Lindsey Crouch Music

TIPS &
TRICKS
 FLUTE SECRETS
PRACTICE

 Practice doesn’t make perfect. Practice makes permanent. Make sure you’re practicing correctly!
 Tuner, tuner, tuner. Metronome, metronome, metronome.
 Always warm up first! You have to train and strengthen your facial muscles and your ear.
o Warm Ups = long tones, scales, concepts (articulation, vibrato, fingerings, etc.), & etudes
 START WITH THE PROBLEMS. You are only as strong as the weakest spot in your piece. Gradually work up to your
desired tempo.

EMBOCHURE

 Embouchure = the shape of your mouth when you play

o Bored face + “pooh”
o Frown when you play – not literally. But keep your bottom lip in contact with the lip plate. Smiling while you
play pulls your lip away from the plate. This is especially important for low notes!
 Aperture = the opening in your lips that the air passes through
o Should be a diamond shape
o The size varies with the octave (low = large / middle = regular / high = small)
 The direction of the air stream is controlled by the corners of your lips
o The more downward the stream, the lower in pitch (flat) and louder the volume
o The more upward the stream, the high the pitch (sharp) and softer the volume

BREATH SUPPORT

 Good breathing habits must be practiced!

 Breath through your mouth, from the bottom of your lungs.
 Keep an open throat, like you’re swallowing
 Relax your body – no tension in the throat or shoulders

INTONATION

 To LOWER the pitch (if you are sharp)…

o Angle airstream more into the embouchure hole
o Make aperture larger (drop your jaw, relax embouchure)
o Decrease air speed
o Roll headjoint in
 To RAISE the pitch (if you’re flat)
o Angle airstream across the embouchure hole
o Make aperture smaller (move jaw forward)
o Increase air speed
o Roll headjoint out

ARTICULATION

 Place the tip of the tongue behind the front teeth and at the base of your upper gum and say “too”
 Use ONLY THE TIP of your tongue!
 The embouchure formation should not change and their should be no movement of the lips and jaw
 It is the same concept and feeling as spitting watermelon seeds
 The air does not stop, and you should not be breathing in between every note. That’s “whooing.” You are not an owl.

FINGERS & POSTURE

 Keep your chin up and your flute parallel to the ground

 Elbows should not be touching any part of your chair
 When standing, feet should be shoulder width apart
 Fingers should be in the center of the keys

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 BREATH CONTROL
The secret to great breath control on flute is understanding that the abdominal muscles are so much more than just
your stomach muscles: they are the muscles throughout your abdomen. These include the muscles between your
ribs, your so-called stomach muscles, the muscles going right down to your pelvic floor, and through to your back.
These abdominal muscles gently work to sustain the release of the breath, without squeezing, pushing or forcing.
As the air is slowly released, the spine lengthens, the diaphragm returns to its natural position and the ribs and
torso slowly follow.
Take a breath in and hold the air with your cheeks puffed out. Now, start releasing the air. Feel your throat relax and
allow your abdominal muscles to relax too. Let the air flow out through a small opening in your lips. This full,
engaged but quite soft belly is all you need for “good flute support”.
While support is in part about the slow, gentle release of the air, it is also about the resistance created by the
smaller opening of the lips, helping to hold the air back. Not by closing the throat or squeezing the embouchure, but
just by closing the size of the aperture.
Now, of course, we can use more force and more of our abdominal muscles at times. For example, I will use an
outward pulse for challenging intervals, articulation, and other moments when I need a bit of extra airspeed (which
is created by these outward pulses). However, the basic support needs to feel full, open and free to give me room to
use a bit more air when I need it!
Breathing should be practiced!
Like most things in flute playing, breathing needs to be practiced and developed. Not just to get a beautiful
free and easy breath or to discover that lovely support, but also to learn how to use breathing in different
situations. We should practice different types of breaths, playing with less air and actively work on
integrating breathing spots into our music.

Breathing Exercises
• Deep Breathing: Count to 20 or as close as you can before slowly exhaling. Repeat.
• Resistance Breathing: Inhale as much air as possible and slowly exhale through pursed lips.
• Rhythmic Breathing: In the shape of your embouchure, breath in and blow out with a metronome.
• Diagram Check: Lie on your back with one hand on your chest and the other on your
abdomen. Breathe deeply through so that your abdomen rises while your chest remains still. This technique
can help you maximize your lung capacity and maintain better breath control.
• Horizontal Tuning: Lie on your back and put a book or your flute case on your stomach. Breathe
out and then in deeply, visualizing filling your lungs from the bottom up. Watch how your stomach and rib
cage expand when you breathe in. Play a concert A for eight beats with the correct breath support.

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 FLUTE YOGA
Gentle neck and shoulder stretch.

Slowly drop your head to one side and gently pull your shoulder away from the neck. You
can place your hand on the side of your head for an extra stretch. This opens up the side
muscles of the neck and relaxes the shoulders.

Wrist and hand stretches.

Stretch one arm out in front of you, and use your other hand to
gently pull your fingers towards your body, first with your fingers
pointing up, then down. This releases any tension and tightness in
the wrist and opens up the small muscles of the hands.

Arm stretches.

Stretches your medial and radial nerves. Take one arm out to the
side, and first have your palm facing away from you. Flex your
wrist (think putting your hand up to say “STOP”). Drop your neck
to the opposite side. For more of a stretch, gently and slowly start
to bob your head to the side. Next, flip your wrist over so your
palm is facing up (as pictured on the right).

Eagle arms.

Place one arm at a right angle in front of your face, then hook the other arm underneath it.
If possible, bind your upper arms and bring your palms to touch. This is NOT a
requirement for the stretch to be effective. You should feel a nice stretch in the backs of
your shoulders. To deepen the stretch, gently raise your arms straight upwards a bit.

Across the body arm stretch.

Pull one arm across the body and hook into a right angle with your opposite arm.
Gently pull the shoulder open.

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 Intonation Tendencies Worksheet
Flute

Basic Tuning Tips:

1. Warm up before tuning
2. Use lots of air
3. Play at a comfortable mezzo forte dynamic
4. Before completing the chart, tune to the notes below and adjust accordingly

Your Tuning Notes:

Your Tuning Mechanism:

 If you’re SHARP: pull OUT the headjoint
 If you’re FLAT: push IN the headjoint

How to Adjust Pitch While Playing:

 If you’re SHARP: direct your air down, into the aperture hole
 If you’re FLAT: direct your air up, more across the aperture hole
 Do NOT roll your headjoint in or out.

Common Out-of-Tune Notes:

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 Worksheet Directions
Play each of the notes given. Look at your tuner for each of these notes and determine if
you are sharp, flat, or in tune for each note. Record your pitch tendency in cents on the
line below each note.
How to Read the Tuner:
Your sound waves are measured in “cents.” Each tick on the tuner represents 5 cents. If the tuner needle
is on the left, you’re flat; if it’s on the right, you’re sharp. For example:
If the needle is at ARROW #1: If the needle is at ARROW #2: If the needle is in the MIDDLE:
you write 10- flat you write 20+ sharp you write in tune

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