The Magic, Mystery and Methods of Teaching Beginners ...

joint, in particular, always faces the opposite direction of what students want it to be, so draw attention to that.

3. Start assembly by carefully removing the body with the right hand curved over the keys to not bend them and pick up the head joint with the left hand. Carefully twist the head joint entirely into the body and then pull out about 1/8 inch to start.

4. Pick up the end joint with the right hand and twist it carefully onto the body, aligning the pinky key to the center of the D key on the body. The instinct is to align the two rods, but this needs to be corrected. Note: It is common that once students do this for a while, they will want to roll the head joint in too much, so be aware that even the slightest adjustment can cause a significant change in tone production.

5. Disassemble the flute by returning each piece to the case with the same care as during the assembly. Have students practice this process a few times, latching the case several times to ensure they will not break or damage the instrument when they take it home.

TONE PRODUCTION ON THE HEAD JOINT:

1. Take the head joint and practice bringing it to your lips, having the tone hole make direct contact with the lips so that the top of the tone hole is touching the middle of the top lip and the bottom of the tone hole is touching the center of the bottom lip.

2. Roll the head joint out to the point where you are essentially blowing the air straight across the hole.

3. Using FAST air, blow with the embouchure forming the syllable “pooh.”

4. The aperture, or opening, should be small, keeping the lips very close together.

5. The place where the sound naturally pops out easily is commonly called the “sweet spot.” This is where the sound resonates the best, and it is hardly an effort for a bright, strong tone to come out.

6. Practicing in front of a mirror can help students identify this spot easier.

7. After successful repetition of this, change the syllable to “tu.”

8. Working on just the head joint at the beginning of each lesson and practice time is essential to establishing a good tone from the very beginning. Students should return to this exercise if their sound gets worse or becomes non-existent at any point in time.

2. The lips should be evenly on top of each other, with the bottom lip being ever so slightly further out than the top lip.

3. The head joint is either rolled too far in or too far out.

4. The lip plate is too far up or down on the chin and not hitting the right part of the lip.

5. The air is not fast enough or is directed too far up or down.

6. The teacher can roll the lip plate and head joint around slightly while the student plays to help find the necessary angle adjustment.

Below are common reasons why students struggle to produce a sound on the head joint:

1. The top lip is too far over the bottom lip blocking the air stream.

FLUTE POSTURE & HAND POSITION:

1. Teach students the importance of sitting correctly at the front edge of the chair with their feet flat on the floor at all times. If you have them stand up and then sit down while maintaining the posture in their upper body and only bending their knees, they will be in the proper position when sitting.

2. Flute players usually need to angle their chairs a bit to avoid having their flute in the next flutist’s face, but rather have it placed behind. If they do not angle their chair and try to put their flute behind their neighbor, they will probably end up tilting it too much. from the first note typically taught, “D,” and the second note, “C,” which does not use the thumb.

3. There are three main points of contact on the flute - this needs to be emphasized at the beginning when first learning how to hold the flute. These contact points are a) the inside left index finger knuckle, b) the right-hand thumb, and c) the head joint on the chin.

6. The right hand is curved, the fingers are curved right over the keys, and the right-hand thumb is not too far forward, indicating that the hand is remaining curved.

7. The right elbow placement should be aligned with the wrist. their wrist and not dropped. A visual cue is to have them think about holding a tennis ball in their right hand and keeping the elbow and wrist aligned in order for the ball not to drop.

THE FIVE FIRST NOTES ON THE FLUTE:

4. The left-hand should curve from the index finger around the body with the thumb on the thumb key.

5. The left-hand index finger knuckle should be curved and not be collapsed. This is crucial for students to change positions

8. Finally, the angle of the flute should be slightly downward so that the lips and lip plate are always perfectly parallel, just like this photo shows. Have students look in a mirror to check this every day for several weeks to ensure that they do not develop poor habits, remembering to sit up tall and bring the flute to them.

I have always used Standard of Excellence, the good old red book, as my beginning band method. This book, as well as many others, starts flute students on 4th line D, 3rd space C, and 3rd line Bb and then adds 4th space Eb and 5th line F. This is probably the most practical approach when starting flutes in the full band setting. Still, it presents some challenges for hand position right away for flutes, but it is also an excellent opportunity to reinforce the importance of the aforementioned contact points. Beginners will only realize how challenging this skill is if you tell them, just like the break on the clarinet! Just teach the students what to do with confidence and encouragement, and they will rise to the challenge!

"So long as the human spirit thrives on this planet, music in some living form will accompany and sustain it ..." –Aaron

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