Playing more than one measure at a time? (Out of breath)

Dusk · Post by **Dusk** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 8:46 pm

I started playing flute about a week ago and put in a ton of time practicing, however I have a horrible breathing problem. I can't seem to play for any longer than five to six seconds at a time without gasping for breath. Well... It starts at six seconds, but that's another story. I'm doubling from clarinet, which I have been playing-- albeit not too seriously-- for several years. I'm not that bad with it, and I usually can manage up to about six or more measures without even being winded. Are there any ways to improve my airflow so I can actually do something with this instrument?

Edit:
I forgot to mention my other question: what do you find to be the best fingerings for middle D and D#? I have found two different charts that are extremely accurate with every other fingering, but they dispute the middle D and D#. The fingerings for both notes are respectively almost identical in each chart, except that one chart has the left index finger up on both notes, while the other has it pressed. I'm not sure if it's a problem with me or my flute, but the pressed fingering sounds "windy"-- like I have an improper embouchure. The other chart's fingerings (not pressed left index finger) sound too precise-- even more so than my other notes.

fluttiegurl · Post by **fluttiegurl** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 10:20 pm

Keep in mind that the clarinet offers resistance where the flute does not. Not an easy answer, but it dies get better over time. One thing that you should do is make sure your aperture is small enough and you are not loosing air. It is very common to leave the opening way to big creating an airy sound and allowing the air to escape. Also, the biggest issue with most players that I see is support, a matter of controlling the air both while you have it contained and how it comes out. Without tensing, support your air flow at every stage. Try blowing through a straw to create some resistance then repeat that same sensation on the flute. The resistance is completely man made dealing with how the embouchure forms as well as the steady stream of air that you allow through.

As for your other question, index finger up

Good luck!

fluteguy18 · Post by **fluteguy18** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 11:48 am

Fingering:

Use the fingering with the left index finger UP. Having the left index finger down affects intonation and tone color. While you may not hear it that well now, once you have been playing a significant while and your tone is well developed, it will really stick out if you use the 'index depressed' fingering.

fluttiegurl · Post by **fluttiegurl** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 9:00 pm

That was my graduate flute professor's biggest pet peeve. She would stop rehearsal to find out who let their index finger down

Fortunately, it was never me.

fluteguy18 · Post by **fluteguy18** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 8:49 am

See, it never really bothered me, until one day in our University Studio class, a girl was playing her piece and she was using several wrong fingerings.... intonation was aweful. That was the day our professor realized that this particular player not only used many incorrect fingerings, but also never tongued anything. She always did a tongue-less "diaphram" attack.

Needless to say, our teacher took her back to square one of flute playing.

concertpianist16 · Post by **concertpianist16** » Fri Mar 14, 2008 2:06 pm

Don't worry about that. Development of breathing comes with time.

vampav8trix · Post by **vampav8trix** » Fri Mar 14, 2008 2:57 pm

Hi,
I started playing flute again after a 25 year break about 4 to 5 months ago. I didn't play any wind instrument before then. My instructor has me doing long tones. I have definitely seen some improvement in the endurance department.

-Start on low D.

-Set the metronome for 60bpm.

-Play for as long as you can on one breath. Note how many beats you are able to play.

-Keep going up the scale. ( you don't have to play a D major scale you can use C major)

-Try to increase 1 beat every two to three days.

This helped me. I can go for 10 to 12 seconds now. I started at 6.

Good luck.

Dusk · Post by **Dusk** » Fri Mar 14, 2008 5:46 pm

vampav8trix wrote:Hi,
I started playing flute again after a 25 year break about 4 to 5 months ago. I didn't play any wind instrument before then. My instructor has me doing long tones. I have definitely seen some improvement in the endurance department.

-Start on low D.

-Set the metronome for 60bpm.

-Play for as long as you can on one breath. Note how many beats you are able to play.

-Keep going up the scale. ( you don't have to play a D major scale you can use C major)

-Try to increase 1 beat every two to three days.

This helped me. I can go for 10 to 12 seconds now. I started at 6.

Good luck.

I'm definately going to be doing a lot of long tone practicing. It will most likely be chromatically so I can get down more fingerings. As for the D/D# fingerings, I could definately hear the dfference, but I wasn't sure if it was a problem with me or my flute. Good to hear that I was right about it being a bad fingering. Thanks for the help everyone.