Hit the Lower Notes on a Flute

On a flute, the lower notes can be harder to play than the higher ones. It just depends on what kind of flute player you are. You could have more trouble playing higher notes than lower notes. Here are some suggestions for making low range notes sound.

Steps

  1. Make sure your flute is working correctly and that all your pads are sealed. A friend, teacher, or music shop employee can find out if your flute is fully functional. An instrument repair shop can help identify and correct leaks.
  2. Play in a medium register to warm up.
  3. Drop the corners of your mouth, as if you were frowning. You are always blowing into a flute when playing a note and you need to blow at a steeper downward angle for lower notes.
  4. Start higher up, and descend on any scale until you reach the desired note. Try to crescendo into the note. Also try slurring down from a note a step or so above the note you wish to play.
  5. Practice and experiment with tone on the lowest notes you can play. Notice what makes them sound fullest and what makes the attacks cleanest.
  6. Work your way toward lower notes a little at a time.
  7. Practice playing low notes, starting with a full breath, and maintaining an even tone until the breath is almost gone. Listen to the sound! Is it full and rich? Thin and metallic? None of these are "good" or "bad", but thinking about the quality of tone will help you learn to get the sound you want.
  8. Consider attending private lessons. Ask your band teacher or a music shop in order to find a private lesson teacher.
  9. Pressing the flute closer to your mouth makes low notes clearer.
  10. Make sure you are blowing more and slower air that is pointed downward.
  11. Make your embouchure is more of an oval shape than a round shape when playing lower notes. The embouchure for middle range notes should be a bit more circular and high notes should be a small circle.
  12. Practice. Low notes are difficult and you probably will not get them just right on your first try.
  13. You should be relaxed at all times, whether you are playing low notes, middle notes, or high notes.

Tips

  • If you have an open-hole flute (one with holes in the keys) make sure you are covering the holes completely. You may have to put in one or two plugs.
  • Loosen your cheek muscles but your lips remain a little tight.
  • Start from a higher note and work your way down.
  • Understand that like the high register, you must contain your air and don't let it all out too fast. This means developing your embouchure and supporting the tone from the diaphragm.
  • When playing the flute make sure your embouchure is small , because if you have a embouchure that is too big you'll lose air to fast and just end up making a very high note.
  • Blow enough air, but don't overpower the note.
  • If you are out of practice, the low notes will be the first to go, so practice regularly.
  • The key is the right amount of air for good tone. Just enough so you get a clear note, but not enough to lose it.
  • Humming whilst playing can teach you to make a more focused embouchure and use the available air more efficiently.
  • You can take almost any key and make it an octave lower. Pick any note, and aim your air stream more diagonal. Also, do not blow as hard. You will have to adjust your air stream so that it will sound low.
  • MAKE SURE YOU DON'T LEAVE YOUR FLUTE ON THE STAND AFTER PRACTICE
  • Try blowing warm air into the keys of the foot joint to heat up the lower keys and improve the response (James Galway does this quite often)
  • Don't forget to 'drop your jaw', as this position of embouchure helps greatly when playing lower notes.
  • Keep your throat open at all times without restraining your air.
  • Try practicing the chromatic scale to adjust to different embouchures with different octaves.
  • For lower octave blow warm fast air. For middle octave blow cool fast air. For higher octave blow cold fast air.
  • If you have to do a slur from the 3rd high C to high E make your lips as if you were saying tar and make the embouchure hole smaller.

Warnings

  • You should not have to squeeze the keys or your face hard to produce a tone. If squeezing improves the tone, have the flute checked for leaks. Also, get out of the habit, because it will slow you down.
  • Don't try too many times at once. The low notes on a flute are the hard ones, so give yourself time to work down to them and be patient.
  • Attacking too hard while fingering a low note tends to produce the higher harmonics.
  • Don't forget to practice every day. Practicing for 15 minutes is better than nothing.

Things You'll Need

  • Flute
  • Patience
  • Good Lungs
  • Private lesson teacher (optional)
  • Music book (optional)

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