Thread: Flute tuition, any help?

Hi, I've just started teaching the flute for the first time , and the little girl I'm teaching (she's 8, so quite young) has managed after a few lessons to get a note out and has rememberd the fingering for the first 3 notes, however she's playing all of them in the octave above how they should sound, and this means that she's running out of breath so quickly that any exercise you play has too many breaths to be fluent. I know this is going to sound stupid, but is there any way I can show her how to get the notes at the correct octave, because I know she's going to need to play them at that octave eventually, but for a while it would be better if she just played at the lower octave? Although, obviously, I can make the different pitches, I wondered if there was a specific way to show other people how to do it, because I'm just a little stuck at the moment.

here is how -

have her play a sound on only the head joint, be sure she stops up the open end against the palm of her hand.
check her embouchure, the mouth should look normal with the corners a little firm, the lower lip must not be tight.
as she blows a tone, have her move the jaw back until a low sound is produced...pushing the chin forward helps produce the high pitches.

she could be overblowing...tell her to blow gently.
some kids start low, some start high...you teach whichever they can not do and then they can do both...sorta

keep us informed!

dj

Thanks ver much. It's so much easier to just play the notes, rather than think about how you're playing them so you can help others. I'll try that next week.

I also think she's overblowing (at least in terms of the octave you want). You could demonstrate it to her by asking her to put her hand in front of your lips as you play alternating octaves of one note. This may help show her that faster air is what makes a higher octave. HTH