This article is a beginner’s guide on how to blow into a flute. It might be the first step for you to learn the flute.
When playing the flute, it’s important to shape your lips in a certain manner. We call it an embouchure.
It’s an important starting point for playing. So, you should know how it works and what are best practices.
Learn To Blow Into A Flute
Now, let’s start our step-by-step guide and learn the proper way to blow and play the flute.
Flute Embouchure
Begin with a calm expression and bring your lips together, as if whispering “m.” Keep them in a natural position, as if you were sleeping.
Now, gently tighten the corners of your lips while keeping the middle part smooth and relaxed. Let’s exhale air through the middle of our lips, starting with the sound of the letter “p.”
Let’s practice first using our fingers as a pretend flute before we play the real one. Place your right-hand index finger under your bottom lip in a curved position.
To make a good flute embouchure, keep your lips relaxed and firm at the corners. Blow air through the center of your lips, starting with the sound of “p.” You should feel the air on your finger.
Practice Blowing Air Out
When you play the flute, you need to adjust the direction of your breath, moving it up and down. Let’s work on changing the direction of our breath.
Place your hand in front of your face and shape your flute embouchure: smooth “m” and firm corners. Let’s direct our air straight towards our hand.
Now, if you move your jaw and bottom lip out and back in, you can make your airstream go up and down on your hand. You’ll feel it move up and down on your hand.
Try doing that to make your breath move up and down on your hand, which will help you play various notes on your flute.
Holding The Head Joint
Now, let’s attempt to produce a sound using the flute head joint. This particular piece does not have any keys on it.
If you want to know more, read my guide about holding a flute.
On our flute head joint, we have this piece called the lip plate. This is the part that tucks under our bottom lip like our finger did. The hole is called the embouchure hole.
When blowing the flute, we need to aim our breath towards the hole. As the breath reaches the edge of the hole, it divides into two. This way it creates vibrations that produce sound.
So, hold your flute head joint with the longer end going out towards it. Then place the right hand to cover up the end of the head joint.
Place the lip plate below your bottom and make sure that the embouchure hole is lined up with the middle of your lips. You should be able to feel the edge of the embouchure hole touching the bottom of your lip.
Blowing Into Head Joint
Let’s pause for a moment, close our lips, and release air through the center of our lips like we’re making the “p” sound.
Some flute students can make a sound on the flute head joint immediately. But some may take some time to learn how to do it. So if you’re not quite getting the sound right, be patient and keep practicing.
Here are a few tips to help you improve:
- Make sure that the embouchure hole is directly in the center of your lips.
- Ensure that the angle of your airstream is slightly downward, flowing across the outer edge of the embouchure hole.
- Make sure your lips aren’t too far apart. If they are, you might end up releasing too much air.
- Try to keep the corners of your lips slightly tight, so that the air only comes out from the middle. We don’t want the air to escape from all parts of our lips.
Practicing to produce a clear sound on the flute head joint is crucial. Begin each practice session by focusing on the head joint to create a beautiful sound.
After that, assemble and tune your flute and try to create sound in that way.
Conclusion
To wrap it up, the technique of blowing into the flute is one of the first steps. Developing a proper embouchure is key to creating beautiful, clear notes. Remember to stay patient and committed to regular practice sessions.
