Harmonics?

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JustinDad
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu Aug 15, 2019 7:19 pm

Harmonics?

Post by JustinDad »

So I’m practicing the C Major Arpeggio, and I noticed that I can play multiple notes with the same fingering - E4 & E5, for example. Is this what is referred to as “harmonics”? Or is “harmonics” when you can hear two notes at once?

How many notes can be played from a single fingering? With some I can do two, and others I can do three? Where could I find this documented?

I would find it extremely helpful if I could download an mp3 file with a single flute note [one mp3 for each note] so that I could listen to each note while I attempt to hit the right tone. Does anyone know if such a thing exists? If it does not, then I could break a larger mp3 into small pieces, thereby extracting each note from a scale player by a professional [and share it on YouTube.]

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pied_piper
Posts: 1962
Joined: Sat Mar 31, 2007 1:31 pm
Location: Virginia

Re: Harmonics?

Post by pied_piper »

Basically, yes. You didn't specify what note you are fingering while you produce E4 and E5, but I'll assume you are fingering the bottom octave E and overblowing the octave to get the middle octave E5. This is referred to as the overtone series or the harmonic series. Do a Google search on those terms and you should find plenty of information about overtones/harmonics.

Multiple notes can be be produced with a single fingering but typically, only the first two octaves are used, After that, the tonal quality changes and that is used for special effects when the composer wants a sound slightly different from the normal flute tone.
"Never give a flute player a screwdriver."
--anonymous--

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