Hello. I'm 34 and always wanted to play the flute (I played clarinet and violin when I was in school) so I have been taking private flute lessons for about 3 weeks. In my last lesson, my flute instructor told me that I "push out" my embouchure just a little to much when playing notes in the 2nd octave (before that, I was able to play the higher notes without much effort). I guess my flute moves too much. Ever since she told me that, I've been struggling to play the higher notes. I practice in a mirror and I try not to push out too much, but now I am really self-conscious about it.

My question is how does your embouchure change when playing in the higher octaves?

Thanks.

(p.s. Forgive me if somewhere in my post my terminology is incorrect. I'm still learning

the embouchure gets smaller for the higher notes, and the angle of the air rises a bit, if the flute is falling, you need to angle it in slightly, just think of the end of the flute near your left ear is angled in that way...

Thank you Patrick! But can you explain "just think of the end of the flute near your left ear is angled in that way...". I keep reading that and getting more confused...

Hi
It's very difficult to advise someone about embouchure when you don't know what their face is like or what they might be doing. 3 weeks is still a pretty short time to have been playing, and it takes time to build up the muscles in your mouth. You will also have to develop your breathing technique and things like sound production are affected by how well supported the column of air is (think you said you'd played clarinet before so you'll know this)

There's one bit of advice that might help however. The key thing is that the upper registers 'grow' out of the foundations you've built for the lower register. So if you practice sounding notes in the lower register and try to get them to sound immediately when you're blowing the note, chances are you've got the airstream hitting the edge of the mouthpiece in the right place and that whatever you're doing for the higher notes will be built on good foundations. For this exercise don't tongue the notes (because this will 'bump start' the sound and disguise the problem) but just form an embouchure and blow something like an A or B, and keep repeating this, short notes, repeated, you'll find you get better at hitting just the spot. You're not trying to get a long note, but trying to get the start of the note to sound immediately.

It's very difficult to say anything else without actually seeing a pupil play.

I, like you, started playing flute as an adult, after playing piano all my life. My teacher is great, and I have learned the hard way after fighting her on it for so long....LONG TONES are you best friend. You will never get any better at your high notes without doing much practice on long tones. Same goes for your lower register. I am struggling with my upper register now too, but I am seeing small victories the longer I practice my long tones. JUST DO IT...you won't regret it.

the crown of your flute, the end of the headjoint should be angled in slightly so as to have proper balance, hope that clears that up a bit..

You might consider adding a thumb rest to your flute. Often it's hard for players to get proper balance and leverage. One of the best $8 accessories that I know of.