Clare Southworth flutist enjoys a highly successful and varied career as performer flutist teacher flautist and author and is internationally acclaimed as one of the leading flutists of her generation Clare southworth claire flute music cd flute player professor of flute royal academy of music claire southworth claire International First Prize Winner of America’s National Flute Association Competition Prize Winner of the Madeira International Flute Competition. Clare Southworth flutist enjoys a highly successful and varied career as performer flutist teacher flautist and author and is internationally acclaimed as one of the leading flutists of her generation Clare southworth claire flute music cd flute player professor of flute royal academy of music claire southworth claire International First Prize Winner of America’s National Flute Association Competition Prize Winner of the Madeira International Flute Competition. Clare Southworth flutist enjoys a highly successful and varied career as performer flutist teacher flautist and author and is internationally acclaimed as one of the leading flutists of her generation Clare southworth claire flute music cd flute player professor of flute royal academy of music claire southworth claire International First Prize Winner of America’s National Flute Association Competition Prize Winner of the Madeira International Flute Competition. Clare Southworth flutist enjoys a highly successful and varied career as performer flutist teacher flautist and author and is internationally acclaimed as one of the leading flutists of her generation Clare southworth claire flute music cd flute player professor of flute royal academy of music claire southworth claire International First Prize Winner of America’s National Flute Association Competition Prize Winner of the Madeira International Flute Competition. Clare Southworth flutist enjoys a highly successful and varied career as performer flutist teacher flautist and author and is internationally acclaimed as one of the leading flutists of her generation Clare southworth claire flute music cd flute player professor of flute royal academy of music claire southworth claire International First Prize Winner of America’s National Flute Association Competition Prize Winner of the Madeira International Flute Competition.

Tips For Teachers

Back To Basics

Why go back to basics?” I hear you all cry. Well the reasons are simple, so many problems in flute playing, stem from bad habits in basic technique.

The essential points to be aware of are, posture, breathing, balance of the flute, hand positions, embouchure and position of the head-joint. Let’s look at these in a little detail.

Students need to be encouraged to regularly check or revise all these points, especially as so much time is spent playing alone. Teach them to observe themselves, using a mirror, to become more self-aware of what they are doing and so help correct any problems. They need to be their own critic. So much of what we do, cannot be seen by the player, and we have to develop a sense of feel. Is the flute higher than your mouth? Are your hands relaxed? Are you breathing correctly?

As a teacher, you do need to keep variety in lessons and constantly talking about basics can be very boring for the student, so maybe you could introduce a regular revision period into practice time. This could be five minutes every day, or every week, depending on the student. Stress the importance of not slipping into bad habits, which is so easily done regardless of standard. A few minutes of revision will help to maintain and improve standards.

Posture

Good posture leads to effective breathing, which in turn leads to good tone production.

Your students need to feel that the flute is an extension of their voice. This is a natural extension, where the students can feel at ease, with no tension.

Standing upright, keeping the head up and slightly turned to the left, is important because it keeps the windpipe clear. If the head is down, many problems can appear.

1. Breathing is more difficult and noisy.
2. Blowing out is restricted.
3. Noises can occur in the throat.
4. Pitch is often flat, because the air is being directed down too far.
5. Dynamics are difficult to control.

Breathing

There can be many problems connected to breathing. For now, I will keep to the most important points.

Check that when breathing in, the shoulders remain down and relaxed. As you inhale, the diaphragm moves down, pushing the abdominal muscles out of the way and the ribs expand. So, as you breathe in, you get fatter, and as you breathe out, you get thinner. When you take a breath, don’t stop before blowing out – if you do you will increase the pressure behind the breath and so will lose control when exhaling.

The diaphragm works to let you breathe in and the abdominal muscles work to let you breathe out.

You could imagine that blowing out is like using a hosepipe in the garden. You turn on the tap to set the water pressure, so the tap is your abdominal muscles. Change the pressure only from the tap, to alter the distance of the water, do not alter the aperture at the end of the hosepipe. Change the air speed from your tummy muscles, do not tighten the embouchure to play higher.

Correct breathing is your main control, your power source, and helps with tone production, pitch and dynamics.

Balance of the Flute

There are three balance points on the flute. These places enable you to hold the flute securely and so keep your fingers free to work the keys.

1. The base of your index finger.
2. Right hand thumb.
3. Your chin.

When your flute is up and ready to play, first look to the right, down the length of the flute. Check that the keys are level i.e. facing straight up to the ceiling. If they turn inwards towards you, then the flute will not be balanced and you will find that fingers needed to push down keys, are now holding the flute up. If this happens, turn the fingers out until they are level. Do not turn the head joint out, keep it in the same position.

This is an important lesson i.e. the position of the head joint should not change if your fingers change position.

Problem areas to look out for are; Left hand thumb, right hand index finger, right hand little finger. These are needed to be free for pushing down keys.

Hand Positions

Fingers should be curved, relaxed and over the centre of the keys. If fingers are relaxed they move, if there is any tension, they don’t! Use the pads of the fingers, not the tips, as this creates tension. Keep fingers close to keys, to help minimise movement and noise.

Both wrists should be bent slightly. With the left this allows support to be given to the flute and brings the fingers over the keys to enable them to curve. The right when bent allows the thumb to take support of the flute and frees the fingers. As with all technique exercises, if the student experiences any pain, they should stop!

Embouchure

The embouchure has the greatest effect on the sound that you produce. If it is tight, like when smiling. Then there will be no flexibility and so no control. The embouchure needs to be relaxed, allowing the flexibility of the lips and jaw. The muscles around the lips are used to support the shape, but not to pull the lips back.

Imagine that playing in the low register, is like standing outside on a windless day. You are completely relaxed. Playing into the middle register is when the wind starts to blow. You don’t tense up to stay upright, but you support yourself in the wind. The top register is when the storm blows, again you are not tense, but you lean into the wind to stop being blown over. So, as you play higher, let the muscles around your lips support and keep the shape of the embouchure, without tensing.

Position of the Head Joint

The head joint rests on the chin to help direct the air stream down and so produce resonance in the sound.

Everyone has a different shaped chin, therefore the exact position is dependant on each individual. The lower lip should cover a quarter to a third of the mouth hole. This allows for the greatest degree of flexibility, with tonal quality, pitch and dynamics.

There is some confusion as to how hard you should hold the head joint on your mouth. The best advice is- hold it in the most comfortable way for you – not so tight as to stop the flexibility, or so loose that the flute moves whenever you play quickly.

Remember that no matter what standard your student is, it is always important to check on these basic techniques to help prevent problems later on. As a teacher it is our job to be aware of problems, but with a student that you have taught for a long time, it is sometimes difficult to be objective. Then it is time to encourage your student to embark on some revision.

This then is a brief look at some of the most essential points. It is certainly not all the information, but should you need more help, then email me and I will be happy to answer any questions.

Article first appeared in the British Flute Society Magazine Pan.