Video Masterclass: Scherzo from A Midsummer Night's Dream with Joshua Smith

Click here to watch the full video masterclass.

In another excellent video from MUSAIC, Powell artist and Principal Flute of The Cleveland Orchestra, Joshua Smith, coaches flutist Matthew Roitstein on the Scherzo from Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's Dream. One of the greatest challenges of the excerpt is breathing -- as we know, it's quite difficult to find a good place to breathe that does not disrupt the musical line.  Joshua addresses this, giving tips not only on where to breath, but also how to approach the breath and how to use air efficiently.  He discusses the importance of keeping a smooth rhythmic flow, suggesting a two-measure pulse to achieve this.  Another point he emphasizes is the need for clarity of articulation, which he illustrates by focusing on airspeed and the shape of the mouth.

The video clip features an introduction by Michael Tilson Thomas, Founder and Artistic Director of the New World Symphony, commenting on the excerpt as well.  Click here to view the full video masterclass on the MUSAIC website.

For more on Joshua Smith, follow this link to view his artist profile page on the Powell website, and visit his personal website at www.soloflute.com.

New Year’s Resolution: Focus on the Breath

By Dr. Naomi Seidman

Have you ever heard the expression “you are what you eat”?  I think a parallel phrase for flutists should read “your breath is your tone”, meaning the type of breath you take directly impacts your overall flute tone. As the New Year starts off I would like to propose a resolution to take some time to focus on one of the most important fundamentals of flute playing, the “breath.” This following paragraphs give a few easy ways that I have found to help me focus on my own breathing while practicing.

One simple way to incorporate breath awareness in your everyday practice is to write in all your breaths. This exercise may seem mundane but as long as you do not do not write in your breaths randomly or without much thought, this practice will bring attention to how frequently you are breathing and whether your breathing is working well with your phrasing. I find it is best to mark in breaths by singing through the phrases instead of playing them on the flute. Your natural phrasing instincts will take over as they are not hindered or influenced by how it feels to play them on the flute. When you sing the phrases make sure you are releasing the notes before the breath musically and not clipping the notes. Also pay attention to the dynamic you are singing right before the breath and right after the breath and be conscious about whether you are trying to retain the same dynamic or change it. Sometimes you will need to take many quick breaths (as in Baroque music) to make a passage playable. However, make sure that these breaths are done musically and do not take up time rhythmically. When you then play these phrases on the flute, you will have a fresh perspective on your repertoire! When you are focusing on your breathing it is important not only important to address where you are breathing in the music but also the quality of your breath. For example, is your breath giving you enough air to work with, are you free of tension when you breathe, and is your breath unobtrusive to the phrase you are creating?

I am often surprised to find how students make breathing while playing the flute complicated. When I teach, I do a lot of breathing exercises without the flute to remind the students that they already know how to breathe; when they put the flute to their mouths they are unaware how much they change their natural habits. One easy way to compare your natural breathing to your flute breathing is to inhale through your nose and then play off that air. As flutists we are trained to not breathe through our noses as it is counterintuitive to our sound production.  However, I believe we breathe more naturally through our noses. Ideally, we want to make our breath through our mouths feel the same as when we breathe with our nose. When you breathe through your nose, feel how easy it is to fill from the bottom of your lungs without getting tense in the shoulders and neck. Try and recreate that feeling when you breathe in through your mouth. Also compare your flute tone when you breathe through your nose compared to when you breathe through your mouth. If you notice that your nose breath tone is more open and full, keep working on your mouth breath until it feels and sounds the same.

One aspect of breathing that I recently began addressing in my own playing is tongue position. If you thought you only needed to think about your tongue when you are articulating I challenge you to think again. A tongue position that can cause issues in breathing is to push the tongue down too much in the back of the mouth causing the throat to open too wide when you breathe. This position results in a tone that sounds too far back in your mouth and that has difficulty projecting. Another way the tongue can interfere with a good breath is when it raises inside the mouth in the attempt to aid the flutist in getting more air in quickly. If you breathe in this way, you will notice that when your mouth opens to breathe, your tongue will rise to the middle of your mouth in the attempt to aid in getting more air in quickly. Breathing with this type of tongue position is often noisy and results in a slow response of the tone following the breath. Ideally your tongue should just stay in its relaxed and down position at the base of your mouth when you breathe; there should be no extra tension or motion associated with your tongue when you breathe. You will be amazed how much easier it is to breathe when you focus on your tongue and its position when you take your next breath.

As a flutist I find myself incredibly grateful that I have to breathe in order to play my instrument and I find that this makes playing our instrument more organic. I hope that the few tips I offered above help you to focus on your breath when you are playing. Also do not forget that focusing on your breathing in your every day life is also invaluable. As the New Year starts up again see if you are able to apply your breath awareness to when you are working, studying for exams, or on your daily commute.  Take one “quality” breath at a time!

Yoga and Flute Playing

Cindy Ellis

By Cindy Ellis

Namaste: A Hindi word used as a greeting and a goodbye: It means "I honor the light in you, I honor the light in myself." It is spoken with palms pressed together. It is part of the centuries old tradition of a yoga practice.

Playing any instrument is a physical, emotional, and logical endeavor. We use our body, our imagination and our brain at all times for optimum performance.  We always schedule consistent time for practice and study of our instrument but sometimes in a busy life, scheduling time for physical activity takes a back seat on the ‘to do’ list. I have found that by making physical activity a big priority and working consistently in a yoga practice, my flute playing has reaped many benefits, often in unexpected ways.

What is yoga?  It can be defined as “a Hindu spiritual and ascetic discipline, a part of which, including breath control, simple meditation, and the adoption of specific bodily postures, is widely practiced for health and relaxation.”

There are many different styles of yoga,(over 14) from Bikram yoga (or hot yoga, practiced in a room close to 105 degrees and 40% humidity) to restorative yoga, which focuses more on stretching and relaxation, and power yoga, which is more athletic and demanding. You will be able to experiment with different styles once you try out the discipline, and it really helps to know which kind of class you will be taking before you go. Now, some of you out there are more of the solitary exercise types who use videos: nothing wrong with that! However, you will miss out on the experience of community in a face-to-face class, bonding with other students and having a knowledgeable instructor there to answer questions and help you with correct alignment in poses, or asanas. If you go to a gym or yoga studio, ask which kind of class you will be taking, what kind of equipment you should bring (your own yoga mat and a towel are usually all it takes) and if this class is appropriate for you as a new student. If you decide to try hot yoga, please make sure to hydrate REALLY well before you go! There are also classes which combine styles of yoga or have target audiences (maternity yoga) for example so it helps to look at the specific kind of class you will be taking.

Physical Benefits

Flute playing is asymmetrical by it’s very nature: since we hold the instrument across our bodies from left to right, we are shortening muscles on the right side, and lengthening them on the left side. This natural imbalance from holding the flute hours each day over the years can be helped with many gentle stretches of the arms, upper back, neck, and torso. Sitting for long periods of time in orchestra rehearsals or when teaching tightens the hips, legs, and back: the stretching in yoga can reverse all this tension by working out the entire lower body. Restorative yoga classes will concentrate on asanas that will work to lengthen muscles and destroy tension. I take this kind of class once a week and I can notice the difference if I need to miss a week…my body LOVES to stretch and relax.

Emotional Benefits

It is HARD to quiet the mind. With an endless stream of self talk, learning to be in command of my “inner chatterbox” is a lot harder than I ever imagined. Some days I can’t get to a place of peace… but many days it IS possible to become focused only on this present moment. Harnessing this power has been incredibly valuable to me as a musician. It’s easier to practice when you have this ability to turn off the noise, and accept musical results without so much judgment and criticism. The practice of ‘mindfullness’, of staying in the HERE and NOW, is extremely important to good music making. In yoga, you learn to concentrate on THIS breath, not thinking of the past, nor the present but only the NOW. It’s a real difference than the usual ‘fretting’ (past worries) or ‘projecting’(future worries)  that many of us engage in fairly typically.

Logical Breathing

As flutists, we are used to taking very quick full inhales, with very long sustained and controlled exhalations.  Yoga will connect the breath with motion in a more even, balanced and measured way, as well as use the breath to quiet the mind. This experience of breathing is quite different than our flute inspired breathing. This kind of breathing is restorative, lowers the heart rate, and fully oxygenates the blood. After a typical class, I feel almost as refreshed as after a full night of sleep. Which makes EVERYTHING in my day go much, much better.

As you begin your exploration of yoga, stay flexible and open on the mat and off the mat. Listen to your body, going to your edge, but never past it. Be mindful, be in the present.  Namaste.

Cynthia Ellis 

For more from Cindy, visit her website and Powell profile pages at:

http://www.cindyellisflute.com/

https://powellflutes.com/academy/masters/cynthia-ellis 

Paul Edmund-Davies on Sonority

When we play flute, the air we put into the instrument creates sound.  However, the way we put air into the instrument affects the sonorities we create.  This concept is discussed by Powell Artist Paul Edmund-Davies in the video below.  While many flutists think about blowing air "into" the flute, Mr. Edmund-Davies demonstrates the concept of blowing air through the flute.  He discusses his conceptualization of blowing "through" the instrument and gives us some terrific examples, including a simple G major scale and the introduction of the Fauré Fantasise for Flute, Op.79.

Click this caption to watch the Paul Edmund-Davies video on sonority.

After All The Breathing...

By Lisa Nelsen

Lisa Nelse

As a ‘Part Deux’ to the warm up on this site, I’d like to suggest that players become aware of the effectiveness of the breathing exercises they’ve been doing.  In the weeks of regularly engaging the breathing muscles every morning, players will probably notice a more clear-headed approach to their daily practice.  It still may not be enough to give a sense of control to their tone production in the extreme. Many of us are conditioned to begin with tone exercises right away, to search for those beautiful colours and magical manipulation of scales and intervals.  If you struggle, like I did, try these really simple exercises first so that you can connect the breath with your instrument like a singer would engage the vocal chords with breath.

Harmonics: Start on low D, and, without moving your lips or jaw, speed up the air to the next octave. Keep the low D fingering. Then speed up the air to slur to the fifth partial (sounding A). Again, use only the air, not lips or jaw. Then smoothly switch to the actual fingering of A in the second octave.  Repeat, and then move on the Eb, E, F etc up to C which will sound G in the 3rd octave. Do this very slowly and really scoop the slurs.

Scales:  Learn 5-note scales (by memory if possible) and play these with a metronome (or with a group or find a practice buddy for added incentive) without pulling on the corners of your mouth to control the tone. Just blow and repeat each group of scales 4 times evenly and fast.  In the group I lead we start on low D and continue up about two octaves. We also change the pattern using other combinations of simple scales...blowing to connect sound to breath, and warm up the fingers.

Note bending:  Without moving your head or turning your flute toward you or away, play a long note like C, B, Bb or A and bend the pitch half a step down, back to the note, then half a step up, and then back..slowly. Your lips and jaw should be doing all the moving, and you should be making quite breathy sounds.

Ugly sounds: Don’t be afraid of making very harsh and ugly sounds. You’re working at connecting breath with sound. Refining the sound to make colours will feel a lot easier after all you find control and manipulation of the breath.

Warm Up: Daily Empowerment

By Lisa Nelsen

Lisa Nelsen

Before a singer actually begins to use the voice, the breath is engaged and activated so that the larynx and facial muscles can be used efficiently. Wind players could do the same thing, and get to the work of tone, articulation and fast digits MUCH QUICKER! Those quivering lips and jaw can mean that the breath isn’t being used effectively, and all the other muscles are kicking in to save the music. Try these exercises for a few weeks, gauge your progress, and let me know if it’s helped. It definitely can’t hurt! And you may feel great!

Be prepared to feel awkward and maybe self-conscious doing these exercises.  If you want to find success with them then they have to be done regularly. They can help centre you and as you know from yoga, meditation and Pilates routines, just breathing can help your body recover from stress. SO JUST DO IT!

1) Find a balanced stance, feet under your hips, arms by your sides

2) Breathe in for 4 beats and out 4 beats. For one breath keep your knees slightly bent, and for the next, lock them. Do this several times to get used to the feeling of how your lower back releases. Be aware of your knees throughout your warmup and playing sessions.

3) “Trombone Stretch-breath” -  Breathe in actively, breathe out and raise both arms to shoulder height, breathe in and raise arms over your head. Stretch to one side, keep breathing in and keep hips level, facing forward. Knees soft. After a few seconds breathe out, lower arms. Repeat on other side. And then repeat again on both sides because it feels good!

4) Stretch arms out at shoulder height, palms facing away with fingers up (like pushing against pillars) and slowly make small circles from shoulders, keeping arms straight. Bend fingers toward the floor, continue circles. Switch circles in opposite direction, fingers down. Then change back to fingers up, same direction.

5) Cross right arm in front to hold left shoulder. Look over right shoulder for stretch. Change to left arm on right shoulder, look over left shoulder. Then switch back to right because we need to compensate for our left-side ‘flute stance’ in practising and performing. This is a good stretch if you become tense in ensemble playing.

6) Now, bend your knees, lean over a shallow squat (think of a rugby scrum). Breathe in, feeling the cold air on the back of the throat. Breathe out like you’re fogging up a window. Start slowly, like a diesel train engine, and gradually speed up the in and out breath. After doing this for 15-30 seconds, roll up slowly with your head coming up last.

7) Stand with your feet hip-width apart, arms by your side. Use your thumb to guide one arm to shoulder height in front of you, move arm to side still shoulder height, face palm to floor, lower arm slowly to side. Repeat on other side.

8) With your flute, cover all the keys, turn headjoint in, covering hole with lips, make either constant fff sound or shsh sound, creating a resistance.  Breathe in for 4 beats (roughly mm=60), out for 4. Then in for 4, out for 6, in for 4, out for 8 and continue for as many as you can. Try to increase the length of breaths out.

Tweet any questions to me @latheduck

Happy Breathing!! 

Visit Lisa Nelsen's website at www.lisanelsen.com

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