you blow into the flute with these holes uncovered, the flute will produce its highest tone. However, if all the key holes are covered, what you'll get is the lowest tone. The correct way of blowing on the flute is by placing the lower lip lightly on the mouth hole. But when using a thick-walled flute, your lips should be pressed harder against the head joint. Blowing hard is not necessary; the tone you desire will be much easier to produce if you blow gently on the mouth hole.

Make sure that the mouth hole faces upward and your head is held straight up as you blow. Refrain from pulling up or curling your lips when blowing. The lower lip should cover approximately one-fourth of the mouth hole. If there is no sound coming from the flute, make sure that your lips are not pulled up. Change the angle at which your breath enters the hole. Try to also change the pressure in your blow and the way your mouth is gripping or extending over the mouth hole. People with larger lips may have to exert more effort to learn flute. A sizable protrusion on the upper lip can block the passage of sufficient air into the hole, splitting the breath to the left and right. The solution is to pull the top lip back. If the desired tone is not yet achieved despite forming the right flute embouchure, other instruments may be considered like the oboe, clarinet or saxophone. However, this problem rarely affects people who want to learn flute. It is only seen in 1 out of 300 flute students.

Finger Positioning

You need to master the fingering system if you want to learn. The fingering system specifies which holes each finger should be placed on to play a particular note. Flutists also follow a standard finger positioning.

The left hand normally holds the front of the instrument near the end. As for the left hand, the index finger should be on the second key. The middle finger should be on the fourth key, and the ring finger on the next key.

The pinky finger has the duty to manage the key that is sticking out from the top of the instrument, while the thumb is in charge of the key at the side. The index, middle and ring fingers of the right hand are assigned to the three keys nearest to the end of the flute, while the right pinky finger goes to the key at the top of the foot joint. The right thumb is placed underneath the flute.

by: Pamelina Siow

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