Hi everyone I am new here and really like this site so far. I have been playing the flute since 4th grade and am in 9th now. I was wondering is there any excercise for being able to play the high notes with a better quality and intune? I try adjusting the placement of the embochure but sometimes it makes it harder for the note to come out. Also I was wondering if there was a reason that sometimes when I practice at home I can play high notes better than when I get to my lesson. When I can get to my lesson the high notes suddenly seem a lot harder to play no matter what I try. If anyone could reply to this it would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
High note practice
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reply
HI
If you play the notes better at home, it could be for a number of reasons
1. more confidence at home
2. better acoustical environment
3. more warmed up.
most players take a little while to get "warmed up" , you probably go into lessons cold, which is probably why you are having this problem.
There are loads of exercises that can help with hitting the high notes and getting a decent sound.
1. Long notes, especially as quiet as possible.
2. Practice "getting" the high notes without using the tongue (this forces the diaphragm to work and strengthens it)
3. Octaves, slurring up and down.
Work on one high note at a time, for instance concentrate on F# for one day, and then A the next (the sit on a similar harmonic).
Hope this is useful.
Remember, an efficient embrouchure is created with practice and patience, nothing else !!!!
If you play the notes better at home, it could be for a number of reasons
1. more confidence at home
2. better acoustical environment
3. more warmed up.
most players take a little while to get "warmed up" , you probably go into lessons cold, which is probably why you are having this problem.
There are loads of exercises that can help with hitting the high notes and getting a decent sound.
1. Long notes, especially as quiet as possible.
2. Practice "getting" the high notes without using the tongue (this forces the diaphragm to work and strengthens it)
3. Octaves, slurring up and down.
Work on one high note at a time, for instance concentrate on F# for one day, and then A the next (the sit on a similar harmonic).
Hope this is useful.
Remember, an efficient embrouchure is created with practice and patience, nothing else !!!!
I suggest doing slurred harmonics which is playing a low fingering of an note and overblowing to create a higher pitch and doing this until you've reached the highest note and descending again. If slurring is too hard start with tounging and progress to slurring. This is also a great way to build breath control. Also you can find pieces including harmonics which can build up skills as well. Be sure to practice this ritual everyday or it won't get any better!
I also reccomend dropping your back teeth on high notes. It can make a huge diffrence. And, on a high E natural try removing the pinky key. This may or may not make this note better. Check your tuner. It should make a reasonable diffrence whether or not its good or bad. It depends on the flutist.
I also reccomend dropping your back teeth on high notes. It can make a huge diffrence. And, on a high E natural try removing the pinky key. This may or may not make this note better. Check your tuner. It should make a reasonable diffrence whether or not its good or bad. It depends on the flutist.
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sakuramimato
- Posts: 95
- Joined: Sun Jan 18, 2004 3:39 am
You can read Gemeinhardt's How To Practice to get an idea of harmonics. Harmonics really help with steadying your embouchure and being able to register up to 9+ notes on D, Db, and C below the staff. After accomplishing this, registering high notes will become more natural with the praciticing harmonics since harmonics only require a slight adjustment of the upper lip to change the registered note without forcing a faster air flow.juneroses wrote:I suggest doing slurred harmonics which is playing a low fingering of an note and overblowing to create a higher pitch and doing this until you've reached the highest note and descending again. If slurring is too hard start with tounging and progress to slurring. This is also a great way to build breath control. Also you can find pieces including harmonics which can build up skills as well. Be sure to practice this ritual everyday or it won't get any better!
I also reccomend dropping your back teeth on high notes. It can make a huge diffrence. And, on a high E natural try removing the pinky key. This may or may not make this note better. Check your tuner. It should make a reasonable diffrence whether or not its good or bad. It depends on the flutist.
I practiced the basis of my harmonics by following the ones listed on Gemeinhardt's practice, playing one octave and a harmonic tone per note slurred on whole notes with a whole note rest between the next harmonic. It's a mix of long tones with harmonics depending on how slow you put the tempo. You'll only be able to improve the quality of your tone by playing long tones and working to steady your embouchure.
As for playing high notes in tune, it's about how well you listen and maintain your embouchure. I had an incident today with a guy in my section who was always flat when we played F 2x above the staff, so he took a metronome and tuned and adjusted his flute to that note.
Don't do that.
Tune your tuning note (preferably around A-natural to B-natural) and don't adjust your headpiece after the tuning note is in tune. Really learning to play higher notes in tune will require understanding how your flute and your personal performance registers the note. You can either do it easily by ear or go to a tuner and play every note to see if it registers sharp, flat, or in pitch, but don't adjust the headpiece. Take note of how the flute registers the key and <i>roll</i> in and out to tune. Adjusting to a high octave note will only make that note in tune and all others out of tune.
In an ensemble, playing high notes in pitch will require listening to the players around you and adjusting to their pitch by rolling in and out depending on if they're sharp or flat. Listening is a very important part of keeping in tune and it might take a while to get used to it or understand how to do it.