A Free and Open Sound

By Cynthia Ellis

Having a beautiful tone is a goal for everybody who plays flute. But, the definition of beauty.....so unique depending on the musical context, and the player...and truly, beauty varies from performance to  performance. Here are three ideas that are basic to creating an open, focused tone: 1. Make sure that your flute is lined up exactly as you wish. Most professionals use a mark made with nail polish to line up the headjoint and body so there is 100% consistency from day to day. Also, double check the footjoint. A millimeter can feel like a chasm if it is in the wrong spot, creating a different angle. 2. Support is a moving air column: Since the tone is made with air, not the lips, it is critical to have a good solid support concept in place. Breathing and blowing are basic to creating tone 3. Embouchure: Tone is focused with the lips, made with the air. Make sure that the aperture is the appropriate size/shape for the octave you are playing in. Keep some space between the top lip and the top teeth: likewise, keep an open oral cavity (experiment with different vowel shapes) and keep height to the aperture: never press the top lip down toward the bottom lip. Remembering always to project the tone to the back seat in the hall is a good metaphor for projection: likewise, setting the air around you in motion is another helpful mental image. Enjoy your long tones!

*Note - This article first appeared on the "Teaching Tips" section of Cindy Ellis's website.

For more on Cindy, visit her Powell artist profile page, and follow her on Facebook and Twitter.

Changing Flute Embouchures

By Patricia George

Over my years of teaching, I have changed very few student's embouchures. I prefer to think of embochures evolving into what the player needs to be successful. We certainly will not all look the same when we play in the third octave or when we have quick wide interval skips.

You must remember that each of us is a different size--I have students ranging in size from 6'4" down to elementary sized students. Yet, we play the same sized flute. Each of us has a different face--some lips seem to aways be in a smiling position at rest--others have more of a downturned expression and then most of us are a combination of the two--one side up and other side down. So, obviously each of us will look different when we play the flute. Do check out the flute embouchure pictures for Roger Stevens' book ARTIST FLUTE on Larry Krantz's web site. Each of these players has a professional sound, but look at how differently each is set up.

I would suggest you let your ear direct your embouchure changes. Work for sound and agility and when you have it where you want it, you will look like what YOU need to look like to get the best results. Playing lots of harmonics will help you in this area. I prefer playing the Marcel Moyse DE LA SONORITE at the harmonic (third partial with the lowest note counting as partial no. 1). For me, I get a much better and quicker benefit from doing the book this way.

Control in the third octave is as much about the air stream as it is embouchure. Size and speed--two important air stream S's. Most problems occur when the flutist does not keep the air stream moving. When things begin to sound rough, they stop blowing and everything gets worse.

Playing and practicing a lot in the high range will help you feel comfortable. Besides doing the Taffanel and Gaubert 8va--check out Thomas J. Filas--Leger Domain and Top Register Studies. I have the students double and triple tongue each note the first time through these books. Then various rhythmic patterns before setting in with the slurs. Practice with a metronome at both slow and fast settings. Control is being about to play very fast and very slowly.

*Note: This article first appeared in the "Teaching Tips" section of Larry Krantz's website.

About Patricia George:

Patricia George, Editor of Flute Talk magazine, is the flute professor at the Sewanee Summer Music Festival and the American Band College.  She tours the US giving Flute Spa masterclasses for flute clubs and universities.  She is the co-author of Flute 101: Mastering the Basics, Flute 102: Mastering the Basics, Flute 103: Mastering the Basics, The Flute Scale Book and Advanced Flute Studies: The Art of Chunking which are all published by Theodore Presser.  She is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music and studied with Frances Blaisdell, Joseph Mariano, William Kincaid and Julius Baker. 

Top Ten Piccolo Tips

By Cindy Ellis 

Cindy Ellis

• Play piccolo and love it! One of the first things many new piccolo players do is try to hide the sound.  The pitch range of the piccolo is higher, therefore perceived by our ears as louder, than the flute. It is a mistake to ‘hold back’ because this causes fundamental problems with support and air speed. It takes a bit more courage to play realizing every note is quite audible to all: use this to your advantage in developing your musicianship. 

• Get to know your tuner!  Intonation is critical for all musicians, even more so for piccolo players. The instrument is so self-pervading that it is simply harder to hear others when you are playing too. It is essential to work often with a tuner so that you are aware of your own tendencies and can be adjusting constantly to produce the best results.  It never hurts to check passages with colleagues back stage before a rehearsal so the two of you can hear in a more isolated acoustic environment. 

• Invest in a Reliable Instrument!  Manufacturers today are producing high quality piccolos at all price levels.  Invest in a quality instrument with a good scale: that is, a piccolo that plays well in tune with itself.  Because the piccolo is a secondary instrument, it is tempting to spend the least amount of money possible. This can be rather short-sighted thinking. A good piccolo will hold its resale value better and serve you well in your performances.  Take your tuner with you to try instruments, checking the pitch of each D on the piccolo. The three octaves should play well in tune without a lot of adjustment.  I feel it is better to purchase an instrument pitched at A = 442 rather than A = 440 as many orchestras are tuning at the higher pitch level today.  Make sure the pads are nice and flat, and that they do not protrude down into the tone holes. Overstuffed pads are poorly designed:  Intonation can be severely affected if they are hanging down past the key cup into the tone hole.

• Adjust your Embouchure! Roger Stevens played flute and Piccolo with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra for 31 years, 16 years in the piccolo Chair and the remainder as Principal Flute.  He used to remind his students that the piccolo is a compromise. In his book “Artistic Flute Playing”, he says: “ The flute embouchure is of a size that is quite normal for the average human being: theoretically, the piccolo embouchure should be approximately half the size of the flute embouchure.  Since one doesn’t find ‘little people’ especially designed for piccolo playing, the player’s responsibility then is simply one of accustoming themselves to playing within the limits of the compromise.”  Downsizing the aperture, then, would be the appropriate adjustment needed to match the smaller size of the embouchure hole for the piccolo. Note the angle of the piccolo also: you do not need to hold it straight across, in ‘marching band’ style. A slight descending angle, echoing that of most flutists, is desired to keep the piccolo parallel to the bottom lip.

• Place the Piccolo Higher on the Lower Lip!  As a result of the smaller size of the instrument, it is helpful to place the piccolo higher on the lower lip than your flute position.  Most of us place the flute on the edge of the lower lip, where the pink skin of the lip meets the flesh colored skin of the chin. It helps to place the piccolo just north of this intersection, on the lower lip, so that the air column will be projected slightly higher at the back wall of the piccolo’s embouchure Hole. 

• Loosen Up! Many new piccolo players tighten up their lips, almost spitting the notes out as if they were trying to dislodge an errant piece of popcorn stuck in their teeth! Although the piccolo embouchure is firm, it is not overly tense: and absolutely no squeezing from the center of the lips or the corners of the lips! The embouchure only directs the air to the instrument: it does not produce the sound. AIR produces tone.  I think of coming forward at the point of the aperture, almost like you were blowing a kiss across the room.   This helps to decrease tension in the embouchure. 

• Alignment!  It helps to align the embouchure hole slightly forward, rather than directly in line with, the center of the keys on the instrument. This helps keep the player from covering too much of the embouchure hole, again, due to the smaller size of the instrument. 

• Low equals Flow, High equals Compression!  You will actually use more air blowing into the flute: it is a longer, bigger bore instrument. Low equals flow: Just think back how you have never seen a tuba player get red in the face when he or she plays: they just need to keep feeding air thru all that tubing: lots of air flow. Think again of our friends in the trumpet section: many of them seem to have a problem controlling too much air, and they can turn all kinds of interesting crimson shades just by compressing the air. Piccolo players frequently overblow if they try to use the same quantity of air as they do when playing flute.  Tone production on the piccolo is based on using stronger support but less quantity of air than flutists use. The tone will be harsh and brassy if you use too much air to produce the tone. Think of using a firm, concentrated air stream, thinking of speed and support (compression) rather than using a large quantity or volume of air.  Lifting the rib cage and sternum at the ends of to phrases to control the air helps keep the pitch from dropping. 

• Get to Know Alternate Fingerings!  Alternate fingerings provide a wealth of opportunity to adjust pitch and change the tone colors of notes.  There are many great books (Steven Tanzer’s  and Jan Gippo’s come to mind). These are an absolute must if you are serious about becoming a piccolo player. Try to incorporate a new fingering every week until you become able to easily remember your choices for a given note.  It also helps to remember several choices per pitch, so that you have options from which to choose. 

• Keep it light!  It often helps to keep the spring tension lighter on the piccolo than on the flute.  Keep your finger pressure light as well:  remember the hands are positioned closer together than you are used to on the flute. This can trigger the ‘grip reflex’, which is part of our hard wiring: when we become apprehensive about something, (sixteenth note runs perhaps) it is natural to grip the piccolo more fiercely in the hopes that this will give us more security. In fact, more finger tension will hinder our playing. Keep the fingers close to the keys and stay relaxed and supple in your motion.  Move the fingers from the knuckle joint down, don’t ever move the hands.  

Learning to play the piccolo is a wonderful extension of your skill as a flute player, and often leads to more opportunity in the job market as well.  Make it part of your daily practice  routine.

CYNTHIA ELLIS
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For more of Cindy, visit her website and Powell profile page:
http://www.cindyellisflute.com/
https://powellflutes.com/academy/masters/cynthia-ellis 
 

Playing Softly on the Piccolo

By Cindy Ellis

Cindy Ellis

We have completed 4 out of 5 performances of Shostakovich's 10th Symphony this week, and the piccolo part is one of the most rewarding and demanding in the repertory. Not only is the part full of lightening fast technical passages where the piccolo is the top of the tutti woodwind ladder, there are many exposed piano level solos. Make sure to use a smaller aperture, but do not press the top lip down towards the bottom: instead bring jaw, tongue, and lips slightly forward. Make sure to use steady support and alternate fingerings become my primary choice for many of the notes. See next month's Flute Talk for an expanded version of these tips... Let's Talk Picc article is called SShh...Time to Play Softly!

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