The Relation Between the Embouchure and Flute Playing - Essay Example

The Relation Between the Embouchure and Flute Playing A sound on the flute is produced by blowing partly into and partly across the embouchure hole. As per the theories, the air stream should be split in exactly half by the strike edge of the embouchure hole present on the flute. Most of the flutists nowadays believe that around sixty percent of the air stream should go down into the embouchure hole (Garner, 2003). This, in all will create a sound with better edge and a core to it. The flutist must take care in not blowing too far into the flute other wise the sound will be covered, else a breathy or airy sound will be produced by blowing far enough through the embouchure hole. Practical experiments are inevitable in order to determine the best possible sound producing angle. The flute is quite a small instrument and hence it does not require much air to play. Other wind instruments like woodwinds and brass make their sounds in a way that a certain back pressure is exerted by the instruments and the embouchures. The flute does not exert any kind of back pressure itself. The lips of flutists have to take the responsibility of providing this back pressure and hence a requirement of a large amount of air. The flutist blows a quick jet of air through the embouchure hole. The pressure inside the mouth is above atmospheric level, usually 1 kPa. The source of power to the instrument is the work done to accelerate the air in this jet. The flutist provides the power required to produce a sound. Further, this sound needs an oscillating motion. The air jet present in the flute along with the resonances in the air in the instrument helps in producing an oscillatory component of the flow. Energy is radiated as sound out of the end and any open holes of flute as soon as the air present in the flute starts vibrating. A large amount of energy is lost in the friction with the internal parts of the wall of flute. The column of air present in the flute vibrates more easily at some particular frequencies, known as resonating frequencies. The resonance determines the playing frequency and hence, the pitch. So, the player chooses the desired resonances by selecting a suitable combination of keys. The manner in which the jet flows into and out of the flute depends upon the acoustic impedance at the embouchure hole. The flute is open from both its ends. While playing a flute, lower lip covers part of the embouchure hole but a large part of the embouchure hole is left open to the atmosphere. The natural tendency is to pucker the lips while blowing a small air stream through the lips in trying to direct and control the stream of air. It will result in a round aperture and as a result, the tone will sound breathy. In order to use the air stream in a more effective manner and to avoid the unpleasant windy or airy tone, the edges or the corners of the mouth are drawn back and slightly downwards, elongating the shape of the aperture (Garner, 2003). Some common characteristics exist between a lip shape used for whistling and a well developed flute embouchure. This type of approach is very useful to produce exotic sounds like whisper tones. But a good whistle is not equivalent to a good flute embouchure (Grey, 2003). The upper lip should be partially firm and the lower lip should be flexible to form an embouchure. The satisfactory tone production will be stopped by forcing the corners of the mouth up and hence stretching the lower lip. Dr. Bradley Garner suggests doing the following in front of a mirror, form the basic embouchure as described, using the head joint. Hold the head-joint with the left hand and stop the open end with the right. Blow a gentle, concentrated stream of air through the aperture using standard abdominal support. Roll the head joint in and out until a tone that approximates the pitch of second space A is produced. The mirror will enable the flutist to view as well as feel his or her embouchure at the same time. A slight angle below horizontal is the most comfortable position for holding the flute, according to Dr. Garner (Garner, 2003). The position of the arms can be a bit tiring and cause the arms to drop after some time. Sometimes due to the posture, the embouchure may become distorted and asymmetrical with the embouchure hole. Even a fuzzy sound can be focused by bringing the flute up so that it is parallel to the lips (Garner, 2003). Numerous adjustments of the basic embouchure are required in order to produce a variety of sounds and tone. While playing the lower range or the louder one, more air stream should be directed down into the instrument and more embouchure hole should be covered. On the other hand, while playing higher or softer tones, the air stream is required to be aimed more directly across the hole. A louder tone needs a wider aperture in the lips and a hence a larger air column. It is quite impossible to copy the tone quality of another flutist due to the differences in the physical characteristics of every individual. The differences in tonal quality can sometimes be used to identify an artist. A good flutist should be capable to vary the tones. A particular standard is not there to determine a good tone on the flute. It is observed that the professional flutists have fewer differences in tone quality as compared to the players of other woodwind instruments. It is suggested to listen to the recordings of good flutists in order to develop a tone concept. The inevitable components of a good tone are Embouchure, breath support and a good instrument. The tone quality will definitely suffer in case any one of these is not proper. Although the problems of tone production and quality are many but they must be corrected without any delay to ensure that they don’t become habits than being just problems. A well developed flute embouchure must be flexible and must be capable to redirect the angle of the air stream accurately (Debost 2002, 196). Lips that are usually pulled back in a smiley position with muscle tension at the corners, limit the flexibility. High notes are played by squeezing the embouchure tighter. They are achieved in the best way through a combination of reducing the size of the aperture from which the air flows while aiming the air stream slightly higher and maintaining a fast air speed. It should be noted that squeezing the embouchure usually results in a rise in pitch or even no sound. Embouchures Embouchure is a French word used for the position of the lips and muscles around the mouth. The key objective of the flute embouchure is to keep it relaxed. A tight, pinched embouchure may result in a similar tight tone. A relaxed embouchure is important to start with the flute. A tight embouchure leads to bad intonation. The high register will be extremely sharp compared to the lower octaves and the low octave will tend to be flat resulting in a missing tone. A number of flute embouchures are used by the professional flutists. The most commonly used form is perfectly symmetrical with the corners of the mouth relaxed and the lower lip placed along, at a short distance from the embouchure hole. Some flutes require comparatively difficult embouchures that need a number of lessons before producing any type of sound. An embouchure should resemble of a frown and not a smile. The edges or the corners of the mouth should be loose. Tight corners avoid flexibility of the lips and results in proper intonation. A flute sound will project much further in a hall with relaxed corners. The embouchure is an inevitable component in producing a tone. The correct embouchure will produce a beautiful sound and a correct intonation and less time is spent in order to develop it. The embouchure is produced with the use of muscles present around the lips (Stokes et. al, 2001). The muscles have to be warmed up and exercised enough before practicing. As a regular warm up exercise, tone development with long notes and harmonics must be practiced. The flute embouchure is just opposite to that of brass instruments. Like, the embouchure should be flat as much low as the range is. It should be more relaxed with the higher ranges. Generally a centered embouchure is most widely suitable. In case a learner is having a teardrop top lip, it is necessary to play off-center. A number of flutists have had an off-center embouchure. Flutist like Jean-Pierre Rampal and the late Marcel Moyse belong to this category. Problem Embouchures and tone The Weak Tone It is a very common fault with beginners but can be easily noticed even in some of the most experienced players. Usually it is caused because of poor support or due to the reason that the flute is rolled in a bit far. Flutist should assure that the breathing is from the lower abdominal cavity instead of the upper chest. The students should have the clear concept of support from the abdominal muscles. The placement of the embouchure plate on the lower lip is another problem. Sometimes the air stream spins quite fast but it is choked by the tiny plate present on the lower lip so that more of the embouchure hole is exposed. Open or Fuzzy Tone This type of tone is just opposite to the small tone. During this problem, the flutist has the head joint rolled out quite far. As a result, the embouchure hole is much more exposed. This condition usually leads to a shortness of breath and a tendency to play sharp (Garner, 2003). With this sound, the flutist will have problems while playing the upper register of the flute. It can be checked by rolling in the flute and playing with a comparatively small aperture. The position of the embouchure plate should be just down the pink part of the lower lip. A number of flutists place the flute too high on the bottom lip. Some experts like Dr. Garner do not recommend using the touch and rolling method of positioning the embouchure hole on the lower lip. Loud and Rough Tone The flutist having this problem has no problem in getting enough air through the instrument. They have plenty or excess of air. There is even a tendency to over-blow the flute and play sharp. This problem can be effectively checked with the breath control. Shrill High Register Sometimes, the tones of many flutists having acceptable quality in the initial two octaves tend to thin out and become shrill in the third octave (Garner, 2003). The player is usually neither listening, nor changes the aperture while entering the third octave. A more pleasing sound is produced through a smaller aperture and the flutist plays a bit more into the embouchure hole. As a result, the air stream is much more concentrated and the notes in the third octave speak comparatively well. One of the most important considerations for a flutist is to create the in tune sound throughout the entire range. Third octave fingerings are more complicated as compared to the lower two octaves but it produces the best sound with the least amount of effort for the air stream as well as the embouchure. It is really important to learn the high note fingerings due to the fact that flutes usually play the high notes in a band or similar venues. Control of the Soft Tone Difficulty in playing and controlling a soft tone lies due to the inability to project a steady and concentrated stream of air in the proper direction through the embouchure hole. A comparatively small aperture should be used to play a soft tone. During this, the pitch tendency is to go flat. The pitch should be corrected in case the player pushes out the jaw or raises his or her head even slightly. Dr. Bradley Garner suggests Four Steps to a Good Embouchure (Garner, 2003): 1. Put the lip plate under the pink part of the bottom lip. 2. Form the embouchure as in saying the word pooh. 3. Think of the air stream being split 60/40. 4. Keep the corners of the embouchure down, don’t smile. Any embouchure change takes time and a satisfactory embouchure should not be changed. Practice is the final solution for all the problems. Conclusion Having a sophisticated listening habit is one of the inevitable components of developing a good embouchure. A flutist should listen to great flutists live as well as on recordings and must read about flute playing, as much as possible. Regular analysis should be done to improve playing skills. Care should be taken in order to avoid the forming of an embouchure by using the smiling muscles in the cheeks to help the shaping of lips. It is comparatively an easy way of producing a sound through the flute initially. But it may create a number of problems with flexibility and endurance. This style of embouchure is introduced by the English as well as the German style of playing on wooden flutes. These flutists believe that it was necessary in order to get the volume of sound required for the orchestral playing on the wooden flutes. But using this embouchure on modern metal flutes will result in one kind of sound which will be hard with a lot of edge (Forsyth et. al 1982, 140) and may cause tiredness in cheek muscles after a few minutes of proper playing. References Debost, Michel. 2002. The Simple Flute: From A to Z. US: Oxford University Press. Forsyth, Cecil. Bolcom, William. 1982. Orchestration. Courier Dover Publications. Garner, Dr. Bradley. 2003. The Flute Embouchure. Volume 5, No. 1. TBA Journal - Sept/Oct/Nov. Hummel, Dr. Cate. 1999. Embouchure. The Flute Line. Larsen, Grey. 2003. The Essential Guide to Irish Flute and Tin Whistle. Mel Bay Publications. Stokes, Sheridon. Condon, Richard. 2001. Illustrated Method for Flute. Mel Bay Publications. Appendix A Source: http://www.jennifercluff.com/blog/uploaded_images/controllipopen-720242.jpg Appendix B Source: http://www.jeanie.mellersh.net/imagesart/embouchure.JPG Read More