I'm a pianist and I've never tried the flute or any other wind instrument but still I watch your videos just because you inspire me so much to work harder and to improve my skill! Thank you! :)
Though the frowning embouchure is ideal for Western Concert flute, I clearly remember being taught that, after trying to use the frowning embouchure, that the dizi uses a strong smiling embouchure. My teacher used it, and most pro dizi players I have seen play that way.
When I went to my first flute lesson with my tutor, she noticed that I was doing the "smiley" and she told me to make a frown when I am playing and that would produce a warmer tone. When I got home that same day and kept trying to frown I found it so hard and I had to work on it for about 2 or 3 weeks to really start seeing results but that 2 or 3 weeks were the worst because it was difficult to produce a rich tone and I was so annoyed that I could reach notes That used to come naturally to me. I'm an 8th grade student currently and I will be graduating and going to high school later this year.
This is EXACTLY what I'm going through right now! I was really questioning if I should switch majors, but this motivated me to work through it. Thanks!
This really hits home for me! Last summer, I underwent extensive dental work that corrected my bite and completely changed my embouchure. Two months later, I fell down my basement stairs backwards, dislocated my shoulder and had a massive surgery to reattach my arm to my shoulder. 😮 I am in the process of re-learning how to play. So difficult at 62 years old, but I'm determined! Thank you for opening up this dialog!
Wow that was so insightful! So here's my embouchure breakthrough story... I was off the flute for over a month because of being sick and burned out from work. During that time (a lot of time too sick in bed to do anything but couldn't sleep because of 2 minute long coughing fits), I spent some time procrastinating on this fine channel and came across this video. Before being sick and not practicing, I had reasonable good tone for an adult beginner. So now, back to the flute and I sound like a leaky bicycle pump! What to do? Go back to the basics: Marcel Moyse "De la sonorité" (Paris: Alphonse Leduc, 1934). Read, re-read, absorb, embrace, and engage with pages 2-5. Yep, just those four pages (actually, just focus on the exercises on page 4), then go back to the video and you will totally get that "everything forward" thing. I did the simple exercise of running down the chromatic scale from G to low C in long tones, progressively tightening my lower jaw and lips to get to C#, then C, then -- shock and disbelief! -- the B on my B-foot! I have never been able to hit that note without cracking or flattening out into a wheeze. If you want more details, pick up Trevor Wye's "Practice Book for the Flute: Volume 1 - Tone", he expands on Moyse in a systematic way. After 20 minutes with the Moyse exercises, I felt triumphant -- and totally mentally and physically exhausted (that was too much like real work). Now I have to keep doing it so that I don't lose those moments of embouchure truth and clarity. Anyway, sorry for the long winded comment, I just wanted to share that, yes, it takes absolute dedication to subtle little details to ultimately get it right. Or as Moyse writes, "it is a matter of time, patience and intelligent work".
Im a sec 3 flautist, i started playing flute last year when i was sec 2 on May because i just started school in SG. I had no music background and I didn't plan to learn flute when I joined band, but during that time they need a sec 2 flutist, so i was sort of "forced" into the flute section. I think i was the greatest junior in the junior band because I could catch up with everyone in a few weeks only. My theory and techniques were really good for a beginner, but my tone was really airy, because i didn't realize that my embouchure hole was formed on the left side of my lips, not in the middle. So my tone was really airy as i put the lip plate on the middle of my lips instead of left. I thought I just need to practise more so i can get a better tone. In December, i was really frustrated, i was so sad, i cried many times because i have changed my embouchure a lot of times, around 5 or 6 times. And I tried to practise with each type of embouchure that i found for about 1 or 2 weeks. But my tone didn't improve at all. Then, i watched many professional flautist videos, some of them actually don't put their lip plate on the middle of their lips, so I tried to practise in front of the mirror, i tried to frown and blow, and realized that my embouchure hole is on the left side of my lips. So i tried to shift my flute to the left and practise. It took quite a long time to get used to that because it's hard to keep it in the same position when practising. It took me around 3 months to get used to it. But i was also really frustrated during those 3 months because i thought that i won't be able to get a good tone because my lips are weird. The flesh on the left side of my lower lip is thinner than the flesh on the right side of my lower lip. So I thought that i wouldn't be able to get a good tone with this kind of lips. Then I just keep practising, until April, i actually tried to change my embouchure for the last time. I pushed the flute a bit from the right side because the embouchure hole is a bit slanted, so I tried to follow. And I noticed that my tone got better, it was such a big big big improvement. Until now i keep using that embouchure because it produces a really nice tone, good projection, and good flexibility. Last time whenever ppl ask me to show them how I play my flute, i was so embarrassed and had no confidence at all because i had airy tone, now i have more confidence because of my improvement :D. That's my story :D
Going through it RIGHT NOW - after 45 years of the smiling embouchure. Believe me, it may take longer than 2 weeks - but thank you for acknowledging that the grind.is.real. Maybe I WILL get to the other side ...
I learnt flute when I had braces, and I remember getting that really wispy tone when I got them off. It was the worst thing ever, coz there was suddenly all this extra room and my mouth had no idea what to do. It was so bad
When I had my braces taken off I could not play for almost three days. It was so much harder than than getting used to playing with braces. I had to completely relearn the piccolo
I luuuuuv this! I played flute from 4th grade to about 9th and never with a good teacher just trying myself to get a good tone. But now (at 43) I want to play again soooo much. My kids are taking piano and I have fantasies of playing awesome flute and piano duets with them. I needed this info on embouchure. Thank you! Thank you! I love your passion for music and your humorous and fun style.
I had my embouchure change crisis when I was freshly out of high school and I was starting my AA. My previous teacher Suzan Degooyer told me that the smile way of doing the embouchure was making me tense. My current teacher tells me that the smile embouchure makes me have a nasal sound on the flute. :)
Ugh. I play the clarinet, and my embouchure was really bad before I started taking lessons. Luckily, it was during the summer. I couldn't play any of the octave key notes, and I squeaked a lot. I'm an emotional person, so I kind of teared up every lesson. But, thankfully, I got over it and my teacher says now that she almost can't tell the difference between our tones. :3
OMG! I'm going though the same thing (kind of). I'm a grad student (master's program for music education) and my instrument is the flute as well. I went through a similar situation with an embouchure/head joint change. For many years, I used to play with my head joint rolled in and with a smaller, tenser embouchure opening. My teacher noticed this and told me to adjust my head joint so that it's not so rolled in for better resonance and relax my lips and throat. After getting a new flute last year, doing some long tone/embouchure exercises, and keeping a relaxed throat it's like a whole new world. Better tone quality. But, like you said, I went though the whole "why am I doing this?" "this sucks so bad!" "I sound like a third grader!" "why?!?!!?!?" It took a lot of practice and not giving up. Lot's of sitting in the practice room and going back to long tones. But, it paid off in the end. Not only did it change my tone quality but it also gave me more self confidence, like "I can do this, I can be a flutist!" I'm glad you put this video (and many others) on your channel. I feel your pain in many of them as I'm going through the same things in my flute studies (receiving a "W" in musicianship - been there. Failing a placement audition - yup, but then again I didn't practice, however, I came back the next year and got second flute in wind ensemble. And yes, I love playing second flute parts!). So, yeah, keep up the good work! And keep the videos coming! I always thought I was the only one, but I'm glad I'm not! It helps me get through my week and through my music ed. program! :)
i got braces at the beginning of the year, i was so sad cause every time i come back from an appointment my embouchure would completely change and all that time that i spent on making a nice tone is gone... i get so frustrated all the time cause of this but now i am kinda used to it ;(
Thank you for making this video! I have been trying to teach myself the frowning embouchure as I can tell it produces a better tone, but I never knew WHY. Your explanation here has been so very helpful in understanding that, while I wasn't smiling before, I was making everything way. too. tight. Much improvement from relaxing and giving freedom of movement to the lips and cheeks. Thanks again!
Started playing again after a 20 year break 4 years ago and am practicing about 1 - 1.5 hrs a day. I started off playing on my own with the tight "smiley" embouchure and I had NO stamina much less flexibility throughout the range. Two years ago I started with a teacher who started to "frown" me but didn't use your description or explanation as to why. Yours is the best explanation I have heard so far. Way to go!
You have been such an encouragement to me, a beginner trying to find my ombeture. Someone showing you what to do is of course helpful but ultimately you have to do it and then learn to do it consistently. I thought I was a total loser after two weeks of trying and having a tone that was so inconsistent and more often then not pretty awful. Thanks for sharing and being honest about your ombeture crisis.
Not an embouchure change as I'm a violist, but last year I had to completely relearn my bow hold and vibrato. I have been playing for 14 years now, and to suddenly be in the position where I felt like I sounded like a complete beginner was terrible, but I ended up just doing what you did and focused only on my tone, bow hold, and vibrato for the course of a month. By the end I had mostly solved my problem.
the moment of times I've had an embouchure change... the most frustrating experience I've ever had in college... it's so much to take in and so overwhelming that you can't produce a decent tone at this point of flute playing. I can relate to all of your reactions and feelings.
ok so I picked up a mega-cheap 2nd hand flute as an excuse to try it out. No time for getting a teacher, so I wanted to try to youtube my way to learning how to make some semblence of a sound. My lips are a bit scarred an inflexible so I've been struggling to make the right embouchure, most of the vids I've seen do the whole stretchy-smile thing. Just tried your frowny-styley and already getting a better sound. Still breathy and dreadful, but a step in the right direction. Thanks V. Much! Really going to have to get a proper tutor tho, I suspect. Oh and as for your vids, really like the editing you're doing. Very professional, witty cuts which really add amusement and spark to the info and advice. Thanks for doing them.
This is my third year of playing flute, and when I first started, I was INCREDIBLE for a beginning band student. My embouchure was great, I could play notes super easily, and I just felt like a child prodigy. Then I hit marching band. The music is far more difficult than anything I had ever played in a band class before, and almost 2 months later, I'm realizing that if I want to be able to meet my personal standard of always being able to play the flute 1 part, I need to re-learn my embouchure. I've had a very similar one since beginning band, although my tone has gotten better and I'm not as flat as I used to be (I used to have to push my flute all the way in to the body to be in tune). However, I'm still using the cheat embouchure that most people in school bands use and I'd like to get the absolute best quality that can come from a beginner flute, because I refuse to leave her until I absolutely have to. Mostly because I'm broke, but we've bonded, too. I'm hoping to maybe drag the rest of the flutes down with me into the despair that is learning a new embouchure because the rest of the band can't always shut up for the flutes, so maybe we can figure out a way to project better without sacrificing tone quality.
I really appreciate your reflection. I also learned a new more efficient embouchure in my masters degree. I agree with the frustration. Sad thing is that I was not as fortunate as you. The embouchure came and left. Also, I didn’t really have time to stop playing because I was in a couple ensembles. I eventually was able to change my embouchure, but it was after I graduated. Body had an aha moment and figured it out. I’m just glad it happened! Thank you again!
I must thank you. I ran into an embouchure crisis of myself and your talk actually helped me get passed that. I really made a leap forward now. Thanks!
Emboucher crisis happened jumping back and forth from piccolo and flute. Gah. Tired shaky mouth muscles equals shaky tone, equals loss of confidence, equals meltdown. Back to the basics. Thank you for your video.
I’m a trumpet player doing an embouchure change after 20 years. This was VERY helpful and hilarious! We have many of the same problems. I’m able to play almost as high as I want with good control now but struggling to rebuild lower register. Thanks for this.
I am totally new to the flute, and I am so glad to have found this video. I went through an embouchure change on the french horn after high school, and for two weeks I sounded worse than when I had first begun the horn. I want to be sure that I am starting off correctly on the flute, so that I don't have to go through that pain on this instrument.
I had my embouchure crisis when I first got lessons in grad school (non-music major). My teacher had me switch to the frowny (French style?) embouchure. (If I remember correctly, the smiley embouchure is known as the German style.) She started me off by lightly blowing into the flute to make a whistle tone (no longer than a second) and then when the whistle tone registered, to blow a full note. She said the amount of force we use to make a whistle tone is as light as the force we should use to make a full note., i.e. we should be using the lightest amount of force to make a full note with the frowny embouchure. (I learned over time with the smiley embouchure, I would strain and use a lot of force to force out trouble notes in the upper registers.) That extra step of watching for the whistle tone helped a lot with my awareness of how much force I was using in my airflow. It also helped me to calm down when I was I getting frustrated over the embouchure change by re-framing my focus. I spent hours for two weeks in front of a mirror doing long tones with the whistle tone before every note starting from B2 and chromatically down to B1 and back. Then came the long uphill battle through the higher registers... Whenever I hit a note that I couldn't register after the whistle tone, I did an embouchure check in the mirror. It was usually the smile coming back, so I would adjust and try again. The smile comes back sometimes even after 2 years, but it was a great help to do the change and fix my mistakes. I also had to do it on the piccolo, which is an even bigger nightmare, especially since we're playing pieces that go up to C4. :P It's definitely worth it in the end!
Wow great point about the whistle tone...I'm about a week into my own embouchure change/crisis (!) and I'm totally gonna try that! I heard Pahud make a point recently about how little resistance there is on the flute, so what you're saying kinda makes sense.
Yes! Thank you so much. I've been doing as you recommend to develop tone first in my now only less than two week focus on flute practice after 28 years only jamming and not knowing what I didn't know. Your video on Trevor Wye books came up on my first search, and I found the Tone book at a local music store. I'm still working on the first two pages as my mouth still gets tired developing correct embouchure. I recently lost my low note power almost completely, partly due to my flute's damaged and worn pads, now with my repair man, but I'm still struggling with the loaner flute. Your suggestions cleared it up immediately. Droning notes has been a thing of mine ever since learning to circular breathe with didgeridoo in the 90's. I started playing flute then too, bamboo type with no keys, only 6 holes plus the embouchure hole. Wow, the difficulty level of this instrument is as high as anything I've ever played beyond jamming level; voice, guitar, bass and drums my most practiced and skillful instruments. Keyboards are easy when I practice only a little bit, and flute fingerings are not my problem at all; it's all in the lips and my arms developing the strength to hold the flute, the awareness of posture so that I don't slouch when I descend in pitch, thus breaking the alignment in my arms that keep the flute in a stable position for my lips. Such a pleasure to develop a new instrument, one that might let me into an orchestra some day. I like a challenge, thus my skills on drum kits and strings and keys in general. Horns! Flute is the hardest one. Didgeridoo is easier. I have huge breath power, and the lip strength from buzz horns is less nuanced than flute technique. Clarinet was my first horn, so much easier. It's just bite strength and top lip only seals the air, no participation in tone. Bottom lip on reed needs more brute force than the tiny movements in flute skills. Thanks again! Your videos are really easy to follow and very informative.
I've been so inspired to practice I tired out my developing mouth muscles. It's good to rest and massage my face, buzz my lips in low frequencies, stretch the muscles gently, and put the flute down for a day once in awhile, at least until I'm in better shape. Like any athletic skill this kind of discipline on musical instruments is best tuned with instruction. Too much self taught for most of us means unlearning incorrect habits later on. I had to relearn how to play familiar guitar passages when I took in the teaching of ergonomics and alignment, nuances in how to position the guitar, how to hold it, how to finger and pick without damage or strain from a Guitar Craft circle that welcomed me for a short time before it dissolved. Glad these vids provide so much correct teaching so I can build flute skills correctly this time.
I'm going through an ombochure change at the moment and I find myself slipping back so I just keep practicing and trying to change and make it natural. Now watching this video my eyes are open to another ombochure change I'm going to need to make lol. Oh well it will never stop me playing and only make me better. Thanks
Lol I've always done the frowny embouchure and I thought the smily one was the way to go and have been trying to do the smily one for so long. This video made me feel better about myself
can you do a video on breathing exercises?and possibly warm-up exercises? thank you so much for your videos!They have made me grow as a musician and actually helped me become a better role model for other flutists!Once again thank you.
The oboe prof at UVic is the sort of person who will politely but firmly tell you what you need to change. She won't lie to you. After playing an E flat clarinet solo in a wind ensemble concert, she came up to me and said, "Very fine playing," and on the inside I was going, "Sandra complimented me!!!!" And I jokingly tell all by beginning flute students, "You can be happy or you can play the flute. You can't do both."
Yeah, I'm commenting on an "old" video...but I wanted to try this out first before commenting. Before first watching, I never even considered my embouchure. I'd been playing the same way since I was ten years old and even then it wasn't referred to as embouchure, I was just told "hold your mouth like this and blow", and later "adjust your mouth a little". I spent some time trying the 'smiley' and the 'frowny' and I did notice a big difference. I also discovered that the frowny works better with my flute, but the smiley works better with my piccolo.
I have watched many of your videos and this one is by far the most impressive.......I was looking for videos on piccolo embouchure and stumbled across this. My flute teacher in college (circa 1977) had studied under Julius Baker and the first thing we worked on was the frown embouchure......I remember he asked me to simulate crying......as a child might cry.....he got me to feel what it should feel like.........I too would practice it every day.........to work on that muscle memory. It did help me establish a reliable lower register on the flute. My personal problem was that I could never really grasp reading music well........ergo I have always been technically challenged.........but always had a great sound. The flute brings me much joy.....and I create in my own voice.......but don't ask me to play Bach, Poulenc or Martinu. Thank you for your youtube videos. Live long and prosper. Mark
This is so helpful and HILARIOUS! Some of my students are going through embouchure changes, and man, is it hard to explain! Keep making awesome videos!
30 yrs ago I was so frustrated after 3 yrs with a teacher who berated and belittled me for not producing correct tone with the "smiley" that I completely gave up. I still loved the sound of the flute, I loved what it could do and what joy it could bring people, but personally I detested it anywhere near me. There was a young girl who wanted to learn and couldn't afford one, so I blest her with mine a few years ago. Best decision EVER! That young girl has now so inspired me to try again ( the sound she produces brings tears to my eyes) that I am now saving up for a flute😊. I am doing the frowny exercises so that one day when I have my new baby I will be able to have a teeny tiny headstart. Also, I watch your videos, Joanne, and James Galway's and as much flutists videos as I can get my grabby little hands on. At 52, I believe I am now alot older and, I hope, just that little bit wiser. I follow my eldest sister's hints too, who at age 62 is self-teaching with the help of RUclips and the condensed Trevor Wye book. So thank you, for the inspiration and the confidence boosts❤
I really hope you are blessed by giving your flute to the girl who couldn't afford one. May the flute gods help you to become one of the best flute players ever. Hope a flute teacher reads this and is touched by your generosity and offers you lessons
I've been going through an embouchure change on and off. I went into college and the first thing my teacher told me was that I needed to change my embouchure. I'm almost through my second year and I am still struggling because of some family issues that caused me to not be as diligent with practicing so I am catching up and working towards keeping the embouchure.
As a person who has frowned most of their life, and has smiled on rare occasions... im glad that I do not have to go through this hurdle. The smiling version yields the same result so I can truly sympathize
When I started I pretty much had a good embouchure so I only had to change a little, but the biggest problem that I had is that on my secondhand my thumb was too far out and it supposed to be in between your pointer finger in your middle finger, so I had to move that in and it was very hard because it became a habit it was just so antagonizing.
YES I had a smiley embouchure and my teacher made me switch to the frowney as well. It was rough, but I made it. I am so glad b/c my tone is so much better now.
Omg I tried the frown face embouchure once and noticed a super awesome difference! Thank you for the tip! And I have to freak people out with this weird facial look just because!
I'm in my 2nd year of Band and I use a kind of pouty embouchure. My teacher's main instrument is flute, and I noticed that she uses the smiley, but keeping my mouth that tight seemed like a lot of work, so I keep my mouth at a kind of neutral rest position. When I go higher, I move my lips closer together and, after learning about constant squeaks, I decreased the amount of air I let out and focused on making it a tighter stream, although I don't know what that means for my tone. I haven't noticed it sounding bad, but I only have other amateur flutists to go by. When I go lower, I open up my lungs more in order to get the resonating sound that makes this 200 dollar instrument sound like a gift from the gods. Although it wastes my air supply pretty quickly, so I'll probably just go through all your videos until I find something that tells me how to go about fixing that xD Edit: Oh my God, I just commented on this video again 9 months later and totally forgot about this. I just accepted my bad embouchure because it wasn't causing any problems but now I have more difficult music and am running into issues with really high notes (4+ ledger lines)
This video is so helpful ! I have been struggling for a while and I knew my embouchure was wrong so I didn’t wanna practice at all for the past few weeks. But thanks to your video I’m gonna start practicing lip frowning for now :)
I've just been through an embouchure change brought about by getting braces, as an adult. They're Invisalign, so I can take them off, but I"m supposed to have them on for 22 hours a day, which means only 2 hours to eat. And the way my particular Invisaligns were formed (especially at the beginning), with giant bumps in front of my top teeth, to push them back, made it impossible to even make a sound when they were on. So my only occasional flute playing became less and less occasional. I ended up in a state where, like you, I couldn't even play Mary had a Little Lamb. My face would tense up like crazy when I tried to play (without the braces, I've given up on trying to play with them). I ended up, like you, questioning whether or not I should continue...thinking maybe I should start considering myself an ex-flutist (I majored in flute in college). That scared me, so I took some time off work to get my embouchure back. It was terribly frustrating to sound so horrible, so I got through the frustration by setting a kitchen timer for just 10 minutes at first. I'd tell myself I had to play only for 10 minutes (4-5 times a day). After a few days, I started sounding a bit better, so I'd set it at 15 minutes and so on. Gradually, as I continued, I improved and the frustration levels became lower and lower. After a while, I didn't need the timer anymore. Glad to say, my embouchure is back now and I'm no longer an ex-flutist. I'm not managing to wear my braces as many hours per day as I'm supposed to, but I'm 3/4 of the way through the treatment and hoping it won't cause a big problem. Oh, one other strategy that helped was to use a massager on my face to loosen the tight muscles. That, and stretching them really helped a lot. The rubber bands I have with my braces are really thick, so make my jaw muscles really tired. I think that's what was causing all that tension when I first started trying to play again.
yes, i totally have an embouchure issue with the lower register, i will try the frown face next time i play the flute. I still have a bit of that beginner flute sound that I'm trying to get rid of
Oh gosh, I remember my embouchure change crisis! It happened while I was auditioning for my undergraduate degree in clarinet performance... Most of the trial lessons I went to at my colleges of interest, the professor cut me off and said, "Fix your embouchure and come back." I was absolutely distraught, but I really wanted to prove that I could play better, so that's what I did. It didn't help that I was also anchor tonguing (is that something that happens to flutists?) so I ended up fixing that too. Definitely a pivotal moment for me as a musician :)
To believe or not to believe... That's NOT the question... The thing is TO DO IT. Very interesting because I did a change the way a was breathing and I spent several days practicing the diaphragm respiration in any place and in any time and it worked very good.
Yeah you are perfectly right about "Crisis" :( I have also suffered this crisis, and still sometimes i dont able to play with perfect embouchure, nice tips by the way
I am just cracking up!!! I don't think about what other drivers think when they're looking at me in their rear view mirror, when I am either practicing music or languages with myself in my head... I have a very expressive face. Everyone says that I am an open book, because whatever I'm thinking or feeling is always on my face. So, it's no wonder why I always get people in front of me either afraid or thinking what the Heck is that guy doing!? Driving around, I have noticed the days where people swerve to get out of my way. I never understood it, until I just happened to look at my face in the mirror one day, and another day when my wife asked me not to frown so deeply "like that"... Whatever that meant. But, she said I had a look of disgust on my face, when I just felt that I was concentrating really hard on something. I think it comes from my Filipino genes of how we point with our lips. It's about the only feature that I have that is Filipino, otherwise, everyone just thinks I am white! LOL!!!
What ruined my beginning experience with the flute was listening to James Galway, watching him on RUclips videos as the camera closed in on his embouchure and looking very carefully and seeing First that he had a kind of sneer that seemed to be pulling his upper lip up and 'over' the blowhole. To me, it seemed the blowhole was opening towards his mouth, instead of straight up or out as some teachers recommend. The sound of the flute was solid and loud, as he played the flute. Well, I tried to copy that embouchure and no matter how much I tried to copy him, the sound was weak and airy, couldn't play tne low notes or the high notes. After a while, I started looking at other musicians and they were teaching the exact opposite. With the blowhole leaning away from the lips. I tried that too. That didn't work either. So what I did, I just kept playing the flute and rolling the flute under then over the lower lip. Using my right hand to push the flute towards my face then away from my face, then raising the right hand higher then lower and to allowing the flute to change positions until I heard an improvement in the tone, then making notations and little drawings of how the flute looked when the sound was getting closer to what I wanted to hear. Then I noticed that I had to pay attention to the feel of the air being blown into the blowhole and the speed and the way it felt going into the blowhole. I still have some difficulty when starting the practice time, until the flute warms up, then the sound of the notes are getting closer to sounding 'pretty'. There are some days that I have to smile at how nice the flute sounds, but some days I feel I'm wasting my time, but it's just so nice when I have a 'nice' day, so I keep plugging away. I have always practiced some kind of musical instrument, guitar, piano, trumpet. I played the harmonica and actually made money with a partner that playing the guitar at some social club, Had a drum machine with peddles, really sounded pro. But unfortunately, another person joined this two-man band and ruined it. So we wen our seperate ways. That's when I stopped playing the harmonica, getting too expensive having replaced the reeds. The flute seemed the perfect instrument, but it was much more difficult than I expected, but as long as I'm making progress, I'll stick with it. When I hear James Galway and a lot of others, and how nice it sounds, INCLUDING YOU J, it's worth the effort.
I went to an embouchure change at 14 and had to do the frowning technique because I needed to tighten my corners more according to band director(he was basically forcing me to smile) but it was actually that I needed to relax like completely to be able to have good tone. I literally went all through marching season and 5 months through concert season to fix it..... it was like an existential crisis all thought basically most of the school year until I fixed it about a month ago ........ I was getting massive headaches trying to figure out why I wasn't able to fix it and get better and if I didnt fix my embouchure I believe I would have not progressed. And before my embouchure change I had and airy tone, and my intonation was getting worst by the second. I am so glad I was able to fix it and now I sound much fuller but also since I'm still not used to the tuning since my embouchure changed I have to find my "sweet spot" in pulling out the headjoint. My ear technique is not the greatest so balance and blending is kinda hard and mostly the blending.
Can you be my teacher !!! I’ve recently bought my first personal flute after not playing for 6 years ! And I’m so eager to learn. I’m currently self teaching, which is challenging to say the least but still very much exciting ! I watch all your videos and they’ve helped me soo much especially with my embouchure! Thank you so much and hope to hear from you
Greetings from Andy and I in Orange County California. A little late to this party since this videos us about 3 years oldb but thank you for it. It was both entertaining and informative... especially as a older adult looking to take up a simple system flute/fife type instrument and looking through a bunch of these videos for pointers. Some of them are quite dry or flat in their presentation.
I remember my first embouchure change it was between the end of 8th grade and beginning of 9th grade. I am currently trying to change the embouchure of one of the flutes in my section.
Hi Joanna :) Great videos! Have you ever tried a LefreQue? It's a bridge you put on the flute to connect the tube. I haven't tried it (just found it on the internet yesterday), but I am very curious if it actually works!? Hugs, Martin (from Denmark)
7:23 YEEEESSSSS, but that point is so hard to get to! I didn't realize that I needed an embouchure change until my embouchure became unstable. I developed nerve damage in my left jaw. (I had developed a weird, offset embouchure stabilized by a clenched jaw. I had a big, fat, rich tone.... for a while.) It took me years to change my evil ways (I almost sold my flute in the process), but the stubborn embouchure did, eventually, change, the jaw relaxed, and I eventually started gigging again.
I'm currently going through an embouchure change and it's so rough! I feel like I'm back to my first week of flute playing sitting in front of my mirror and trying my best to make a sound
I started private lessons recently and one of the first things she did was change my embouchure. I couldn’t hit high notes, but I’m already doing better! I used to max out with a super shrill high e but I’m able a (also bad but still progress) high g!
My embouchure is always slanted embouchure because my upper lip naturally doesn't line up with the rest of my mouth area. Which sucks because I always have to make sure it doesn't get extremely slanted to the point where my sound is NOT good.
Hi Joanna, I'm going through pretty much the exact same crisis right now and I was wondering if you had any more like specific tips on how exactly the frowny embouchure is formed? Thanks!
update: I've managed to get like a few low-middle register notes out and it's a big improvement from when I had first started changing the embouchure. I still can't seem to figure out the high notes though, because I had only been taught to pull back on high notes and not how to actually use my lips. Any tips?
I keep trying the embouchure as you instructed , but my nose keep moving smh . Didn’t know my nose is connected to my lip muscles 🤦♂️. I will practice this. I need an embouchure change. The smile one isn’t giving me the best sound.
Hey Joanna! I'm a freshman in highschool and I'd like to join marching band next year. Do you think I should switch from flute to piccolo? It would be easier to carry. I love your videos❤️
I was literally taught to smile when I learned to play. I'm going to have to do this grind too. And now I'm learning that I also have no control over those muscles either... ugh... I frown by pushing the middle of my lower lip upwards, not pulling the corners of my lip down. Edit: I've been staring in the mirror trying to frown with just the corners of my mouth for a half hour now and nothing is happening LOL
This sounds like me right now trying to transition into an open holed flute. Could you make a video on transitioning from a closed hole flute to an open hole flute because that would be really helpful :)
"lacked the ability to believe in myself". Could this be because you focus too much on what others may think ? or because you judge yourself very archly (even if you'd call that "realisiticly" and not "archly") ? I've been in that situation. I did it anyway, because playing felt good, even when I made mistakes. Somehow, I'm not a believer. I believe you deserve what you work hard for ! Thanks for these tips, by the way :)
Thank you so much ! I'm with problems in my embouchure too but the biggest problem is : I'm in the 6 grade and I didn't put my dental appliance/brace yet... Because my lower jaw is further back, is this bad??
OMG this is literally me right now. And right before college auditions too😅😅. So when I first learned flute I had braces and now I don't so I'm working on changing it. It's so hard and frustrating so thanks for making this video it helps to know that someone else has gone through this
Just had to begin embouchure change work - it is like physical torture! I am in pain after a few seconds! The muscles I'm invoking are truly different to those I use outside being a dental patient. Was it like this for you guys?
Following on from this video could you make a video on making the correct embouchure from the start of learn the instrument? It's just I'm a clarinetist but I'm learning fife and hoping to follow in with flute thank you.
7:00 , " Yes, the gods are smiling down upon me." No, they're frowning to show you what a good embouchure looks like. :)
Same feeling as well. ✌🏻️
😆
im about to have an embouchure change crisis because i didnt know thats how im supposed to play
same
I am having an embouchure crisis because I haven’t received my flute yet. It’s an all silver gmienhardt
I'm a pianist and I've never tried the flute or any other wind instrument but still I watch your videos just because you inspire me so much to work harder and to improve my skill! Thank you! :)
Though the frowning embouchure is ideal for Western Concert flute, I clearly remember being taught that, after trying to use the frowning embouchure, that the dizi uses a strong smiling embouchure. My teacher used it, and most pro dizi players I have seen play that way.
When I went to my first flute lesson with my tutor, she noticed that I was doing the "smiley" and she told me to make a frown when I am playing and that would produce a warmer tone. When I got home that same day and kept trying to frown I found it so hard and I had to work on it for about 2 or 3 weeks to really start seeing results but that 2 or 3 weeks were the worst because it was difficult to produce a rich tone and I was so annoyed that I could reach notes That used to come naturally to me. I'm an 8th grade student currently and I will be graduating and going to high school later this year.
I think i need to go through an embochure change after this video
This is EXACTLY what I'm going through right now! I was really questioning if I should switch majors, but this motivated me to work through it. Thanks!
This really hits home for me! Last summer, I underwent extensive dental work that corrected my bite and completely changed my embouchure. Two months later, I fell down my basement stairs backwards, dislocated my shoulder and had a massive surgery to reattach my arm to my shoulder. 😮 I am in the process of re-learning how to play. So difficult at 62 years old, but I'm determined! Thank you for opening up this dialog!
Wow that was so insightful! So here's my embouchure breakthrough story...
I was off the flute for over a month because of being sick and burned out from work. During that time (a lot of time too sick in bed to do anything but couldn't sleep because of 2 minute long coughing fits), I spent some time procrastinating on this fine channel and came across this video. Before being sick and not practicing, I had reasonable good tone for an adult beginner. So now, back to the flute and I sound like a leaky bicycle pump!
What to do?
Go back to the basics: Marcel Moyse "De la sonorité" (Paris: Alphonse Leduc, 1934). Read, re-read, absorb, embrace, and engage with pages 2-5. Yep, just those four pages (actually, just focus on the exercises on page 4), then go back to the video and you will totally get that "everything forward" thing.
I did the simple exercise of running down the chromatic scale from G to low C in long tones, progressively tightening my lower jaw and lips to get to C#, then C, then -- shock and disbelief! -- the B on my B-foot! I have never been able to hit that note without cracking or flattening out into a wheeze. If you want more details, pick up Trevor Wye's "Practice Book for the Flute: Volume 1 - Tone", he expands on Moyse in a systematic way.
After 20 minutes with the Moyse exercises, I felt triumphant -- and totally mentally and physically exhausted (that was too much like real work). Now I have to keep doing it so that I don't lose those moments of embouchure truth and clarity.
Anyway, sorry for the long winded comment, I just wanted to share that, yes, it takes absolute dedication to subtle little details to ultimately get it right. Or as Moyse writes, "it is a matter of time, patience and intelligent work".
That's for sharing your experience!
Im a sec 3 flautist, i started playing flute last year when i was sec 2 on May because i just started school in SG. I had no music background and I didn't plan to learn flute when I joined band, but during that time they need a sec 2 flutist, so i was sort of "forced" into the flute section. I think i was the greatest junior in the junior band because I could catch up with everyone in a few weeks only. My theory and techniques were really good for a beginner, but my tone was really airy, because i didn't realize that my embouchure hole was formed on the left side of my lips, not in the middle. So my tone was really airy as i put the lip plate on the middle of my lips instead of left. I thought I just need to practise more so i can get a better tone. In December, i was really frustrated, i was so sad, i cried many times because i have changed my embouchure a lot of times, around 5 or 6 times. And I tried to practise with each type of embouchure that i found for about 1 or 2 weeks. But my tone didn't improve at all. Then, i watched many professional flautist videos, some of them actually don't put their lip plate on the middle of their lips, so I tried to practise in front of the mirror, i tried to frown and blow, and realized that my embouchure hole is on the left side of my lips. So i tried to shift my flute to the left and practise. It took quite a long time to get used to that because it's hard to keep it in the same position when practising. It took me around 3 months to get used to it. But i was also really frustrated during those 3 months because i thought that i won't be able to get a good tone because my lips are weird. The flesh on the left side of my lower lip is thinner than the flesh on the right side of my lower lip. So I thought that i wouldn't be able to get a good tone with this kind of lips. Then I just keep practising, until April, i actually tried to change my embouchure for the last time. I pushed the flute a bit from the right side because the embouchure hole is a bit slanted, so I tried to follow. And I noticed that my tone got better, it was such a big big big improvement. Until now i keep using that embouchure because it produces a really nice tone, good projection, and good flexibility. Last time whenever ppl ask me to show them how I play my flute, i was so embarrassed and had no confidence at all because i had airy tone, now i have more confidence because of my improvement :D. That's my story :D
Going through it RIGHT NOW - after 45 years of the smiling embouchure. Believe me, it may take longer than 2 weeks - but thank you for acknowledging that the grind.is.real. Maybe I WILL get to the other side ...
I learnt flute when I had braces, and I remember getting that really wispy tone when I got them off. It was the worst thing ever, coz there was suddenly all this extra room and my mouth had no idea what to do. It was so bad
Banana Joe good to know when I get mine off. 👍🏼😅😁
Lol same thing happened when i got braces and had no more space in my mouth
How did y'all over come it? I need to know soon.
Good to know! i'm getting off mine soon. :)
When I had my braces taken off I could not play for almost three days. It was so much harder than than getting used to playing with braces. I had to completely relearn the piccolo
I play a c flute, but i could never reach the low c, and i tried the frown thing for a couple of days AND IT WORKED!!! Thank you soooo much!
I luuuuuv this! I played flute from 4th grade to about 9th and never with a good teacher just trying myself to get a good tone. But now (at 43) I want to play again soooo much. My kids are taking piano and I have fantasies of playing awesome flute and piano duets with them. I needed this info on embouchure. Thank you! Thank you! I love your passion for music and your humorous and fun style.
I had my embouchure change crisis when I was freshly out of high school and I was starting my AA. My previous teacher Suzan Degooyer told me that the smile way of doing the embouchure was making me tense. My current teacher tells me that the smile embouchure makes me have a nasal sound on the flute. :)
Ugh. I play the clarinet, and my embouchure was really bad before I started taking lessons. Luckily, it was during the summer. I couldn't play any of the octave key notes, and I squeaked a lot. I'm an emotional person, so I kind of teared up every lesson. But, thankfully, I got over it and my teacher says now that she almost can't tell the difference between our tones. :3
OMG! I'm going though the same thing (kind of). I'm a grad student (master's program for music education) and my instrument is the flute as well. I went through a similar situation with an embouchure/head joint change. For many years, I used to play with my head joint rolled in and with a smaller, tenser embouchure opening. My teacher noticed this and told me to adjust my head joint so that it's not so rolled in for better resonance and relax my lips and throat. After getting a new flute last year, doing some long tone/embouchure exercises, and keeping a relaxed throat it's like a whole new world. Better tone quality. But, like you said, I went though the whole "why am I doing this?" "this sucks so bad!" "I sound like a third grader!" "why?!?!!?!?" It took a lot of practice and not giving up. Lot's of sitting in the practice room and going back to long tones. But, it paid off in the end. Not only did it change my tone quality but it also gave me more self confidence, like "I can do this, I can be a flutist!" I'm glad you put this video (and many others) on your channel. I feel your pain in many of them as I'm going through the same things in my flute studies (receiving a "W" in musicianship - been there. Failing a placement audition - yup, but then again I didn't practice, however, I came back the next year and got second flute in wind ensemble. And yes, I love playing second flute parts!). So, yeah, keep up the good work! And keep the videos coming! I always thought I was the only one, but I'm glad I'm not! It helps me get through my week and through my music ed. program! :)
I just got my first professional flute last month and I had to change the way that I tune and align my flute.
i got braces at the beginning of the year, i was so sad cause every time i come back from an appointment my embouchure would completely change and all that time that i spent on making a nice tone is gone... i get so frustrated all the time cause of this but now i am kinda used to it ;(
Thank you for making this video! I have been trying to teach myself the frowning embouchure as I can tell it produces a better tone, but I never knew WHY. Your explanation here has been so very helpful in understanding that, while I wasn't smiling before, I was making everything way. too. tight. Much improvement from relaxing and giving freedom of movement to the lips and cheeks. Thanks again!
Started playing again after a 20 year break 4 years ago and am practicing about 1 - 1.5 hrs a day. I started off playing on my own with the tight "smiley" embouchure and I had NO stamina much less flexibility throughout the range. Two years ago I started with a teacher who started to "frown" me but didn't use your description or explanation as to why. Yours is the best explanation I have heard so far. Way to go!
You have been such an encouragement to me, a beginner trying to find my ombeture. Someone showing you what to do is of course helpful but ultimately you have to do it and then learn to do it consistently. I thought I was a total loser after two weeks of trying and having a tone that was so inconsistent and more often then not pretty awful. Thanks for sharing and being honest about your ombeture crisis.
Not an embouchure change as I'm a violist, but last year I had to completely relearn my bow hold and vibrato. I have been playing for 14 years now, and to suddenly be in the position where I felt like I sounded like a complete beginner was terrible, but I ended up just doing what you did and focused only on my tone, bow hold, and vibrato for the course of a month. By the end I had mostly solved my problem.
the moment of times I've had an embouchure change... the most frustrating experience I've ever had in college... it's so much to take in and so overwhelming that you can't produce a decent tone at this point of flute playing. I can relate to all of your reactions and feelings.
ok so I picked up a mega-cheap 2nd hand flute as an excuse to try it out. No time for getting a teacher, so I wanted to try to youtube my way to learning how to make some semblence of a sound. My lips are a bit scarred an inflexible so I've been struggling to make the right embouchure, most of the vids I've seen do the whole stretchy-smile thing. Just tried your frowny-styley and already getting a better sound. Still breathy and dreadful, but a step in the right direction. Thanks V. Much!
Really going to have to get a proper tutor tho, I suspect.
Oh and as for your vids, really like the editing you're doing. Very professional, witty cuts which really add amusement and spark to the info and advice. Thanks for doing them.
This is my third year of playing flute, and when I first started, I was INCREDIBLE for a beginning band student. My embouchure was great, I could play notes super easily, and I just felt like a child prodigy.
Then I hit marching band.
The music is far more difficult than anything I had ever played in a band class before, and almost 2 months later, I'm realizing that if I want to be able to meet my personal standard of always being able to play the flute 1 part, I need to re-learn my embouchure. I've had a very similar one since beginning band, although my tone has gotten better and I'm not as flat as I used to be (I used to have to push my flute all the way in to the body to be in tune). However, I'm still using the cheat embouchure that most people in school bands use and I'd like to get the absolute best quality that can come from a beginner flute, because I refuse to leave her until I absolutely have to. Mostly because I'm broke, but we've bonded, too. I'm hoping to maybe drag the rest of the flutes down with me into the despair that is learning a new embouchure because the rest of the band can't always shut up for the flutes, so maybe we can figure out a way to project better without sacrificing tone quality.
I really appreciate your reflection. I also learned a new more efficient embouchure in my masters degree. I agree with the frustration. Sad thing is that I was not as fortunate as you. The embouchure came and left. Also, I didn’t really have time to stop playing because I was in a couple ensembles. I eventually was able to change my embouchure, but it was after I graduated. Body had an aha moment and figured it out. I’m just glad it happened! Thank you again!
I must thank you. I ran into an embouchure crisis of myself and your talk actually helped me get passed that. I really made a leap forward now. Thanks!
Emboucher crisis happened jumping back and forth from piccolo and flute. Gah. Tired shaky mouth muscles equals shaky tone, equals loss of confidence, equals meltdown. Back to the basics. Thank you for your video.
Luckily I've never smiled while playing the flute, there's usually a look of intense pain and horror on my face.
Ha!
😂😂😂
I’m a trumpet player doing an embouchure change after 20 years. This was VERY helpful and hilarious! We have many of the same problems. I’m able to play almost as high as I want with good control now but struggling to rebuild lower register. Thanks for this.
I am totally new to the flute, and I am so glad to have found this video. I went through an embouchure change on the french horn after high school, and for two weeks I sounded worse than when I had first begun the horn. I want to be sure that I am starting off correctly on the flute, so that I don't have to go through that pain on this instrument.
I had my embouchure crisis when I first got lessons in grad school (non-music major). My teacher had me switch to the frowny (French style?) embouchure. (If I remember correctly, the smiley embouchure is known as the German style.) She started me off by lightly blowing into the flute to make a whistle tone (no longer than a second) and then when the whistle tone registered, to blow a full note. She said the amount of force we use to make a whistle tone is as light as the force we should use to make a full note., i.e. we should be using the lightest amount of force to make a full note with the frowny embouchure. (I learned over time with the smiley embouchure, I would strain and use a lot of force to force out trouble notes in the upper registers.) That extra step of watching for the whistle tone helped a lot with my awareness of how much force I was using in my airflow. It also helped me to calm down when I was I getting frustrated over the embouchure change by re-framing my focus. I spent hours for two weeks in front of a mirror doing long tones with the whistle tone before every note starting from B2 and chromatically down to B1 and back. Then came the long uphill battle through the higher registers... Whenever I hit a note that I couldn't register after the whistle tone, I did an embouchure check in the mirror. It was usually the smile coming back, so I would adjust and try again. The smile comes back sometimes even after 2 years, but it was a great help to do the change and fix my mistakes. I also had to do it on the piccolo, which is an even bigger nightmare, especially since we're playing pieces that go up to C4. :P It's definitely worth it in the end!
Wow great point about the whistle tone...I'm about a week into my own embouchure change/crisis (!) and I'm totally gonna try that! I heard Pahud make a point recently about how little resistance there is on the flute, so what you're saying kinda makes sense.
Grace Homan I hope it helps. Good luck with your journey! It will be totally worth it. ^_^
Yes! Thank you so much. I've been doing as you recommend to develop tone first in my now only less than two week focus on flute practice after 28 years only jamming and not knowing what I didn't know. Your video on Trevor Wye books came up on my first search, and I found the Tone book at a local music store. I'm still working on the first two pages as my mouth still gets tired developing correct embouchure. I recently lost my low note power almost completely, partly due to my flute's damaged and worn pads, now with my repair man, but I'm still struggling with the loaner flute. Your suggestions cleared it up immediately. Droning notes has been a thing of mine ever since learning to circular breathe with didgeridoo in the 90's. I started playing flute then too, bamboo type with no keys, only 6 holes plus the embouchure hole. Wow, the difficulty level of this instrument is as high as anything I've ever played beyond jamming level; voice, guitar, bass and drums my most practiced and skillful instruments. Keyboards are easy when I practice only a little bit, and flute fingerings are not my problem at all; it's all in the lips and my arms developing the strength to hold the flute, the awareness of posture so that I don't slouch when I descend in pitch, thus breaking the alignment in my arms that keep the flute in a stable position for my lips. Such a pleasure to develop a new instrument, one that might let me into an orchestra some day. I like a challenge, thus my skills on drum kits and strings and keys in general. Horns! Flute is the hardest one. Didgeridoo is easier. I have huge breath power, and the lip strength from buzz horns is less nuanced than flute technique. Clarinet was my first horn, so much easier. It's just bite strength and top lip only seals the air, no participation in tone. Bottom lip on reed needs more brute force than the tiny movements in flute skills. Thanks again! Your videos are really easy to follow and very informative.
I've been so inspired to practice I tired out my developing mouth muscles. It's good to rest and massage my face, buzz my lips in low frequencies, stretch the muscles gently, and put the flute down for a day once in awhile, at least until I'm in better shape. Like any athletic skill this kind of discipline on musical instruments is best tuned with instruction. Too much self taught for most of us means unlearning incorrect habits later on. I had to relearn how to play familiar guitar passages when I took in the teaching of ergonomics and alignment, nuances in how to position the guitar, how to hold it, how to finger and pick without damage or strain from a Guitar Craft circle that welcomed me for a short time before it dissolved. Glad these vids provide so much correct teaching so I can build flute skills correctly this time.
I'm going through an ombochure change at the moment and I find myself slipping back so I just keep practicing and trying to change and make it natural. Now watching this video my eyes are open to another ombochure change I'm going to need to make lol. Oh well it will never stop me playing and only make me better. Thanks
Lol I've always done the frowny embouchure and I thought the smily one was the way to go and have been trying to do the smily one for so long. This video made me feel better about myself
can you do a video on breathing exercises?and possibly warm-up exercises? thank you so much for your videos!They have made me grow as a musician and actually helped me become a better role model for other flutists!Once again thank you.
The oboe prof at UVic is the sort of person who will politely but firmly tell you what you need to change. She won't lie to you. After playing an E flat clarinet solo in a wind ensemble concert, she came up to me and said, "Very fine playing," and on the inside I was going, "Sandra complimented me!!!!"
And I jokingly tell all by beginning flute students, "You can be happy or you can play the flute. You can't do both."
Yeah, I'm commenting on an "old" video...but I wanted to try this out first before commenting. Before first watching, I never even considered my embouchure. I'd been playing the same way since I was ten years old and even then it wasn't referred to as embouchure, I was just told "hold your mouth like this and blow", and later "adjust your mouth a little". I spent some time trying the 'smiley' and the 'frowny' and I did notice a big difference. I also discovered that the frowny works better with my flute, but the smiley works better with my piccolo.
I have watched many of your videos and this one is by far the most impressive.......I was looking for videos on piccolo embouchure and stumbled across this. My flute teacher in college (circa 1977) had studied under Julius Baker and the first thing we worked on was the frown embouchure......I remember he asked me to simulate crying......as a child might cry.....he got me to feel what it should feel like.........I too would practice it every day.........to work on that muscle memory. It did help me establish a reliable lower register on the flute. My personal problem was that I could never really grasp reading music well........ergo I have always been technically challenged.........but always had a great sound. The flute brings me much joy.....and I create in my own voice.......but don't ask me to play Bach, Poulenc or Martinu. Thank you for your youtube videos. Live long and prosper. Mark
This is so helpful and HILARIOUS! Some of my students are going through embouchure changes, and man, is it hard to explain! Keep making awesome videos!
30 yrs ago I was so frustrated after 3 yrs with a teacher who berated and belittled me for not producing correct tone with the "smiley" that I completely gave up. I still loved the sound of the flute, I loved what it could do and what joy it could bring people, but personally I detested it anywhere near me. There was a young girl who wanted to learn and couldn't afford one, so I blest her with mine a few years ago. Best decision EVER! That young girl has now so inspired me to try again ( the sound she produces brings tears to my eyes) that I am now saving up for a flute😊. I am doing the frowny exercises so that one day when I have my new baby I will be able to have a teeny tiny headstart. Also, I watch your videos, Joanne, and James Galway's and as much flutists videos as I can get my grabby little hands on. At 52, I believe I am now alot older and, I hope, just that little bit wiser. I follow my eldest sister's hints too, who at age 62 is self-teaching with the help of RUclips and the condensed Trevor Wye book. So thank you, for the inspiration and the confidence boosts❤
I really hope you are blessed by giving your flute to the girl who couldn't afford one. May the flute gods help you to become one of the best flute players ever. Hope a flute teacher reads this and is touched by your generosity and offers you lessons
I love the lows as well
I've been going through an embouchure change on and off. I went into college and the first thing my teacher told me was that I needed to change my embouchure. I'm almost through my second year and I am still struggling because of some family issues that caused me to not be as diligent with practicing so I am catching up and working towards keeping the embouchure.
As a person who has frowned most of their life, and has smiled on rare occasions... im glad that I do not have to go through this hurdle. The smiling version yields the same result so I can truly sympathize
When I started I pretty much had a good embouchure so I only had to change a little, but the biggest problem that I had is that on my secondhand my thumb was too far out and it supposed to be in between your pointer finger in your middle finger, so I had to move that in and it was very hard because it became a habit it was just so antagonizing.
YES I had a smiley embouchure and my teacher made me switch to the frowney as well. It was rough, but I made it. I am so glad b/c my tone is so much better now.
Omg I tried the frown face embouchure once and noticed a super awesome difference! Thank you for the tip! And I have to freak people out with this weird facial look just because!
I'm in my 2nd year of Band and I use a kind of pouty embouchure. My teacher's main instrument is flute, and I noticed that she uses the smiley, but keeping my mouth that tight seemed like a lot of work, so I keep my mouth at a kind of neutral rest position. When I go higher, I move my lips closer together and, after learning about constant squeaks, I decreased the amount of air I let out and focused on making it a tighter stream, although I don't know what that means for my tone. I haven't noticed it sounding bad, but I only have other amateur flutists to go by. When I go lower, I open up my lungs more in order to get the resonating sound that makes this 200 dollar instrument sound like a gift from the gods. Although it wastes my air supply pretty quickly, so I'll probably just go through all your videos until I find something that tells me how to go about fixing that xD
Edit: Oh my God, I just commented on this video again 9 months later and totally forgot about this. I just accepted my bad embouchure because it wasn't causing any problems but now I have more difficult music and am running into issues with really high notes (4+ ledger lines)
This video is so helpful ! I have been struggling for a while and I knew my embouchure was wrong so I didn’t wanna practice at all for the past few weeks. But thanks to your video I’m gonna start practicing lip frowning for now :)
I've just been through an embouchure change brought about by getting braces, as an adult. They're Invisalign, so I can take them off, but I"m supposed to have them on for 22 hours a day, which means only 2 hours to eat. And the way my particular Invisaligns were formed (especially at the beginning), with giant bumps in front of my top teeth, to push them back, made it impossible to even make a sound when they were on. So my only occasional flute playing became less and less occasional. I ended up in a state where, like you, I couldn't even play Mary had a Little Lamb. My face would tense up like crazy when I tried to play (without the braces, I've given up on trying to play with them). I ended up, like you, questioning whether or not I should continue...thinking maybe I should start considering myself an ex-flutist (I majored in flute in college). That scared me, so I took some time off work to get my embouchure back. It was terribly frustrating to sound so horrible, so I got through the frustration by setting a kitchen timer for just 10 minutes at first. I'd tell myself I had to play only for 10 minutes (4-5 times a day). After a few days, I started sounding a bit better, so I'd set it at 15 minutes and so on. Gradually, as I continued, I improved and the frustration levels became lower and lower. After a while, I didn't need the timer anymore. Glad to say, my embouchure is back now and I'm no longer an ex-flutist. I'm not managing to wear my braces as many hours per day as I'm supposed to, but I'm 3/4 of the way through the treatment and hoping it won't cause a big problem. Oh, one other strategy that helped was to use a massager on my face to loosen the tight muscles. That, and stretching them really helped a lot. The rubber bands I have with my braces are really thick, so make my jaw muscles really tired. I think that's what was causing all that tension when I first started trying to play again.
Me too! Yes, I feel all of those emotions too. Thank you for discussing the "feels."👏☺😊
yes, i totally have an embouchure issue with the lower register, i will try the frown face next time i play the flute. I still have a bit of that beginner flute sound that I'm trying to get rid of
Thank you for sharing. I am going through that right now. It's driving me crazy.
Ive had to relearn to tongue twice (I am currently relearning for the second time). It is very difficult but hopefully worth it in the end:)
How did the change in tonguing go for you?
Oh gosh, I remember my embouchure change crisis! It happened while I was auditioning for my undergraduate degree in clarinet performance... Most of the trial lessons I went to at my colleges of interest, the professor cut me off and said, "Fix your embouchure and come back." I was absolutely distraught, but I really wanted to prove that I could play better, so that's what I did. It didn't help that I was also anchor tonguing (is that something that happens to flutists?) so I ended up fixing that too. Definitely a pivotal moment for me as a musician :)
To believe or not to believe... That's NOT the question... The thing is TO DO IT. Very interesting because I did a change the way a was breathing and I spent several days practicing the diaphragm respiration in any place and in any time and it worked very good.
Yeah you are perfectly right about "Crisis" :( I have also suffered this crisis, and still sometimes i dont able to play with perfect embouchure, nice tips by the way
I am just cracking up!!! I don't think about what other drivers think when they're looking at me in their rear view mirror, when I am either practicing music or languages with myself in my head... I have a very expressive face. Everyone says that I am an open book, because whatever I'm thinking or feeling is always on my face. So, it's no wonder why I always get people in front of me either afraid or thinking what the Heck is that guy doing!? Driving around, I have noticed the days where people swerve to get out of my way. I never understood it, until I just happened to look at my face in the mirror one day, and another day when my wife asked me not to frown so deeply "like that"... Whatever that meant. But, she said I had a look of disgust on my face, when I just felt that I was concentrating really hard on something. I think it comes from my Filipino genes of how we point with our lips. It's about the only feature that I have that is Filipino, otherwise, everyone just thinks I am white! LOL!!!
What ruined my beginning experience with the flute was listening to James Galway, watching him on RUclips videos as the camera closed in on his embouchure and looking very carefully and seeing First that he had a kind of sneer that seemed to be pulling his upper lip up and 'over' the blowhole. To me, it seemed the blowhole was opening towards his mouth, instead of straight up or out as some teachers recommend. The sound of the flute was solid and loud, as he played the flute. Well, I tried to copy that embouchure and no matter how much I tried to copy him, the sound was weak and airy, couldn't play tne low notes or the high notes. After a while, I started looking at other musicians and they were teaching the exact opposite. With the blowhole leaning away from the lips. I tried that too. That didn't work either. So what I did, I just kept playing the flute and rolling the flute under then over the lower lip. Using my right hand to push the flute towards my face then away from my face, then raising the right hand higher then lower and to allowing the flute to change positions until I heard an improvement in the tone, then making notations and little drawings of how the flute looked when the sound was getting closer to what I wanted to hear. Then I noticed that I had to pay attention to the feel of the air being blown into the blowhole and the speed and the way it felt going into the blowhole. I still have some difficulty when starting the practice time, until the flute warms up, then the sound of the notes are getting closer to sounding 'pretty'. There are some days that I have to smile at how nice the flute sounds, but some days I feel I'm wasting my time, but it's just so nice when I have a 'nice' day, so I keep plugging away. I have always practiced some kind of musical instrument, guitar, piano, trumpet. I played the harmonica and actually made money with a partner that playing the guitar at some social club, Had a drum machine with peddles, really sounded pro. But unfortunately, another person joined this two-man band and ruined it. So we wen our seperate ways. That's when I stopped playing the harmonica, getting too expensive having replaced the reeds. The flute seemed the perfect instrument, but it was much more difficult than I expected, but as long as I'm making progress, I'll stick with it. When I hear James Galway and a lot of others, and how nice it sounds, INCLUDING YOU J, it's worth the effort.
I went to an embouchure change at 14 and had to do the frowning technique because I needed to tighten my corners more according to band director(he was basically forcing me to smile) but it was actually that I needed to relax like completely to be able to have good tone. I literally went all through marching season and 5 months through concert season to fix it..... it was like an existential crisis all thought basically most of the school year until I fixed it about a month ago ........ I was getting massive headaches trying to figure out why I wasn't able to fix it and get better and if I didnt fix my embouchure I believe I would have not progressed. And before my embouchure change I had and airy tone, and my intonation was getting worst by the second. I am so glad I was able to fix it and now I sound much fuller but also since I'm still not used to the tuning since my embouchure changed I have to find my "sweet spot" in pulling out the headjoint. My ear technique is not the greatest so balance and blending is kinda hard and mostly the blending.
Can you be my teacher !!! I’ve recently bought my first personal flute after not playing for 6 years ! And I’m so eager to learn. I’m currently self teaching, which is challenging to say the least but still very much exciting ! I watch all your videos and they’ve helped me soo much especially with my embouchure! Thank you so much and hope to hear from you
Greetings from Andy and I in Orange County California.
A little late to this party since this videos us about 3 years oldb but thank you for it. It was both entertaining and informative...
especially as a older adult looking to take up a simple system flute/fife type instrument and looking through a bunch of these videos for pointers. Some of them are quite dry or flat in their presentation.
I remember my first embouchure change it was between the end of 8th grade and beginning of 9th grade. I am currently trying to change the embouchure of one of the flutes in my section.
I love those awkward silences.
Okay, I just wanted to get this out of my system, and... YOU HAVE THE SAME SPEAKERS AS ME!!! There. Now I feel better.
Also, I'm starting flute lessons on Monday (I think).
3:25? Me: How can I get through the year if I can't even play a whole note properly now?!
Hi Joanna :) Great videos!
Have you ever tried a LefreQue? It's a bridge you put on the flute to connect the tube. I haven't tried it (just found it on the internet yesterday), but I am very curious if it actually works!? Hugs, Martin (from Denmark)
7:23 YEEEESSSSS, but that point is so hard to get to! I didn't realize that I needed an embouchure change until my embouchure became unstable. I developed nerve damage in my left jaw. (I had developed a weird, offset embouchure stabilized by a clenched jaw. I had a big, fat, rich tone.... for a while.) It took me years to change my evil ways (I almost sold my flute in the process), but the stubborn embouchure did, eventually, change, the jaw relaxed, and I eventually started gigging again.
I'm currently going through an embouchure change and it's so rough! I feel like I'm back to my first week of flute playing sitting in front of my mirror and trying my best to make a sound
I'm glad I found this video. I just started flute a week ago.
OMG this is my LIFE right now. THANK YOU.
I’ve watched this video countless times and I’m like 😭😭 freshman in college trying to major in flute performance but my embouchure is horrendous
I’ve only been playing for a couple weeks, but luckily I did a lot of research first and have never even tried the smiley embouchure.
I learned french horn with braces and when i got them off i couldnt even play a halfway decent scale so i relate to this a lot
She plays league of legends! She has a poro plush!
I started private lessons recently and one of the first things she did was change my embouchure. I couldn’t hit high notes, but I’m already doing better! I used to max out with a super shrill high e but I’m able a (also bad but still progress) high g!
My embouchure is always slanted embouchure because my upper lip naturally doesn't line up with the rest of my mouth area. Which sucks because I always have to make sure it doesn't get extremely slanted to the point where my sound is NOT good.
I have a good flute embouchure, but i've also been playing trombone for jazz band for the past 2 years which is really messing up my embouchure
Talk about super late comment... But switching from Oboe to Flute has been a hilarious adventure for me thus far for this very reason.
3:32 "...how did I even freaking get in to this degree in the first place..."
"That point where you don't believe in yourself but you do it anyway"-YES!
When through the same problem in my Masters program. Damn it was tough. I was about to quit. Eventually, everything worked out perfectly.
Hi Joanna, I'm going through pretty much the exact same crisis right now and I was wondering if you had any more like specific tips on how exactly the frowny embouchure is formed? Thanks!
update: I've managed to get like a few low-middle register notes out and it's a big improvement from when I had first started changing the embouchure. I still can't seem to figure out the high notes though, because I had only been taught to pull back on high notes and not how to actually use my lips. Any tips?
How do you know when an embrochure change is necessary?
I keep trying the embouchure as you instructed , but my nose keep moving smh . Didn’t know my nose is connected to my lip muscles 🤦♂️. I will practice this. I need an embouchure change. The smile one isn’t giving me the best sound.
Hey Joanna! I'm a freshman in highschool and I'd like to join marching band next year. Do you think I should switch from flute to piccolo? It would be easier to carry. I love your videos❤️
I was literally taught to smile when I learned to play. I'm going to have to do this grind too. And now I'm learning that I also have no control over those muscles either... ugh... I frown by pushing the middle of my lower lip upwards, not pulling the corners of my lip down. Edit: I've been staring in the mirror trying to frown with just the corners of my mouth for a half hour now and nothing is happening LOL
This sounds like me right now trying to transition into an open holed flute. Could you make a video on transitioning from a closed hole flute to an open hole flute because that would be really helpful :)
"lacked the ability to believe in myself". Could this be because you focus too much on what others may think ? or because you judge yourself very archly (even if you'd call that "realisiticly" and not "archly") ?
I've been in that situation. I did it anyway, because playing felt good, even when I made mistakes. Somehow, I'm not a believer. I believe you deserve what you work hard for !
Thanks for these tips, by the way :)
Thank you so much ! I'm with problems in my embouchure too but the biggest problem is : I'm in the 6 grade and I didn't put my dental appliance/brace yet... Because my lower jaw is further back, is this bad??
trying playing the saxsophone, everytime you change reeds, let alone go up thickness your embouchure needs to change
OMG this is literally me right now. And right before college auditions too😅😅. So when I first learned flute I had braces and now I don't so I'm working on changing it. It's so hard and frustrating so thanks for making this video it helps to know that someone else has gone through this
I'm going to play a solo piece with(surprisingly) low notes. This is going to be SO helpful.
ive always had a frowny embouchure
Just had to begin embouchure change work - it is like physical torture! I am in pain after a few seconds! The muscles I'm invoking are truly different to those I use outside being a dental patient. Was it like this for you guys?
Thankfully I naturally do the frown! Sitting here at work at my real job, I was testing my embouchure while listening to this video.
I think the reason of smiling used is more for the look
Thank god I was taught a frowny embouchure
Following on from this video could you make a video on making the correct embouchure from the start of learn the instrument? It's just I'm a clarinetist but I'm learning fife and hoping to follow in with flute thank you.
I'm going through this right now. It's good to hear, that I'm not alone 😂