open hole trouble

Basics of Flute Playing, Tone Production and Fingerings

Moderators: Classitar, pied_piper, Phineas

Post Reply
mai
Posts: 11
Joined: Fri Jan 23, 2004 1:53 pm

open hole trouble

Post by mai »

hey everyone Im a beginner in flute, playing for a few
months.. yesterday I tried to play an open-holed flute and my fingers had much
trouble with it.. I couldnt cover it well and it wouldn''t produce a tone.
(although i just tried for 2 mins).. I was wondering how much time should a
beginner usually take before going on such flute (I know its personnal though)
and if there are any ways to start working on the method of open-holed even
before I get one. (cause it looks to me that when I buy when I''d need to
start from beginning again!) and the most important: what are the open holes
for? vibrato? thanks -mai

User avatar
embum79
Posts: 169
Joined: Mon Dec 15, 2003 11:55 pm

open hole trouble

Post by embum79 »

Switching to open-holed is an adjustment period,
regardless of when you start. A friend of mine learned on an open hole, and she
was just fine. I think most people switch though. Most open holed flutes come
with little plastic plugs that you can put in the holes to make a gradual
transition. This makes it a lot easier. To be honest, I'm not sure what the
open holes are for, but it's not for vibrato. A good thing about open holes is
it forces your fingers to have a good position on the keys. You can also do
different tonal things (such as for modern music). Most high-end flutes have
open holes, but I'm not sure whether the holes have anything to do with tone.
Maybe someone else could enlighten us. [:)]
Cheers,
Emily

FluteDiddy
Posts: 197
Joined: Tue Dec 30, 2003 4:32 pm

open hole trouble

Post by FluteDiddy »

Adjusting to open holes usually goes pretty easily
and quickly. But that is usually done by someone that can produce tone and knows
their fingering. Takes a little longer for a beginner but I would recommend to
go ahead and go with the open holes. In the long run your fingering will be
better if you work on an open hole flute. You can always have them open for
practice at home and put the plugs in when at school if you find you still are
making mistakes because of the holes. Open holes allow the air to flow better.
You can perform some semi-tones and other "tricks" by partially covering a hole
or not sealing it completely. But those are very specialized and not used by
many players and definetly not in a HS band setting.
F-Diddy the Man with the Purple flute

User avatar
Flutey007Tooty
Posts: 7
Joined: Wed Oct 29, 2003 4:04 pm

open hole trouble

Post by Flutey007Tooty »

I just bought an open hole flute yesterday. I find
that all my fingers fit well except the ring fingers. I'm adjusting pretty
fast. The reason you couldn't make a sound is due to the fact your fingers
didn't cover the holes. As someone else said it comes with plugs so dont'
worry. I am also under the impression it's lighter, my arms dont' get as
tired. Not sure, but I think silver might be ligher than nickel. If you do get
one, look into the slit E feature, high e's come out TONS better! Well I hoped
that helped...as far as fingers not covering u might just have to way until they
get bigger. [:p] Cya
Play
it WELL, not loud and fast

whsmusicguy05
Posts: 17
Joined: Wed Feb 18, 2004 5:02 pm

open hole trouble

Post by whsmusicguy05 »

I've found that my flute has MUCH better intonation
when the plugs are out. About the vibrato question, under NO circumstances
should a finger vibrato be warranted on any instrument. Vibrato is a more
advanced technique because it takes the ability and experience. Hope I answered
your question [:)] [:p]

Post Reply