I just recently started practicing with the flute. I have 6 years of musical experience with the trumpet but I don`t think that will help much with the flute.

When I play, I run out of air extremely fast. This only gives me time to play like 2-4 notes in one breath. How do I fix this? Also, can someone explain what to do with my lips as I go up and down. Another thing is how to tongue and slur notes cleanly.

Please don`t stone me for being a beginner. However, if I have missed some certain "beginner" section of this site, I only ask that one stoning may be enough.

Hello!! I as once a trumpet player in elementary school; however, flute was always first love. When my mom and dad bought my first flute I was ready. I am yet playing flute and my years of playing are 26 yrs.

Now let`s get down to business. This is your first time playing flute and you played the trumpet, meaning you have air support. This is what you need to do first.

Go purchase a beginners flute book either Trevor Wye, beginners flute or Marcel Moyse beginning flute book. You will become familiar with the finger position. You must know your low and middle ranges first.

Then your tone development, goes along with your breathing techniques and the book you need a must is the Marcel Moyse: De la sonorite (long tone exercises).

In the long tone exercises you learn how to use air in low, middle and high registers. It takes one to two months to condition your tone and breath support. Each and everyday practice you will hear the improvements.

Positioning of lips:

The high register notes: for lip position should be in a kissing position (Sorry) but that`s way your lips should be, with the tiniest hole formed, with plenty of breath support.

Low registers: pull the lips back, blow the air downward into the embrochure, which produces warm, strong, and expressive tone.

I hope this helps you. Please pm me if you have any additional questions.

Valerie
Flute Recitalist
Valerie`s Flute Studio

Good advice Musicone.

Casture, I still have trouble breathing on the flute after many years, so you are not alone. I think that my asthma plays a big part in that. Do you have asthma? You should get checked just incase if you are not sure. It never hurts. Everyone has trouble breathing on the flute when they start off, you are not alone. The flute takes the most air to play out of any wind instrument. Maybe that is why they always called us flutists air heads in band. Lol!

Good luck to you.

Hello! I`ve been playing for about 5 years now and I still have trouble with my air but doing long tones REALLY helps with that. If you go up and down a scale and play each note for like 8 beats or longer, it will REALLY help with the air! It helped me A LOT!!!

Hello! I`ve been playing for about 5 years now and I still have trouble with my air but doing long tones REALLY helps with that. If you go up and down a scale and play each note for like 8 beats or longer, it will REALLY help with the air! It helped me A LOT!!!

I love long tones. Most of the time. That does really help.

You can spend sometime playing around with your lip position for lenghth of holding out notes. I used to practice this by playing a note until I literally shoved every bit of air possible out of my lungs. When you breathe in again it will also make sure you take a deep full breath.

Also, make sure you are supporting with your diaphragm (sp?). If you are not sure if you are, you can sing a ha ha ha or ho ho ho pattern and actually make your stomach bounce (Like Santa). You should feel that some kind of feeling in your abdomen if you are supporting correctly.

Make sure to relax your neck while playing also. Lots of flute players have a tendency to pinch of their throats and that can constrict your air flow.

I`m assuming the size of the (apeture)? helps with keeping the air longer. How am I to know how big is too big? My range right now is probably E(1st line) and C(above the staff). Any help with hitting above and below those would be appretiated.

You just have to practice. Everyone starts out with breathing problems.

It`s a joy to be able to play a long tone for its full duration whilst others must take a 2 to 3 breaths to last. While others are dying of breath. You will feel fine.

You must practice playing longer and longer phrases without taking a breath. It`s something that will develop over time. Start off with 4 bar phrases and gradually increase on a single breath. Obeying breath marks in etudes will certainly help develop your breathing beyond that of casual one a week flutists.

An interesting excercise I was taught is simply to exhale all your breath. Take your instrument to your lips and play as long as you can. It demonstrates that you really have more air than you think. You must learn to ignore feelings of suffocation.

As a 3 year student I had lots of problems with short breath. All told exercises did hepl, but I found another parallel way to improve it:

swimming.

Since 2 years I swim 3 days a week (just half an hour each), some 450 meters total on a good day.

And I try to breath regularly (as one must do while swimming), but not at each second crawl stroke but each 4 or even 6. It forces me to take in a lot of air in a very short time and also to administrate it correctly.

I think it`s helping me to improve my lung capacity, to better administrate the quantiy I get and also not to panick for lack of air.

Has anybody else tried this?

Just a short comment:

Asthma is a chronic condition, but asthma attacks are generally considered to be triggered by allergens. Unfortunately there many of them around us and at home.

But cat dander ranks very high in the list of domestic dangerous allergens...

Second hand tobacco smoke is another one, and it is quite bad also for no asthma patients.

Most probably, if Casture smokes or so does someone at home, it can affect his/her breath capacity. But I guess this should also happen the trumpet, and it seems not to be the case.

I have asthma that is allergy induced and exercise induced. I have to wash, clean and vacuum my house all the time because I have five cats. My doctor told me that the cats should be the first thing to go, but I would rather suffer from asthma then to part with my babies. I take a daily inhaler, so it keeps it under control. But yeah...I agree about the cat thing.

If you can, try and stay away from having carpeting in your house too.

I had a strong allergy to many things when I was a child and suffered a lot.

Fortunately it did not develop into asthma. The allergy disappeared in my teens - except for cats.

If I visit a house with just one cat (even not knowing it (well, she) is there), In a few minutes I have a running nose, red eyes and feel uncomfortable. It`s the only allergy I have, to my knowledge.

Good luck and take care.

I don`t have asma and I am not surrounded my smoking, I just have trouble breathing long. I think that one main problem i have with the trumpet is keeping the air going constantly. Long tones have help abit, thanks. I just hate it when I`m playing certain notes fine, and then a few minutes later, I can`t get it. It changes so much.

I believe everybody has the same lack of air problem at the beginning. I did also. The problem with me was that I was using too much air to make the note sound. To improve, I had to learn to have a good embouchure (lips, mouth) and knowing how and where to blow into.

My teacher made me first practice the "easiest notes" first octave A and G, for example. I was on Trevor Wye`s first book and after a while (a long while), I started with Henry Altes 1st part.

It was a big jump, as Altes concentrates on the higher part of the first octave and well into the second. Then we went on with the second T. Wye book and after that I switched to different works and easy duets (Stamitz is what I`m working on now). We do not follow a particular book or author any more.

That`s where I am now after 3 years.

And my sound still fails now and then (maybe you read about this on a different thread I started). Part of the problem is surely my need for more time and practice and another part may come from a defective instrument.

But one think is satisfying, I do not suffer from short breath anymore and can play long parts, breathing as my teacher does and without problems.

But I consider that learning the flute is long (and slow, I would say). I do not know other`s experience, but I think that a standard private student (say, not a genius, taking one class a week and with one or two hours of practice daily) cannot decently play something written not for students and with a normal degree of difficulty and speed before his/her 5 o 6th year of training.

But all this is relative and highly subjective. It`s only my opinion, based on my own learning curve. I may improve slower as I`m rather old and started late.

Other opinions form Pros and students are welcome!