im airy??

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i have played the flute for like 3 years, and i sound kinda airy, like a soft wooosh sound when i play. any hints to prevent that? thanks!!!

tiffloser
(28 points)

I had a flute teacher who told me to try and direct my air into the embouchure hole as much as possible to reduce the air sound. He also mentioned embouchure shape: tighten the lips for lower notes and relax them for higher ones. I would also recommend doing long tones.

Micron
(1329 points)

There can be many reasons for airiness.
It's best to get a good teacher to work with you.

One possibility; drawing the lips tight against the teeth.

Another: Having the air swirl past your teeth before it gets to the lips. Make sure your jaw is sufficiently open so that lips gently cover the teeth right down to their tips.

Bot of the above can cause a turbulent airstream, which makes airy noises, rather than a clear sound.

muzicchik573
(18 points)

thank you both... i will try that!

Flutist06
(1545 points)

Tiffloser and I already discussed this, but I would not recommend tightening your lips to get the low notes. Directing your air downward and doing long tones may prove useful, but tightening could well be counterproductive.

Kara
(2843 points)

Chris, perhaps tiff is meaning well and is just voicing it in different words. What I mean is that, I agree that in the lower notes your lips should be more relaxed, but muscles in the lips are still being used and tightened, just not the entire lips and that may be where she is coming from. I hope that makes sense. I am not good with explanations or words I am better at visuals.

Patrick
(1388 points)

Kara and Chris, you are both correct, Tiff, just be careful what advice re tone you dispense, tension rarely produces a good tone anywhere on the flute...

Micron
(1329 points)

My perception is that it is all to do with getting a good LENGTH and shape of the windway BETWEEN the lips, i.e. the part you cannot see. Lip tension is highly counter-productive to this.

Think of a recorder. In order to get a non-turbulent, well-shaped airstream, the air goes through an airway that is about 30 mm long.

For an oxy-acetylene welding torch, to get a very focused stream of gas (hence flame), the gas goes down a carefully tapered tube that is many cm long - not unlike a bassoon bocal.

Yet for flute, the length of the airway between our lips is only a few mm. To focus the airstream well in this short distance is a tall order. We need every fraction of a mm we can get. Tension in the lips can take a few mm away from this length.

I once met a flute player who did not use her upper lip. The windway was between the tips of her upper teeth, and her lower lip, so it was very, very short. This meant her tone was always very, very "airy". Try it!

However if I do this and shape my lower lip BEHIND my upper teeth, just right, then I get quite a long airway, DOWN the BACK of my upper teeth. It takes practice to get the lip just right, and I have to adjust the flute position a little accordingly because the air is travelling down more, but quite a good sound is possible, across the whole range. I look very like Bugs Bunny doing this. LOL! Of course the success of this will depend in part on the particular shape of your upper teeth.

How about I start a revolution... start a class of beginners doing this. :-)

schoolgirl0125
(613 points)

i always had problems with this too. but i learned to love my flute,myself.and my flute playing. i work on long tones.and tone excersises everyday. it's amazing what u can accomplish!
have faith. learn from mistakes, teachers.
and keep on praticing! yay! and listen to what the rest of the ppl advices on this forum. whoowho!

im airy??

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