Harmonics

[MissyHPhoenix]

Hey everybody! Haven't been here for a while, and I'm surprised at how little discussion there is lately. I'm glad the old regulars are still here, which is who I want to address my question to ( alto I don't mind anybody else chiming in too)!

Question -- exactly what is the reason to practice harmonics? Is there a specific goal in mind, or does it address a specific problem? I've never really seen/heard an itemized reasoning behind the exercise. I've had 3 teachers in the last 5 years, and none of them went very far into harmonics, with just an occasional mention or demonstration in master class. Maybe this is something that is taught at lower levels than college, and so is assumed that I am familiar with it -- that is a frustratingly common occurrence and one that I am working hard to overcome. I have discovered that flute teaching methods are very different now than back in the 60's and 70's!

Anyway, just wondering. I start grad school in the fall and I am going to focus on filling in as many of the gaps in my basic knowledge as I can so that I will, hopefully, be a well rounded teacher when I graduate. This is a start in that direction.

Thanks!

Missy

[SylvreKat]

I won't be any help here as I wasn't taught anything about harmonics at all.

Just wanted to say that I was reading "harmonica" at first. And thought, "You'd practice harmonica for the exact same reason as flute, to get better playing it." Then you wrote "the exercise" and about your three of five teachers. That seemed odd, so I looked again and realized it was an s not an a.

Lesson here--don't read forums when sleepy.

Good luck in your grad studies! And I'm looking forward to reading more about harmonicS.

>'Kat

[fluteguy18]

Harmonics... my favorite warm up exercise. Really!

Harmonics can be produced in one of two ways, but only one of which is beneficial from an aural development standpoint. You can produce harmonics by over-blowing, or by lip adjustments to create the upper partials. Over-blowing is no good, but using your lips is the ideal. You need a mirror to do them correctly at first. The purpose of harmonics is to encourage lip flexibility, accuracy in airstream placement, and in homogenizing the overall timbre of sound. If practiced regularly while using lip movements only, your embouchure and sound should drastically improve if there is improvement to be made.

Of course... practicing harmonics can occasionally encourage tension in the tongue and throat, and there are other exercises to work on those. Generally manifests itself as an impurity of sound in the extremes of registers.

[MissyHPhoenix]

Wonderful! That is exactly what I was looking for! Thanks so much!

Missy

[SylvreKat]

And thank you from me, too. Now I know how to correctly produce harmonicS. (while leaving the harmonicA to my nef who seems to enjoy messing around on it)

>'Kat