If you are reading this page, I assume you have finished lesson one and can play a nice clear note. If not you can refresh by clicking here.
If you followed the instructions in lesson one, then you have played the minor pentatonic scale from high to low. Play it now from low to high. Play in both directions. Concentrate on playing each note the same length and maybe tap your foot to establish a meter or rhythm to your playing. As you practice this try to remember the sound you hear with each finger pattern on your flute. Your mind will do it for you if you just listen closely as you play through the scale.
This then is the basic playing of the flute. What you have done is played the notes. Now it is time to learn to express the notes. Expressing is different than playing. It involves the shape of the note. Shape is the way the note is formed. Does it have a soft beginning or a quick, sharp beginning? Does it end abruptly or softly? Does it end on pitch or does it slightly drop in pitch as it ends? These are qualities or “shapes” that you will want to control as you play. It will add much interest to what you are playing and can take a so so performance and make it stand out.
If you have your mouth up to the flute with your lips open and you begin to breathe, as you build pressure in the slow air chamber (SAC), you will hear the note slowly or softly start. This is probably the most common way to start a note. Add that to your library of sounds in your mind.
Now instead of just beginning to breathe, use your tounge and say “T” or “Tah” without using your vocal chords. You will hear an abrupt start to your note. If you say “T” with enough force you may even hear a “barking” or “chirp” sound at the beginning of the note. Practice it and varying the force. Let your mind take all that in.
Now try saying “K” or “Kah” without using your vocal chords. It gives a similar start to the note as “Tah”, but has a little different sound to it. Again try varying the amount of pressure used as you begin the note. Practice and vary the pressure as you do so. Let your mind take it all in. Listen to the sounds. What you are doing is much the same thing a typist does as they learn where the different letters are on the keyboard.
So now you have three ways to start a note and by varying the pressure used, you actually have more. You can also let your tongue “bounce” off the roof of your mouth as you produce your note producing a sort of police whistle sound. One of the things that players did and still do, is to make sounds of animals. Try making the sound of a loon, or the lonely cry of a wolf howling. Maybe by overblowing and sliding your finger off a hole you can mimick and eagle. Don’t be afraid to experiment. So far it is only you in the audience.
As an aside, if you want to hear your flute as others do, stand facing into a corner of your room with the end of your flute close to the corner. The sound will be reflected from the end of your flute to your ears almost as loud as what is coming from the True Sound Hole (TSH). What you hear is what others hear. If you have the gear, play into a mic with headphones and a touch of reverb and/or echo. Makes practice much more fun!
So now you have some methods to start a note. Stopping can be customized to add to the expression. You can use combinations of starts and stops to add interesting and beautiful flavor and style to your playing.
Try just stopping the note by stopping your breath. Now try stopping by slowly lowering your breath pressure. Now try opening the corners of your mouth to allow air to escape until none is going into the flute. That produces a drop slight drop in pitch as the note ends. Try uncovering all the holes quickly as you abruptly end your breath. This produce the familiar “bark” you hear a lot of players use. Try all of these together. Play one then the next and let your mind take it in. You are already building a library of sounds in your mind that you can use as you play. Later in the lessons we’ll talk about how to put it all to use. For now, just practice playing. It is OK to just try playing melodies and such. I encourage you to do so because all work takes the fun out of it. Play and close your eyes, pretending that you are standing at the rim of a canyon and listening to the echoes. I do it all the time. It may seem silly to some, but anything you can do to free your mind from the chains of “what others think” will set you free so you can soar with eagles.
As you practice these find some flute music and listen for these techniques. It will help you to get it ingrained into your playing.
Here are some audio clips of what I’ve described above.
First is a slow beginning to a note. I have not enhanced with reverb so you’re hearing a raw note.
Now, starting with “tah”:
Starting with “kah”:
Now two together, samples of “Tah Kah”. Also using triple tounging for “Tah Kah Tah” :
And lastly for this lesson using these starts and applying them in different combinations to two notes. Listen to the transitions from note to note and how they change the feel of the notes being played.
Here is an example of different note endings. First is abrupt. Second is fall off by decreasing pressure and/or “leaking” air until the note stops. The last is the “bark” produced by releasing all the holes while abruptly ending the note.
Return to lesson one.