Whew! high notes
Moderators: Classitar, pied_piper, Phineas
Whew! high notes
I can just barely get F3 to come out clean but I have to ask how far up on the staff does the flute commonly play? I hope it's not too much above F3.
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sidekicker
- Posts: 311
- Joined: Wed Jun 07, 2006 5:58 am
- Location: Scottish-American in Oklahoma
It's very common for music in the flute solo/ensemble repertoire to reach all the way up to C above where you are playing (even high C#s, Ds and D#s are found, although not as often). Keep working; it will come. Play long tones very slowly starting on a reasonable note, say top line F, and gradually move up the scale chromatically paying close attention to your sound quality. For each step up try to make sure the upper 1/2 step note you are reaching for is as clear and full as the note you started with.
The high register of the flute is difficult for all of us at some point in our learning, so don't worry. Just work with it patiently and it will come. (You should also make sure that your instrument is in good working order. Pad leaks, etc., can certainly have a negative impact on sound quality.)
Good luck
SK
The high register of the flute is difficult for all of us at some point in our learning, so don't worry. Just work with it patiently and it will come. (You should also make sure that your instrument is in good working order. Pad leaks, etc., can certainly have a negative impact on sound quality.)
Good luck
SK
Thanks and I will take your advice.sidekicker wrote:It's very common for music in the flute solo/ensemble repertoire to reach all the way up to C above where you are playing (even high C#s, Ds and D#s are found, although not as often). Keep working; it will come. Play long tones very slowly starting on a reasonable note, say top line F, and gradually move up the scale chromatically paying close attention to your sound quality. For each step up try to make sure the upper 1/2 step note you are reaching for is as clear and full as the note you started with.
The high register of the flute is difficult for all of us at some point in our learning, so don't worry. Just work with it patiently and it will come. (You should also make sure that your instrument is in good working order. Pad leaks, etc., can certainly have a negative impact on sound quality.)
Good luck
SK
http://youtube.com/watch?v=VQg0vScnQ8E
this is an excellent video clip with james galway at one of his master classes-he demonstrates his embouchure and shows a neat little trick you can use with your headjoint to practice flexibilility when moving registers. you can see that he pouts his lips a bit more to produce a note in the higher octave and pulls them back in when going down an octave. i think of it more as pushing my lower lip out a bit when hitting those high notes and making sure the embouchure change is happening before actually changing the note-sometimes a little more air pressure on the note right before hitting the high note will help also if the note before it is in a lower range (i hope i don't sound too confusing!).
i do a lot of enharmonic exercises which really helps my embouchure become more flexible...
also when i warm up i always work on the lower register first, then the middle, then the high. when i go right to the high register without being warmed up i often get discouraging results.
hope this helps!
auwon
this is an excellent video clip with james galway at one of his master classes-he demonstrates his embouchure and shows a neat little trick you can use with your headjoint to practice flexibilility when moving registers. you can see that he pouts his lips a bit more to produce a note in the higher octave and pulls them back in when going down an octave. i think of it more as pushing my lower lip out a bit when hitting those high notes and making sure the embouchure change is happening before actually changing the note-sometimes a little more air pressure on the note right before hitting the high note will help also if the note before it is in a lower range (i hope i don't sound too confusing!).
i do a lot of enharmonic exercises which really helps my embouchure become more flexible...
also when i warm up i always work on the lower register first, then the middle, then the high. when i go right to the high register without being warmed up i often get discouraging results.
hope this helps!
auwon
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flutepicc06
- Posts: 1353
- Joined: Mon May 29, 2006 11:34 pm
The reason Galway pushes his lower jaw out when he plays higher is that it raises the airstream, and ultimately, how high you're playing is dictated by the angle of the airstream. But could you mean harmonic exercises? If not, what exactly do you mean by enharmonic exercises?auwon wrote: i do a lot of enharmonic exercises which really helps my embouchure become more flexible...
Sinebar , I can only repeat what others have taught me over here,
as you go higher than c3 especially from e3 to c4 the air stream is higher and very narrow , which ,means that you have to push your lips much much more into kind of a funnel shape unlike c3 where your lips are still in a shape of narrow slot , if you get my point. Even then it takes some time of work in which your emboucher becomes stronger , , I find that if I work quite a bit on those high notes , the lower ones become much easier to produce , it took me about 2 month , but now I can get upto that c4 farily easilly , , though the tougher one is f#3 but manageable
as you go higher than c3 especially from e3 to c4 the air stream is higher and very narrow , which ,means that you have to push your lips much much more into kind of a funnel shape unlike c3 where your lips are still in a shape of narrow slot , if you get my point. Even then it takes some time of work in which your emboucher becomes stronger , , I find that if I work quite a bit on those high notes , the lower ones become much easier to produce , it took me about 2 month , but now I can get upto that c4 farily easilly , , though the tougher one is f#3 but manageable