Hi All

Im a beginner and has just bought a flute (China brand "Jin Yin"). I also bought a book which is a self-teach book about the fingering / exercises etc...

1) When I learn to play the notes, i realise that the fingering of Middle 'E' sounds the same as the 'E' which is 1 octave higher. Is this correct?

2) Is it possible to self-teach flute all by depending of books? I have piano background (currently taking my G7)

Thanks all for your attention.

Cheers
Mango_Laa

Sorry, another question:

why is it i find it so hard to play middle 'C' then other notes like F/D/E etc...?

As you are brand new to flute and have no teacher, it is normal you have some problems to make all notes sing correctly.

At the beginning, I found lower notes (under E) more difficult to play at the low octave. The worst is of course low C, and we did not try to play that note after several months with my teacher. Low D is also somewhat difficult.

Trevor Wye's method (the one I followed at the beginning) starts with middle notes of the low octave and then goes down and up to the second and third, but Henry Altes (one French popular French method here) starts with the second and third octaves and later switches to the first. In my 2nd year, I used H. Altes' to develop skill on the higher notes and then came back to Trevor's.

Most finger positions are the same for the notes of the first and the second octave. (except C2, C#2, D2and D2#)

You get one octave or the other by changing the intensity and direction of the air flow.

The same is valid for some notes the 3rd octave, but there are more different fingering positions as you can see in your book.

I do not have any experience with those chinese flutes, for what I have read here, many times they are far from being acceptable. The best would be to have it checked by an experienced flutist or teacher. It could be you encounter difficulties that are due more to the instrument than to your playing technique.

I agree Jose Luis,

First of all, the flute must be played by an advanced flutist to diagnose any mechanical or pad problems.
The ideal scenario would have been if someone had tried the flute BEFORE buying it. But as it's over now, you (Mango Laa) must at least let somebody check all over it, even if it's a brand new instrument.

Concerning self teaching, I would not recommend. To have an idea of what to do, mostly when things go wrong, you must have a basis, a point of reference, and that's the role of a teacher. You don't just learn from him/her but also hear what he/she does and try to repeat or correct what's wrong.

cheers,

Zevang

i would grab a friend who plays flute..and ask them? it's SOO hard through the internet..yeah. but good luck!.

Since you are just beginning to play the flute, don't worry sooo much about the low notes;concentrate on notes like F,G,A,B,etc. If you want to get the higher notes,take in a good amount of air, tighten your embouchure, and try blowing the air more across the hole than how you did with the low notes. It just takes some practice so don't get frustrated.

Best of Luck

Careful with that advice to "tighten" the embouchure. Yes, you need some firmness in your embouchure, but it should not be "tight". That may actually inhibit the ability to play, particularly in the higher ranges.

Hi,

As you are a beginner, I think the JinYin flute will serve you well for awhile even though I would recommend that you get a better flute once you have reached a higher, more advanced level.

I had piano experience when I started learning the flute. I had completed Grade 6 ABRSM. Personally, I found it easier to pick up than the other people in my class. You may be able to self-teach from books but then you wouldn't know if you are playing it correctly or not. You may like to get a friend who knows how to play the flute or a teacher so they can advise you on that.

Also, the reason you nay not be getting middle C may not be because of the workmanship of the flute, but because you don't know the intensity of the air to blow or where to aim the air flow. Don't worry, quite a lot of people find problems with playing that note..When I first started, I had problems with that note too. Try aiming the air downwards and don't blow too hard. As the saying goes .. I guess it really is

Practice makes perfect

=)

Yes, the fingerings for a lot of the notes are the same an octave higher. What makes the note sound an octave higher depends on the intensity of the air blown and the angle at which it is blown. Try aiming the air at a low point on the wall or whatever you're facing as you play, then aim it at a higher point. When you aim the air at a higher point, the note should sound an octave higher. I would tell you how exactly to do it but I find it hard to explain as it is something that you have to feel. Sorry..

Hope this helped! =)

Ooh! Lots of good advices..^_^. I really wish you GOOD LUCK..and never give up on flute. oh! i know so many ppl quit because of fustration..it's really sad. Anyways..practice makes perfect..and it's very rewarding

well, Flutist06 is right. Don't "tighten" your embouchure because sometimes(this happens to me sometimes) you buzz your lips since you are too tight and there is a lack of air...as a post said b4, try blowing the air "higher" or well ...more "across"....hope i'm not confusing you . What i would usually tell other flute players to make it easier to understand is for them to try blowing "thin" air..hmmm...sometimes they get what I say
hope the posts work
Good Luck

If you have problems with low notes, try dropping your jaw.
If you cannot get the high notes, try pronouncing your T's harder...do you play with T's? If you do, play them with more force and try "shooting" more air but not that much or else the sound will not come out so good..

Dear all musicians

Thanks for replying my msgs! Feel the warmth support and great encouragement thru this forum *_*

1) Well one of the musicians (a retiree man) in my church plays saxophone, and he said he cud teach me some basics (no charge)in playing the flute. I gladly accepted his kindness but just wonder if it is the same playing techniques for playing saxophone & on flute?

As im in my G7 now so finacially im a bit tight. I have checked out in the market and a flute teacher charges U$ 130 / mth for a beginniner! Wow! that is quite a lot for me to live with...

So for the time being, I'll just see how it goes with my saxophone musician...

2) For the middle C, i can reach the note but it is thru many times of trying, and sometimes i can get it, sometimes i can't. So far I only managed to reach the C 1st octave higher than middle C, any note higher than that, the sound i produce is so piercing to the ear!

3) I realise if I play F/G/A , even i do not press the 1st finger of my right hand, i could still play the note, why is it so? Does pressing the 1st finger of my right hand 'stablise' the note better?

Sorry for the lenghty message -_-'

Cheers
Mango_Laa

Well good luck with the sax friend of yours....Just take some of his information with a grain of salt, because on the flipside of what Lera wrote about, many sax players pick up flute because they need to double for jazz gigs and the like, and self teach, so while he may know quite a lot, there's also the chance that he knows very little. As for the teacher, that's actually a very good price for a well qualified and experienced teacher. I have to private teachers, and I pay $130 for just two lessons with one of them, so for a month's worth of lessons that's not bad at all. As you gain more experience you will learn how to manipulate the air to produce a better (less piercing) tone, so don't worry too much about that...It comes with experience. If you are managing to play F without RH1, there must be something funky about your flute (or maybe you're hitting some harmonic version), but you should not be using RH1 to play G or A anyway. I hope that's useful for you.

Yes i agree. Experince plays a big role. playing flute comes so naturally now since i've been playing for a while...i don't have to "experiment" the differnt embrochure and air..u know^^..I'm glad you found a sax musician and you're not alone...well, ya know..you have flute buddies here!^_^

Hello Dear fellow flutist!

1) I started my 2nd lesson @ yamaha music school and i have experience dizziness after I try to sound a few notes. Why is it so? Is it normal?

I had the diziness during my 1st lesson and I thought maybe it's due to my empty stomach (not taken my dinner yet). So I make sure Im full (but not too bloated!) but still i experience the dizziness.

2) Im having problem in producing the sound. Sometimes I can get the sound, sometimes i can't. Also I have problem doing the tongueing technique (couldn't maintain the air-flow). How do i improve / practice?

Cheers
Mango_Laa