Teaching Flute Posture

[@tinalee6517]

Such a considerate teacher doesn't want her students to be in pain some teachers are just 'yeah just copy my posture no matter if it feels comfortable or not you will get used to it soon' :)

[@carringtonpilon1310]

Hi Joanna! One of your none flute players here, and I have to say your exercise on shoulder placement was amazing! I'm currently battling a TMJ (jaw) disorder which puts a lot of strain on my neck and shoulder muscles (and really everything but thats besides the point). I just tried moving only my shoulder to contract that muscle group (traps, I believe) and this motion allowed many muscles in my neck to release! I play clarinet, so you can imagine how frustrating it is to not have full control of my jaw or complete openness in my throat, and this practice is really gonna help reduce that tension. Thank you!

[@wharragarbl3324]

As someone who never had a private tutor, I was always told to keep my flute completely parallel to the ground and was even taught the pencil method by a volunteer tutor at a program. So, naturally, I go into a straight flute position until I get tired, but this opened my eyes and made me realize I didn't have to have it so straight (except marching band is starting soon)

[@raynegoins]

This video is perfect! Ive been practicing for all northwest for the past few months and I’ve had so much back pain and tendonitis from less than perfect posture while practicing. I’ve been desperately searching for a cure to all this pain, which is so bad that it brings tears after playing so long, and here you are! Thank you so much Joanna!

[@pedrohbrinck]

Whenever I remember about posture I remember of Alexander Technique and it's principles. And it's awesome to see people getting to be aware of their bodies and how this leads to adjustments for each student and each different anatomy.

[@lauratheartist3266]

My flute teacher was talking about this recently and it REALLY HELPS with tone

[@ttm894]

I love it when you POST-ure!

[@JustAnotherFlutist]

You're amazing.

[@haleyanderson2258]

Hi Tabletop Mage. I love your puns

[@ttm894]

@@haleyanderson2258 Thanks Y'all ;)

[@ninoding]

Good one

[@MandyHieatt1]

The 3 point balance posture has helped my playing so much! I now feel as though there isn't the strain on my hands and arms. Plus it helped my sound.

[@briannapaloro4412]

Thank you for this. As a self-taught flutist, I rely on videos like these and my books to help me figure out what I'm doing. I also noticed the shoulder bunching issue last year when I delved into the world of teaching how to play the flute. The girl I was teaching tended to have an extreme downward angle, so when she was playing solo, I would often lift her flute slightly, and after a while, I was able to adjust it to where it was much more level, and her sound was cleaner and brighter, but her shoulder didn't bunch or slope downwards. Now her embouchure . . . That's an entirely different matter. That shall not be spoken of.

[@shipsahoy1793]

The angle of the flute relative to horizontal has to do with the position of your head; if you hold your head at an angle, the flute needs to be at an angle accordingly to create a 90 degree angle between your head and the flute, plus or minus a tolerance; if you hold your head perfectly straight up, then your flute should be optimally horizontal.

[@IgorTheFluteGuy]

The shoulder blade thing was what I needed to figure this out🙏🏻 tysm!

[@gianv3073]

Love the video! I had all-state auditions today. I’ve decided to not care if I get in or not and it turned out that I did better than I expected but I still doubt that I’ll get in this year due to the fact that I prepared my exercises in a month but I’ll hope aha.

[@lindsey6411]

My band teacher (who doesn’t play the flute) constantly tells us to angle the flute perfectly straight and if a pencil can fall out of the end of your flute it’s too low. This girl in my section naturally puts her flute down a bit low and she is constantly being told to put her flute up, and you can tell it bothers her. If you dare to go a bit below a straight angle he will yell at you

[@jarofjam3967]

Lindsey it sucks so much when a band teacher has little to no knowledge about the flute. They know about the brass or reeds but if they're not a flute player, they tend to be all over the place with misconceptions, like that straight angle thing. It's derived from marching band and some people think a flute posture is supposed to be straight but in actuality there can be a straight angle or a slanted angle, the main objective is to make sure there is no pain and tension from both airstream and nerves for finger technique.

[@jarofjam3967]

Sasha Guerrero that's cool, and of course he shouldn't let that one girl get away with slouching lol. Ur band director sounds kinda cool.

[@ryankelleher8453]

Lindsey band is kind of different because everyone must look the same

[@dawnhirsh6263]

yikes. A "little" old school!

[@meeguelangelo]

Joanna, thank you so much for this! This video came in with perfect timing; I just bought a lightly used Gemeinhardt 2 SP flute, and I was wondering about posture, since I was super uncomfortable handling the length of the flute compared to my plastic fife-recorder. I find myself watching all your technique and practice-related videos all over again (I had watched them in anticipation of my buying a flute), and I really appreciate what you've been doing over the years. It all really makes sense, I love how you don't sugarcoat anything and you're straight to the point when explaining a subject. Thank you! Sincerely, ~a newly minted flutist!

[@chansherly212]

Great tip! I sometimes have tingling in my ring finger and little finger on the right, I’m hoping better posture may fix that

[@NoodleyBits]

It's amazing that I've been playing for around 40 years and never heard of the three point balance system (or if I was told about it, it had a different name). I tried it with my flute and it keeps wanting to roll inward. I'd turn the head joint to "fix" it, but to get it to stop rolling, it is so way out of alignment with the keys that I'd never be able to play them LOL I think my flute is a little "top heavy" and wants to roll inward. I'll have to work on that to find where my three points are to balance better. In high school marching band we were always told that flutes had to be parallel to the ground, I think that's affected how a lot of the section played. It worked for me but not for our smaller stature players. 32 years later and my brain still wants me to hold the flute parallel to the floor but it ends up naturally tilting. The video notice came just as I was about to practice so now I'll have to put this information to use :D

[@jcortese3300]

My solution to the rolling flute problem is to put my pinky down on the Eb whenever possible. Mostly, you can leave it down there unless you're trying to play a lower note. Sometimes I add the bottom ring finger where it doesn't mess up the sound or intonation. Together, that allows me to keep the flute from rolling in.

[@60darklord]

It would be really cool if you did FCNY of your personal Brannen flute! It might be kind of personal video but it would be very neat to see how you like to play the flute specifically

[@stahrmie]

a very important topic explained v well!!!!!

[@kiaraeijo]

I noticed that when I was younger, I had really bad posture because of marching band. I wanted to ask how do you produce a big resonant sound? I am currently going through a second embouchure crisis. My teacher is trying to help me loosen my embouchure and to help better my right hand position ( I’ve been issues with bending my right pinky), and what do you do to make your fingers more quiet.😃❤️🎶

[@elinemay]

Sometimes posture is the problem for the tension in the embouchure. Try to play with a different posture and see how your embouchure and even your right hand (which the thumb should be as a support beneith the left trillbutton). I hope this helps. Good luck!

[@MateoFrancisco]

my house was robbed last night and this video gave me a laugh and took my mind off things. thank you❤️

[@chumkipatel757]

You are an excellent teacher. Thank you so much. 👍

[@frayse_fleur]

When I'm playing i tend to hold my flute lower just because I have to told it parallel while in marching band and I don't want to do that all the time... Idk us that just me?

[@jcortese3300]

Add mild scoliosis to the mix. FUN! :-) The only thing I ever try to do as a self-taught person is to pursue the best possible sound, and stay as relaxed and supple as possible at all times. That seems to work for most instruments. Maximum sound, minimum effort. :-) Every time I pick up my flute or sit at my piano/harp, the only thing I'm trying to remember is RELAX. FWIW though, the scoliosis is actually a bigger problem than just posture, though. If you have it, usually your rib cage is also rotated around your spine, and it can't expand well, so you run out of air quickly. To this day, I can't run more than about 20 yards before I get so winded I have to stop; My ribcage is so tight that my lungs can't ever reach full capacity. It's a real pain. I'd love once in my life to get on a treadmill with an oxygen mask on and see what it's like to be able to just run thoughtlessly like normal people do. I guess this is why I tend to prefer harps and pianos, where they aren't QUITE so asymmetrical on the body and don't require breath control. The conical flute sounds so good though, that I can't put it down! :-)

[@suzyinstitches273]

Yeah, the scoliosis is what I immediately thought of when she talked about level shoulders. They’re not level ever if you have scoliosis. I just had the corrective surgery for severe scoliosis and am playing the flute. 😂

[@astridderoeck800]

This is really interesting! I'll be teaching some young flutists how to play and I've noticed they aren't balancing the flute correctly because it rolls away. I'll probably have to correct that.

[@suzyinstitches273]

I must be doing it wrong too

[@TheNavybrat92]

I hold my flute at about the same angle you do. I could never do the hold the flute parallel to the floor

[@pmh1nic]

Thank you Joanna.

[@huntartistry3253]

my professor has been changing my posture and she even changed how I put my head joint in. my flute now has two pink nail polish dots on it

[@janewickman9445]

My back starts to hurt sometimes, so daughter shared with me that her professor had her practice with her back flat against a wall. She said it took a while to stop knocking her elbow, but really helped get her arm and shoulder in a more relaxed position.

[@007KayElleKay]

I just wanted to ask you what you would do if you were me ? I've played since I was 8 which is a long time now , but my spine has crumbled and I cannot stand yup unaided these days so I have to play sitting down . Also , like James Galway , I've always angled my flute downwards ( it didn't bother him and I did master classes with him in the late 70's ) . I definitely can't get the bigger breaths I used to get when I could stand up because it's harder to fill your lungs when sitting - my tone hasn't been affected by having to sit . So how would you tutor someone like me who cannot stand up ?

[@HelloHiHola]

This is a really cool post but shouldn't it balance (no pun intended) breathing also? Best posture for full lungs and diaphragm might not match curved fingers and all... Possible examination of a compromise posture?

[@michaelrs8010]

I thought the blowhole had to be squarely in front of your lip embouchure (albeit slightly down but a right angle so your Airstream hits the blowhole in just the right way. Doesn't the pushing the flute out and down in many cases simply lose that, or is there that much "play" allowed for?

[@Flute_Love2525]

Mateki Flute?

[@germanhayles9194]

Excellent! This video is so serendipitous!!!!

[@KarinaEijo]

Hi Joanna! Could you please tell me what brace you use? I was trying to find the video where you mention it and I can’t find it. Please let me know! Thanks 🙂

[@WiseMichaelG6]

Hi do you think, you can do reviews on Mio flutes? just wondering... ;)

[@ctiene]

Idk if someone is gonna address this comment because this video isn't recent. But i thought i should give it a shot. I noticed my left upper arm tends to tire easily when I play. Was wondering if Joanna or anyone has tips for that? :/

[@garywashere_]

I have a serious question, I got an open holed flute for wind ensemble but my finger keeps off sliding off the f key when I go down to a low c and b. Should I get a port?

[@nilsensantin5351]

Thanks for this information…explained why I can’t control the flute and my elbows were hurting

[@dwork9978]

Thanks! Great lesson as usual!

[@Mhmmmm1112]

Can you teach how to clean a flute

[@sharonsalter7046]

Thank you

[@clarasteuerwald2397]

how did you practice that? i’d be afraid to drop the flute so i’d be sitting on my bed legs crossed but i’m not sure if sitting legs crossed is ideal (breathing wise it’s fine, it’s actually a position in which breathing is easier for me) edit: also how did you know you needed the supports and not that it was just wrong?

[@Lambrodor]

As someone with relatively small hands, I find it challenging to counteract the inward rotation of the flute. This typically results in my lips moving forward against the lip plate when I play. Using thumb and finger ports did not seem to address this problem completely. Any idea?

[@007KayElleKay]

I use a thumb rest on my right thumb - other than that , it's practice - I've got small hands too .

[@huangxiaofeng3448]

What do you think about Murawatsu flutes?

[@aimanhalim8879]

Amazing info! Thanks for sharing. :-D

[@holly1610]

What if you’re really small, which means you have really small hands. So your fingers can’t stretch to the center of a couple of keys without straining them. Is this okay? I can still play fine, but I need to frigure my grip out. My flute has a tendency to slowly slip out of my hands.

[@briannapaloro4412]

You probably need some thumb and finger ports to help give that lift and extension to your grip. Just going off of what I understood from the video. I could be wrong.

[@sarahgollihue2697]

Well my friend is shorter and has shorter fingers and arms and she twists her head joint where it’s not even with the keys and she said it’s easier so idk if that helps

[@emilywang8078]

You can also get a curved head joint if your arms are too short

[@LarryShone]

Very good post!

[@abbito152]

I just realized, why is she using a student model flute?

[@sturniolotripletsfan01]

I just got one and I’m already a pro

[@michaellee2731]

I'm just saying I'm not a big fan of the flutist the hold your flutes down and how can they play so easily I mean I hold the flute like you hold it but very slightly down let me know I love this video already

[@chrischui]

Hello Joanna, I have just watched a video about Hello Kitty and the video is in chinese, I am not sure do you understand or not, but the video still got chinese subtitle on, however I am pretty sure that this will totally change your view and obsession with Hello Kitty, this is link to that video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nqOuc5WEa5Z5mqc

[@huskypuppypaws4850]

Hi!!

[@melodyli1223]

Thank you so much, my posture is soooo bad and I'm trying to do my best to fix it. How can you read my mind? Lol Seriously tho this is so helpful thanks so much

[@melodyli1223]

Oh also, I notice you're still wearing the tendonitis brace? How's your wrist doing?

[@alessandrabernardis8158]

Why nobody told me this magic before 🤣

[@nicolemason1853]

I need you as my teacher. (Well not mine. Another students.) There isn't a section leader so no one is in charge because we are equally "good". But she is always telling me and the lower students to fix our posture to hers. Edit. The other flutes look to me as their leader so I do consider my self as the leader but my direct won't acknowledge me.

[@ninoding]

WHERE IS YOUR BRANNEN?

[@denisflute8186]

Second 😁

[@trentripberger4781]

YAY FIRST COMMENT