How your flute embouchure affects your lung capacity

[@jcortese3300]

Yeah ... I'm still learning how little air is really needed.

[@JaneFluteSchool]

Yes, it is quite incredible to realise how little air is needed for the flute (and piccolo). Good discovery!

[@ViktoriousFlutes]

Wow :o

[@jorgeabatocab]

Hi Jane, thank you so much for ALL your wonderful videos, filled with sound advises/lessons. May God constantly bless you this coming year with something bigger and deeper than all the knowledge of the world, the love of His Son, The Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.

[@JaneFluteSchool]

Thank you for such a lovely comment Jorge. All the best with your flute playing this year!

[@leoneljargueta-tzun8759]

At 2:48 Thats what I've made that explains why I sound choppy /sound like a robot and then they tell me Need lung training ,I want to sound beautiful not like a robot.

[@JaneFluteSchool]

I agree Leonel - it is always good to sound beautiful on the flute, and not like a robot playing! (Although, side note, I believe there are actually flute-playing robots now that do sound very good!)

[@grauenritter9220]

purposefully demonstrating how not to do it is an extremely hard skill

[@JaneFluteSchool]

Ha, yes that's true!

[@flutesoup]

I love this! Thank you!

[@JaneFluteSchool]

Aww you're so sweet! Glad you loved the video! 😊

[@aarongan3293]

It is difficult to fix this... 😭😭😭😭

[@JaneFluteSchool]

Hi Cai Lon Gan - it's definitely difficult if you try to do it all in one go! Aim for little improvements in your blowing and sound each day. They will all add up to a big change! It's the only way to do it :) Jane

[@LaurieSavage]

I'm a sax player and I've just returned to my flute after 30 years. It's funny that I can play entire passages on the baritone or tenor in one breath that take me four or five breaths on the flute. I think I'm making at least 3 of the mistakes in your video! I was an absolute beginner when I put my flute aside all those years ago and now I've picked it up again your channel has been great. Thanks.

[@JaneFluteSchool]

You're so welcome Laurie - it's good to hear that you've isolated some of the embouchure mistakes you might have. Hope it's helped you! jane

[@teresahandwerk1098]

Hi Jane, thanks for your wonderful videos. I have some questions first one is that I do have trouble playing the low C but after watching your video about it I'm going to try it. I never thought it could be my little finger causing the problem. Although my second question may have to deal with it as well, I don't have any top teeth at all, but I can seem to get the high notes very easy which is is unusual cause I also play the clarinet and I could only get the low notes on it. So could you please tell me if it's because I don't have any top teeth that's the problem? Thanks and please keep up the great work with the videos.

[@JaneFluteSchool]

Thank you Teresa for your lovely comment. I've never taught anyone with no top teeth, but I do have some insight to offer! I suspect that if you can get the high notes ok on the flute, then it's probably not your lack of top teeth causing the bottom notes to not work. I think that if your teeth situation was going to affect your playing, it would affect everything, not just the low notes. I do have one tip for you: Try relax your mouth more for the lower notes. It's just an idea, that may or may not work! Good luck :)

[@joannebuchweitz8450]

This is interesting.. I like how you explain this! i have asthma so I need to make sure I have enough air, but it's the support that works. I am a soprano so I have been using my singing support with my diaphragm.

[@JaneFluteSchool]

Joanne, so glad the explanation was clear! Thanks for the comment :)

[@landscapeartist2342]

Hi Jane - I'm so glad I found your channel, as a total beginner, this is giving me a good start, Many Thanks

[@JaneFluteSchool]

That's wonderful to hear Landscape!

[@poink9]

Hi Jane, Thank you for these helpful comments. You are correct, total lung capacity is fixed physiologically and you really cannot change it. I have on occasion “run out of air” because I have too much air in my lungs and need to get it out. I’m a respiratory therapist/flutist and ponder these things as I practice. Keep up the good work!

[@JaneFluteSchool]

Thanks Thomas for the affirming comment! If you've ever sat next to an oboe player (in a band or orchestra), you'll hear them get rid of the excess air in their lungs that they don't need because they're running out of oxygen, not air, and need to breathe in again but there's no room! i think you'll know what I mean :)

[@cafe.cedarbeard]

Only fixed if one doesn't observe the discipline to deepen the breath. Sure, there's still limits. Thing is, they aren't set in stone. They're built with squishy stuff that changes when disciplines are observed. I had crap lung capacity when I was 18 and first learned about actual practices that focus entirely on the breath. Now I can breath so deep I can drone my voice with compression such that I forget I'm breathing, and even then no worries cause I can also sound my vocal folds inhaling like a harmonica. The majority of people never get these data points, no blame. The ignorance is manufactured.

[@poink9]

@@cafe.cedarbeard Yes, you are right, most people aren't in the habit of breathing to "total lung capacity," but it can be learned.

[@cafe.cedarbeard]

@@poink9 Not like it's easy. I had my first experience with relaxation and breathing rituals in my late teens, but feeling my muscular armor, and learning to sink my breath way down into my body was a process that took over 10 years before I even sensed the tension in my hands. Learning to breathe deep and low, the cells need time to adapt, like my lips with taking on flute exercises every day. This is why it can be, but usually isn't learned. Instant gratification is a loser's game, leads to hungry ghost, led around by jealous gods who think that another big money jolt will make their lives better. Without that beginner experience in my teens having taken root, then me going on a Quest to seek the healing that doctors usually know nothing about. Hard to learn how to be strong from people who profit from weakness. Hard to learn strength without losing kindness. Discipline is the prerequisite for getting anything but shallow taste tests from a human life.

[@poink9]

@@cafe.cedarbeard You are correct, of course -- most people don't really learn to breathe deeply enough. I should have been more clear: while your total lung capacity is mostly fixed, the ability to utilize every part of that space is something we all need to learn to control.