Hi, I`m a new flutist (i`ve only been to three lessons...) and I`ve basically gotten the hang of the normal octave and the second octave. I can sometimes hit the third one, but that`s usually at the beginning of a note. Any tips for reaching all the way there and switching between octaves? Thanks.

Well to only have three lessons, and be going into the third octave is pretty fast going. First i`d master all the notes in the first octave, then go up and below. Anyhoot, to go between 3rd octave and any other takes practice just like anything else. For example, many flutists find going from high E to a low note difficult. Though with practice you should master it eventually. To learn the 3rd otave notes, just attack it like you would learning anything else. And to get your tone correct, just play music with more 3rd octave notes, or just hold in in a long tone until you can hold it for a period of time. Well, thats atleast how i did it... hope it helps

The third octave is not just a matter of changing fingering.

It needs high air pressure, and lip control such that the lips do not lose control of their shape when subject to that pressure.

That means excellent control of the muscles that control the lip. That definitely does not come in a few weeks. It is like attempting a record high jump after a few weeks training.

Indeed, if you spend too much effort on the third octave before your lips are ready then you may start the lips vibrating against eachother, trumpet playing style. This can be long-term damaging for a flute embouchure.

If you want to practise moving into the third octave, then work first at D and G, followed by F & Eb.

Some of the other notes are a lot more demanding.

Ok, i`m confused. When my flute teacher was doing it, she didn`t change her fingering at all. She said it`s called harmonics, but I call it changing octaves because it`s less confusing for me. Sorry if those are two different things.

Everything that everyone is mentioning can help to learn the third octave. But just like any other techincal thing you have to practice. There`s no way around it. To help yourself you could do long tones, which is just holding one note for four counts and going down one half-step each time. i.e.: c (high c), hold for four counts, go down to b natural, then continue down from there until you get all the way down to low f. One book that tells you more specifically how to do long tones as well as more techniques to improve your playing is Flute Fundamentals by Mary Karen Clardy. You can get it from a music store or from amazon.com

For most (but not Eb or D) of the notes of the SECOND octave, you use the same fingerings as the first octave, but for the third octave you need to use a completely different set of fingerings.

Yes, a player with a well developed embouchure CAN play 3rd octave using 1st octave fingerings, but this is not the standard way of playing a flute, and it is far more difficult, with inferior sounding notes that are often out of tune, so forget it! Get a fingering chart and use the correct fingerins for the third octave.

Go to http://www.wfg.woodwind.org/flute/

and click on "Third Octave".

`Harmonics`, in the sense your teacher has mentioned are often used as a practice technique for advanced development of the embouchure, but this is probably better left for more experienced students. You will have quite enough problem with the third octave even with the correct fingerings. The correct fingerings are based on lower notes, with certain fingers lifted in order to make the correct harmonic sound a lot more easily, clearer, and more in tune. For example both D and G are indeed harmonics based on G of the low octave, but a finger is lifted to make these harmonics into usable notes, and as I suggested before, these two are the easiest notes of the third octave.

When I first started flute about 3 and a half months ago in gr 7 band, I practiced much much and did get to around they entry of 3rd octave and I wanted to play the piccolo badly and I asked the band teacher and he said that I had to play around middle of the 3rd octave on flute to borrow his piccolo and when I got the piccolo, I practiced the firm embrochure and then when I changed to the flute, the highest note (3rd octave C) was very simple.

When I started, I hit the third octave on accident, when it really should have been in the first or second. Sustaining the note and playing it when needed is more important than just playing high. Practice, practice, practice!