Make your first flute music. Play it.
Make the real flute sound melodiously
Now that you have gone through the basics (or jumped straight to this?) you can begin hitting the real moolah. Hold the flute as you see the flautists holding it (I am sure you know the way. Consult the image, for better knowledge of it). Check yourself out in the mirror you set for yourself, before even touching the flute for the main purpose. See the hole in the headjoint. It’s called the embouchure hole. You will notice that one lip plate is larger than the other in it. That is for resting your lower lip, and that is the side you are to use for blowing into the flute.
Put your lower lip on the “lip plate”, and slightly part your lips to get ready to blow into the hole. Your lip shall cover about a third to half of the hole. Try not to put your full mouth into the hole, as that does not give the best air flow into the flute, making it bray (you wouldn’t like it; I know). Take full breath, and blow some air softly into the hole to make a sound. You want to make sure that your blow hits the opposite edge of the embouchure hole, to make it split and the half goes smoothly into the barrel of your flute. Get a good idea of what is the optimal force with which you need to blow into the hole, to get the best tune. This is very important to learn, before you begin learning fingering positions. You need to think of it the way you try to make a soap bubble fly high, instead of directing such force in your air blow that it gets broken (blop!). Try the following:
- Try blowing more or less air by adjusting your force through the pressure in your lungs. You don’t have to be an athelete to play a flute (most flautists are not, see!). You just need better air management.
- See if opening your lips wider or narrower works better for you. Try to make the best possible sound with the most optimal air flow into your flute. You need not let a narrow jet of air inside. Nor do you need to mist your flute like you mist your windows in winters. You need the blend, the blend I say, always. Find your favourite aperture in this way.
Once that you have found the optimal air flow and pressure, it is time to find the best angle in which you are to blow into the flute. Try out various directions, and notice how the air gets split in the embouchure hole every time that you change your angle of blowing. Get the best placement with trial and error method. Do this in the following way:
- Try different ways in which your lips cover the embouchure hole. Twist your whole flute to do this. Look into your mirror.
- Move your head according to the desirability of the aperture in the embouchure and your lips.
- Use your jaws to adjust air angle. This is the most precise way to do that.
- Move the lip plate of the headjoint up and down on your chin in small changes to find the best position.
Now you have learnt blowing perfectly into the flute. It is finally time to learn that which you thought was the only step in playing the flute. Learn notes. Follow my guide to learn how the notes change. I will also provide you the fingering charts and common mis-fingered positions while playing a flute. You have got to be a perfectionist like myself. You can try with some random positions right now, but you will play it properly only once you learn to play it properly.
