low c

[BiGSCARYMONSTER]

I can't play low c (like the one thats one line below the staff) ...when I try to play it it sounds all weird ....idk what I'm doing wrong ?

[FltnPicc_David]

Maybe you need to loosen the embouchure and then blow more air to support it. I also advise blowing into the flute, not across for low register

[cys56tango]

I am an "old" flute player who has picked it up again after competing when I was younger...I didn't realize how much I had missed it! I foun an organist who will play accompaniments with me at church! OK...enough enthusiasm. I was drawn to this post because I, too, am having trouble with low C on my B foot. I can get the C out...my piece of music...Albinoni's Adagio in G minor has some quick scales using low c to E flat which I am having a great deal of difficulty with...so I have been cheating by raising up an octive for that bar. Not satisfying.

Any ideas?

CYS

[amhso]

just keep playing them. then play scales starting from an octave above the note you're trying to play, and then go down. while slurring you usually can get the note easier...and then as you get the note, observe how you got the note while slurring. then try doing exactly what you were doing while slurring...except just skip the scale and try to play the note.

[schoolgirl0125]

think of NICE..Deep. RICH..DARK notes. like a melted chocolate..oh yea:D. i would suggest doing long tones. it helps me get it all the time...and when you're doing long tones to get the c remember what you did with the position of your embrochure^_^

[Sleeping Turtle]

open the throat and let your breath do it. Let the C sit on your belly. Don't get tense - totally ruins the whole thing. Use the tone exercises which go down a semi-tone at a time and, starting where you can make a good sound, work it down.

T

[Zevang]

This low C problem can be just a matter of adjustment between C and C# keys.
I'd recommend to check this closely fisrt, or take the instrument to a technician.

Zevang

[Meredith]

Zevang beat me to it... the most common cause of a problem in low C/B is a leak in one of the keys. Make sure there is no air leaking out.

Also, do you pull your jaw back in general when playing low notes (say, anything below an E)? Pulling your jaw back when playing low notes shifts the air stream in a manner most conducive for playing lower notes.

Also, as an exercise to help with tone on low notes generally, I'd suggest playing the lowest note that you can play to your satisfaction (say , D), and then slurring from that note down in half-step incrimentents. For example: play a D to your satisfaction, then slur it into a C#, work on the C# until it is to your satisfaction, then slur into a C.

(This exercise, which I believe that my old teacher picked up from either Baker or Bennett, works quite well with any note that one's having tonal difficulties with.)

Good luck!