I'm Staff Sgt. Sean Owen.

I'm Staff Sgt. Gina Sebastian.

I'm Staff Sgt. Katayoon Hodjati.

and I'm Staff Sgt. Kasumi Leonard.

and this is "Flute Fundamentals".

[Music]

Welcome to "Flute Fundamentals."

The flute section of The U.S. Army Field Band

has drawn on our many years

of performing and teaching experience,

added some great advice we've received from our own teachers,

and collected it all here for you.

The first-year beginner, the serious flute student

and the music educator will all find interesting

and useful information here.

You can also go to armyfieldband.com

to find downloadable recordings,

printable arrangements,

exercises, and books and literature

that we reference throughout the program.

All of these are great resources for flutists

and music educators.

Thanks for watching "Flute Fundamentals."

[Music]

The flute has always been a very popular instrument,

dating back over 43,000 years to the Prehistoric Era.

Prehistoric bone flutes have been found in Germany

and in China, and were end blown like a recorder.

Throughout the Middle Ages,

flutes and flute-like instruments are shown

performing a variety of functions in society.

We see flutes playing outdoors,

in religious services,

and inside for entertainment.

By the end of the Middle Ages the flute family split

into two groups,

the flute that plays outside such as the fife

and the flute that plays inside

such as the ancestor of our modern flute.

In the 1400's, fifes were widely used by militaries

as a signaling device and are still used today

for parades and ceremonies.

Modern fifes now have 10 holes so they can play chromatically,

but they still don't have any keys.

Renaissance style flutes for indoor use

were typically a cylindrical wooden tube with a wide bore,

six fairly large tone holes and no keys.

Without keys it was difficult to play

all of the chromatic pitches we play today.

Flutes in the Renaissance were often made

in a variety of sizes, called consorts or families.

Flute consorts were so popular that many Royal courts

in England, Hungary, Madrid, and Stuttgart

each owned dozens or even hundreds of transverse flutes.

Around the 1680's, instrument makers gave the flute

an overhaul and added a key.

The key allowed the flute

to play all of the chromatic pitches.

With this new development,

the flute began appearing in the orchestra.

One of its earliest appearances

was in Jean-Baptiste Lully's opera Le Triomphe de l'Amour.

When the flute entered the orchestra,

its popularity skyrocketed.

Many royal princes such as Louis the 14th of France,

and Frederick the Great, King of Prussia,

began to learn the flute.

With so many royals studying the instrument,

the flutists of the day

had to write books explaining how to play.

The royals could also afford to hire flutists

to teach them.

Johann Quantz was employed by Frederick the Great

for 32 years.

Baroque flutes have a cylindrical headjoint

and a conical body that tapers towards the far end.

The closed Eb key on the footjoint makes the flute

fully chromatic over a two-and-a-half-octave range.

This great advancement encouraged composers

to start writing for the flute as a solo instrument.

Works by Blavet, Bach and Telemann

are still in our repertoire today.

The Baroque flute worked well as a delicate soloist

in an orchestral texture, but was not able

to play equally strong in all keys.

Generally speaking, the sharp keys of G, D, and A

are stronger than the flat keys of F, Bb, and Eb.

This explains why so much of the beginner flute repertoire

from the Baroque era is in a sharp key!

Listen to the difference between these two scales.

[Music]

Now listen to the same scales played on a modern flute.

[Music]

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In the Classical era, composers such as Mozart and Haydn

wrote in a style that was faster, louder,

and more dramatic,

and the flute needed to keep up.

Flutists began altering their instruments in many ways

to encourage a louder high register

or more facile technique.

The great virtuoso players of the 19th century,

Franz and Albert Doppler,

Charles Nicholson,

Joachim Andersen,

Anton Furstenau,

Jean Tulou, and Theobald Boehm,

helped spread the flute's popularity

and increased its solo repertoire.

Many of these flutists altered their own instruments

in an attempt to improve the design.

Theobald Boehm, a flutist and inventor in Germany,

made many attempts to construct a new 'ring key' mechanism

and unveiled a metal instrument in 1847.

The new design reversed the inner bore shape of the flute -

it is a cylindrical body with a tapered, parabolic headjoint.

The reworking of the mechanism meant all new fingerings

had to be learned.

Boehm's 1847 design is the basis for our flute today.

However, there were many rival designs.

Some players still preferred wood,

and others still preferred the old bore shape.

Despite that, the metal flute was accepted

at the Paris Conservatory in 1860,

earning Boehm and his flute a permanent place

in flute history.

In the 20th century, some small changes were made

to Boehm's original design.

In the 1960's Albert Cooper and a group

of English players re-scaled the Boehm flute to play at A-440,

and in order to achieve even greater tonal projection

and clarity, made minor alterations

in the method of embouchure hole cutting.

Another modern addition to the flute is the C# trill key,

which makes trilling from B to C# much easier,

and gives a reliable third octave G to A trill.

Flutists today can also choose to have their flute made

from a variety of metals and even wood.

Remember the Renaissance "flute consort"

with its many different sized instruments?

When the flute was overhauled by Boehm,

the rest of the flute family, including the piccolo,

Eb flute, flute d'amore, alto flute, bass flute,

and contrabass flute were also redesigned.

The piccolo is the highest member of the flute family,

sounding an octave above the flute.

Beethoven first used the piccolo in 1809

in his Fifth Symphony,

and it's been used in the orchestra ever since.

The concerto and recital repertoire has grown

dramatically and the piccolo is still gaining popularity

as a solo instrument.

The alto flute is pitched in G, a fourth below the flute.

It's occasionally used

in contemporary orchestral repertoire, most notably

in Stravinsky's Rite of Spring and Ravel's Daphnis and Chloe.

The bass flute sounds an octave below the flute.

There are a few orchestral and solo pieces that use the bass,

but because of its size and difficulty

with projection and response,

it's most commonly used as the lowest voice

in a flute ensemble.

Flute ensembles, often called flute choirs,

are a valuable teaching tool.

They give multiple flute students the opportunity

for chamber music experience,

and help with intonation and blending.

Many flute clubs offer flute choir reading sessions

and competitions for composers,

encouraging more literature to be written for the ensemble.

Let's bring the rest of the section out to demonstrate

how these different instruments sound together.

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As Kasumi just demonstrated,

the first step to playing the flute is learning

to make a good sound.

First, put the headjoint up to your lips.

It should be about here,

so your lips don't cover the hole.

You don't want it too far away,

or not enough air will go in.

Have you ever made a sound on a bottle before?

Grab a bottle, and blow across the hole.

Playing the flute is similar,

but you'll need to angle your airstream down a bit

so it's around forty-five degrees.

Remember, don't cover the hole with your lips.

If you aren't getting a sound, try this,

but make sure your lower lip is still flexible.

If you can't tell where you're blowing,

hold your hand in front of you and blow into your palm.

Then, move your hand up and down slightly,

always keeping the airstream focused on the same spot.

Once you can produce a sound, try making different sounds.

Cover the end of your headjoint with your hand,

keeping your palm flat.

You should get this lower sound.

[Music]

Now uncover it and try for a higher sound.

[Music]

Once you can get these two sounds,

you can try to go for an even higher one

by covering and uncovering the end of the headjoint.

[Music]

For lower sounds, pretend you're blowing

through a big straw.

You can also try to aim your airstream a little lower.

For higher sounds,

pretend you're blowing through a tiny straw,

but don't let your lips get too tight.

The opening in your lips, or aperture, should be smaller,

but not tighter.

Also, it might help to aim your airstream a little higher

and let your lips come forward slightly.

When learning to make a good sound,

it can be very helpful to use a mirror.

Try rolling the headjoint towards you and away from you,

or moving it up and down slightly on your lip

until you get a sound,

but don't move your head up or down.

Keep your chin parallel to the ground

and your eyes straight ahead.

Once you make a sound you like,

look in the mirror to see where the best spot is

and try to put it in the same place every time.

After a while, you'll be able to feel

where the right spot is.

[Music]

The word "embouchure" refers to the way you shape

your facial muscles and lips on the headjoint.

There are as many different embouchures

as there are flutists.

Some are symmetrical, and some are a bit off-center.

The important thing is not to tense up your lips.

You might hear someone suggest that you should smile

to form a flute embouchure,

but this causes tension and should be avoided.

It's also really important to keep your jaw relaxed.

You need space in your mouth and between your upper

and lower teeth to make a good sound,

but never force your jaw into position.

A nice, full sound starts with good air flow,

and that starts with a good breath.

A good breath means no tension in the body.

Stand with your spine straight,

but don't pull your shoulders back

so far that your back tenses.

Let your arms hang by your side and take in a deep breath

through your mouth.

Your stomach, chest, and even your back will expand

if you're relaxed.

A good way to tell if you're breathing correctly

is to lie on your back and put a book on your lower belly.