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Check your posture first.

Breathing slow, deep and relaxed cleans your body. It gets rid of the toxic particles in your lungs and gives a relaxing massage to your belly nerves.

There are only two actions :

  • Inspiration

    We like to see four sorts of inspiration :

  • Expiration

    How can you make an evenly supported stream of air if your posture isn't perfect !

    Expiring means to let air slip through your lips. Converting this air into an air stream through the shape of the lip hole, the action of the muscles in your lips . Then aimed very precisely at the edge of the tone hole. That air stream should hit that border under a perfect angle to get the desired note and colour. Complex, isn't it ! No wonder it can only be done with regular study. Blind precision !

    Some definitions :

    1. Air direction : The direction of the air between your lip hole and the edge of the tone hole : down, almost horizontal and horizontal. The aim is to get your air on the edge of the tone hole under a certain angle.
    2. Air speed : The airspeed is controlled by the lip hole and the thrust of your air (air support). The smaller the lip hole, the greater the air speed. As you increase your air support, the air speed will also increase.
    3. Air support : The support the diaphragm gives to the vertical air column. The aim is to get a stable air stream on which any tone can evolve.
    4. Air stream : Like boats of different sizes all use the water, the stream as a platform to evolve. And like that stream is always horizontal around these boats and always supports them. That way the air stream should always be ready to let every kind of tone evolve in any way you would like.

    Every kind of music is made out of sentences, rows, lines, ... From now on I'll refer to these musical structures as sentences. These sentences are formed, this music is formed by this air stream.

    Don't misunderstand staccato !

    1. Staccato tells you to play a note shorter. Don't let your staccato slip into a bunch of loose notes. Preserve a stable air stream to make a line. We like to see staccato as a single dotted line or a single line with stripes, not as a collection of points.
    2. Since staccato doesn't tell you to tongue the note, a staccato point can be found above the last note in a slur. All you have to do is to make this last note short.

    Let's define three sorts of sentences :

     

    Every composer should keep in mind that flutists HAVE to breathe.

    Plan, choose the best breathing places.