Flute tone: easy high notes

How can we play high notes on the flute with ease? This video starts looking at some of the basics of getting to the second and third octave on the flute without to much tension. We first look at what people usually do wrong, we then move on what you should do and finish off with some extra tips and a bit of experimentation (play time is always important!) Happy practicing :)
The Flute Practice is a fun, supportive, and interactive space that helps flutists from all over the world reach their dream of playing the flute. Change the way you learn the flute and become part of our giant flute family.
Join our flute learning platform here: theflutepractice.com/
Our learning platform offers:
- Online courses and workshops - improve all those things you have been struggling with: scales, bad habits, tone, articulation, intonation, and much more!
- Practice resources - created and curated for your specific needs.
- Plans and guides - to help you order the chaos, structure your practice well and find the right resources and strategies for your level.
- The most supportive and kind communities on the internet (at least we think so!)
_______________________________________________________
Want to buy a new flute? Go check out The Flute Center of New York and what they have to offer www.flutes4sale.com/.
If you use my promo code 'PRACTICE' you will not only be supporting me but also getting:
- Free shipping
- Extended trial period (10 days instead of 7)
- Extended warranty (18 months instead of just 12 months)
Be sure to ask them about all the perks when you call!
______________________________________________________
Follow me on:
Facebook: / flutepractice Instagram: / the_flute_practice
Website: www.theflutepractice.com
Equipment used:
Camera: Canon G7X Mark III amzn.to/36Gt5ao
Microphone: Rode Video Microphone amzn.to/2MnOL6x
Microphone for recording: Rode NT1 amzn.to/3GZZ5sH
This description may contain affiliate links. When you click on the link and purchase items, I earn a commission! This helps support my work and fund future videos like this one!
#flute #flutepractice #flutist

[@pineapplepizza8639]

It's weird how as a kid I was able to hit the high notes with no trouble but now I'm struggling after re-learning... this video was really helpful

[@TheFlutePractice]

Great! This is quite a common problem so you are not alone! Many who begin the flute again start off with too much tension...often because they are also frustrated that it is not happening as easily as they remember...but patience and the tone will come again :) good luck!

[@3_up_moon]

How is it going now? Do you have an update?

[@pineapplepizza8639]

@@3_up_moon lol i stopped playing again

[@sporksarelife8617]

@@pineapplepizza8639 lmao u should play again

[@pierrenicollerat2615]

0

[@jencl3863]

I’m a cellist but also a classically trained vocalist and I found that as I’ve been helping my son during his flute practice (he’s only just started), I would try to play the flute myself and what you’ve said in this video were things I naturally experimented with because of my voice training! This is so fascinating to me. I am so grateful for your videos!!! You explain everything so well. Thank you!

[@davidkirk2121]

I'm just starting to learn flute at the age of 65 and I've found your instruction very helpful and fun.

[@daviddiamond2415]

That is a great time to start -- the prime of your life! I took my first flute lesson at age 69. I am now 77 and doing great.

[@garyhunt8067]

I'm 52. Got my flute for my Christmas present 30 years ago. Getting used to it.

[@kathleenkline1280]

Commenting on your comment from 2 yrs ago. I am 69 and just started my second year. Thank you so much for the motivation. @@daviddiamond2415

[@jodypalm303]

I'm a professional singer, and I'm gratified that what I do when singing (i.e., support, open throat, relaxed mouth) all work when playing the flute as well! I liked your comment about opera singers. What they are doing on high notes is opening the throat, increasing support, and bringing the tone even further forward in the mouth (and into the sinuses). Sound familiar? Love your videos!

[@carriew7403]

I'm a beginner and really been struggling with consistent 2nd octave notes - forget trying anything higher! But I watched, copied and there they all were, 3 octaves of G! Thank you so much!

[@Wheel333]

This helped so much, my cat is much more happy. The lip roll and forward pout are so subtle, lots to play with thanks.

[@TheFlutePractice]

Glad to hear it! Yes it is very subtle but there is so much possibility in it :) Enjoy and good luck experimenting and playing !

[@Wheel333]

The Flute Practice just back again to thank you for this. I just showed somebody else and to see their face and hear their breakthrough was just fantastic. They are coming here soon. 🙏❤️🙏

[@christiansfortruth5953]

From my experience I do what you say...loosen up and relax. I find I get a better tone through the way I breath and from where I let my breath flow from. I open my throat. The air comes from just below the back of my throat. Below my Adam's apple. If I have to for instance triple tongue then it's coming from my the centre on my mouth....just slightly back of the tip of my tongue. But if I had to give advise I would say the key to getting CONTROL of the sound quality is breathing and a strong diaphragm....strong tummy muscles...and a good lip position. Great vid. Love it. 😊😊😊😊😊

[@randyking9489]

I tried blowing air up my nose and fogging my glasses up. Of course I did not get a sound. I went back to regular flute playing and it improved my tone! Definitely will relax your lips. That's the first thing I do now as a warmup before I play is to blow air up my nose and fog my glasses. Thanks for the excellent instruction!!

[@brindygray4410]

I’m 36 and just starting to learn the flute. Your videos have been an amazing resource. Thank you so much!

[@nath8123]

I've been away from the flute for about 6 years and now that I'm playing again, I was so frustrated because I couldn't produce B3 and C4 anymore and the remaining 3rd octave notes were airy and ugly. Your tips made instant effect, I found the placing for these high notes again. Thank you sooo much for this video, it helped me tons!!!

[@valeriemosher7911]

I have looked at youtube after youtube to help me with my high notes. Your instruction was not any others and it helped so much!! Thank you.

[@gachadlll3530]

Thank you so much!! I was in urgent need of learning high notes FAST and you just helped fix my problem completely ❤

[@TheFlutePractice]

Yay!!!! So glad it helped!!!

[@kygkwok]

Started flute a few weeks ago. I couldn’t get consistent high notes. I watched this video and used your techniques. Within 30 seconds, I could play high register notes as I wish. Thank you very much.

[@jenniferlee5871]

Lips combine with jaw combined with breath combined with back throat and much more. I tried what you say and I can feel the difference. A larger picture than I ever knew. Thank you.

[@carolinafluteman6598]

This is the part I'm having the most trouble with, but I'm going to work on it until I get it right!

[@Madamegato]

*Ahem* For those of us not learning with an instructor (i.e. self-teaching via videos/books/etc), here's a really helpful tip on reaching those third register notes... remember that the fingerings change. Yeah, I'm letting you in on my egg-faced shame here... boy was I struggling for that third register E only to find out after beating my head against that proverbial wall for about 20 minutes... the fingerings change. When you do the correct thing on the flute and follow this awesome video - WOW - there's a high note. But... you know... first things first. -_- :D

[@artemiachery1297]

I love your organic approach to sound production , it makes so much more sense to me!

[@Guitarzzzzzzz173]

This is exactly what I needed! Thank you!

[@calebkurowski6403]

moving the jaw forward is what helped me reach the high octave in the end. great tip! i was hitting the high octave by the end of the video!!

[@HBTSChannel]

Feels magical. Your tips made everything just work. Thank you so much!

[@charlene35886]

Very helpful tips!

[@ronaldeng3454]

Very helpful tips. Thanks! Love your facial expressions and sense of humor. It makes learning fun and oh so real!

[@ladyclairinnelim3556]

Although this video is quite old I just wanna comment that out of ALL the videos I've watched about high notes yours was the most effective one!! Before watching I couldn't reach second octave C and after watching I picked up my flute, applied what I learned from you then BAM INSTANT MAGIC! Thank u so much!

[@obviouslyfalsename]

Really appreciate these tips - just starting out and this has been so helpful have improved consistency in high notes over last 24 hours

[@LarryKatz53]

Nice description. Very helpful. Thank you!

[@allisonblank4417]

I've looked at so many videos on how to play high notes but have never found what I need until now. Thank you!

[@rishabhshukla521]

Thank you for your wonderful tips

[@netenute]

Great tips!! I was able to reach the second octave B which I've been struggling with for a while. Thank you!!

[@laurakerschenbaum4079]

Thank you for these tips!!

[@barnyb.9989]

Thanx for your precise explanation. It really works.

[@jerethmeert9228]

the "ph" helped so much, I've been struggling with my E3 for a while and now I get it almost every time !

[@lucaf.8094]

thank you sssooommuch! This really made some difference for my high notes!

[@yogendrapathik4161]

Really helpful, beautifully explained.

[@cjones2389]

Thanks , really helpful, not long started to play, your videos helped enormously:)

[@suzannegrandma1150]

Thank you! Very well explained.

[@bushlemon3971]

it works! thanks 💕

[@krishmarg5376]

Thank you sooo much - your teachings are very helpful 😃👍😃

[@ArunSun10]

OMG! It works perfectly. I'm all smiles after being able to get the high notes easily without much stress following your tips. Thank you soooo much :)

[@sophiazhao9002]

Thank you so much for this useful video!

[@roneesalmons4707]

Thank you so much. I really appreciate the instruction. 😃❤️

[@brim7619]

I’ve been binging your videos over this quarantine. I’m in my senior year and I’m trying to improve (not only because I want first chair for pride reasons lol, but because it’ll help in college as I’m going for music education), and my tone has improved greatly in just two weeks of your advice! I honestly recommend these videos for beginners, advanced players, anyone who wants to improve!

[@areggiusado3621]

Very very helpful, excellent!

[@wightchemist]

Great vid! Got it straight away afetr seeing yours and a couple others, I even went OMG I've just got it finally HAHA. So generous of people to freely share their knowledge. Thank you so much.

[@pamelalesher4308]

Thank you for the fabulous tips. You have helped me improve greatly this summer!

[@TheFlutePractice]

So great to hear! I hope you can continue to grow and learn here :)

[@77MyEsha]

Thanks so much. Great video!

[@benchiang8235]

Thank you your video helped SOOOOOOO much

[@AnnaIsabella]

Omg this is so helpful! Thank you~~

[@Transcriptor]

Works for me, thank you so much.

[@MrChochulchang]

Great video! I will remember the hot potatoe and the image of you singing like an opera singer to explain 'going low to hit high'. Thank you very much for the kind lesson.

[@carynbrame4904]

Thank you so much! I haven't played in 40 years and started to play again and those high notes, oy! You really helped! :)

[@burakkabakc30]

Thank you so much, very helpful tips.

[@TheFlutePractice]

Pleasure!

[@Rubymoyer]

This helped so MUCH!!

[@awkwardness918]

Thank you for making this video, I had been looking through many videos looking at tone and easier ways to produce high notes and yours helped me the most. I've been practicing a lot for a high part I was assigned to play for MPA, but I sounded really sharp and strained and your video helped fix that. There was a comment about piccolo below, and I hope you do make a video on it. It'd really help! I hope you continue making this videos! :)

[@TheFlutePractice]

Thank you for this comment and I am SOOOO glad to hear that it helped. I am going to get my piccolo out this week I think and get going :D

[@jigarmasharuwala]

I love your style

[@allanfan297]

Thanks this video helped so much l like how you explained it

[@saxman14214]

Thank you tatiana! At 6:50 lips and chin shifting air direction down and gradually up... first time seeing this!!!!! Can’t wait to try this!!!😊❤️👍‼️

[@surendrajoshi5205]

I have started playing flute just 2 weeks ago. And your videos really supported me. Thank you so much. Your videos do not seems like videos, its like you are in front. Love you !!

[@TheFlutePractice]

Thank you and glad they are a great support :) I will keep them coming!

[@TylerSwali]

thank you so much for all your videos so helpful and I like you style

[@TheFlutePractice]

Thank you :)

[@illancilla]

You are simply amazing!!! Today I was struggling doing the exercise 10 of Gariboldi 58 etudes in switching notes. This is exactly what I would have needed!! Tomorrow im gonna try !

[@cametientaucoeur]

As a very mature beginner flute player, This is very useful. I have had years of classic voice training. A lot of the same principles apply to singing high notes. Jeanne

[@anaborges5857]

Aprendendo muito com voce Tatiana!! 😊

[@maryfletcher4]

You are a wonderful teacher-so interesting and kind.

[@TheFlutePractice]

Thank you! 😊

[@MarshaDianeArnold]

Hooray! I've listened to various teachers and could not get the high notes. Your explanation is perfect. Thank you so much.

[@Konachee]

That was great!

[@andeedavis]

This really helped. Especially the comment about relearning and getting frustrated.

[@ThisCanBePronounced]

Worked for me! Thanks! I borrowed a flute in high school for a week. With no instruction but a book that barely taught the basics of posture and hand positions for 4 instruments, I managed to not only get the 2nd octave, but play the Lover's Waltz a couple times before getting winded. Now in my 30s I bought a Yamaha 222 and hadn't managed to get the 2nd octave after all!

[@boboliciouz_]

This video is just what i needed to move on from the middel D. :D Your channel are my go to. I am self taught, and started about 3 weeks ago. :D Also a patreon. You do amazing work with the channel. :D

[@helencarter8912]

Really thanks for you are here!! 💕

[@TheFlutePractice]

Pleasure :)

[@jamus1217]

That flutter intro was siiiiickkk

[@betsymach2435]

This was a great exercise ... it worked!! Have to keep practicing this technique so it becomes automatic. High notes have always been a challenge and your explanation of why that is, helped greatly.

[@TheFlutePractice]

Wonderful! Doing a happy dance for you! That is fantastic 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

[@DuffyNightingale]

Really good! The part about keeping lips closed and then letting a little air escape. Popped my first G octave and have not even finished the video. (and I have looked at more than one of these high note vids)

[@kelseysimpson7098]

That was extremely helpful :)

[@jeandefrancesco2195]

Thank you. I play the flute and I am out of practice. I bought a new azumi open hole and need help playing higher register so this is a very lovely video

[@gracewallisstudio]

This is so helpful. I admit I started laughing when I was trying to do the HAs though... my laugh muscles got engaged!

[@Bella-ft9hh]

Btw this video helped me soo much. I've im in 3rd year off flute and i've been playing high notes wrong. They sound much better and are much easier to play now! Thank you so much

[@TheFlutePractice]

So glad to hear it :)

[@freeflutistjagannathkoleyj9416]

Good wishes Thanks

[@arjunarjunan9631]

Super nice

[@anouskawilson612]

Great tips thank you. I really liked your comments that practice should be about testing boundries too

[@TheFlutePractice]

Thank you and yes, it really changed my practicing when I first heard about this idea :)

[@trishmcneill6606]

I've just begun playing again (after a 40 year hiatus!) and have been struggling with the higher register and tone. This video is a game changer for me! I was so excited when I finally "got it" and the notes rolled out beautifully. Thank you so much for these great tips!

[@TheFlutePractice]

Wooooohooooo! These are my favorite types of comments! Welcome back to the flute! So excited you are picking it up again 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼🎶🎶🎶💕💕💕

[@TRUTHINLENDINGACT]

I dont realy care what other daid, but i actually learn in your way, and i love it

[@gringochucha]

Thanks for this. I get so frustrated sometimes when those high notes aren't coming out (my neighbors do too, I imagine). I also noticed recently that my arms and hands tense up automatically when I'm going into the higher register, and just focusing on them and keeping them relaxed has already helped my sound (I guess because any local tension always affects the body as a whole). I'll definitely apply these tips in my practice today : )

[@Violet-og8nv]

what you teach help me many when i learn and play flute

[@KnjazNazrath]

Just realised this octave exists during this vid, and your tip about the middle of the lips and rolling upwards made it really simple. Now, if I could only learn to roll my r's I'd be a happy chappy. That bein' said, after two decades of tryin' methinks I may just never get the knack tbh.

[@TheFlutePractice]

Yay! That is wonderful! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

[@leorojas3274]

thanks , really helpfull

[@TheFlutePractice]

Glad you found it helpful! 💃🎶

[@Pitorezet]

That helped me with my dizi flute thx

[@starboarder4676]

so helpful and funny ! tnks !

[@TheFlutePractice]

:)

[@mardyart]

You deserve more subscribers. This helped me so much, I was getting so frustrated over blowing the notes. So loud and so little margin for error. These exercises really helped. Thank you so much.

[@Nick__V]

The lesson was very helpful! I'm learning to play an indian flute (Bansuri), but blowing technics are the same. Thank you!

[@TheFlutePractice]

Thank you! Useful to know that it is similar :)

[@a_rn_a2107]

very good

[@BlasJohnny]

Thank you

[@TheFlutePractice]

pleasure!

[@arianawastaken9295]

Thank. You. So. Much. Thank. You.

[@antje.mueller]

This is a really good video. Thanks. I'm just working on that. It' s getting better now. I'm a restarter after 22 yeaes of not playing at all and yes I also wanted to force it in the beginning. My son now says it sounds much better what I' m doing now and not so squeeky anymore. But I' m still struggling with Intonation in the third octave and also with playing those notes in pianissimo...... But probably just takes time. It's just 4 months that I resarted. I want to mich at once. Luckily I have a teacher who helps me very much

[@yojishinkawa378]

I just learned to play the second octave cleanly like two days ago after struggling for over a week. It may have been harder for me because I'm teaching myself, and I have tmj, so my jaw can get super tense when I experiment with embouchure changes. I found there were two tricks that worked for me. The first trick is, make sure your headjoint is positioned so that the hole in your A key is lined up with the hole in the headjoint. It might sound unimportant, but this actually did matter for me. When I rolled my headjoint out, suddenly my higher notes became unplayable. Now, purse your lips a bit so that your embouchure feels just about big enough to hold a pencil in your lips. Your lips shouldn't be super tense. You don't need an embouchure small enough to hold a grain of rice, just a pencil. The second trick is, rather than blowing like a madman, move your tongue forward a little bit towards the aperture formed by your lips. This automatically speeds up the air coming through the embouchure in exactly the same way that putting your thumb over the end of a garden hose makes the water come out faster. That's all there was to it for me. Using this trick, I've found I can blow softly to get a quiet second octave and harder to get a louder one. The tongue thing works in my third octave too. For some reason, figuring out the second octave was much much harder for me than the third octave.

[@donroschen7775]

Thank you very much for the great video! It realley helped me a lot. And you look pretty, too :)

[@adityakulkarni2006]

Really appreciate . Thanks. Ive benn struggling with high notes. are there any lip strength excercises

[@Novemben]

I’m learning baroque - rather than modern - flute, but I nevertheless find your tips very useful for this instrument! Thanks! 😊

[@amzthomson15]

I have a student who's really struggling with the middle octaves. Everything I've tried just doesn't help her. This helps me a lot personally, so excited to experiment this with her 😄

[@ami7044]

im probably that student to my teacher lmao.

[@abe8382]

Sometimes is very difficult to explain thigs like that, and you do an AWESOME job!!! Thaks for the tutorial

[@nicolagiordani8097]

thank you, this video was very interesting and useful even though i already knew how to play high notes. could you please make a video about the piccolo please? i mean how to be confident when you play it, how to play high notes with it and how to make a piano without losing the sound. i would really apreciate it

[@TheFlutePractice]

Thank you! That is a wonderful idea. I need to get my picc going again so I will start planning a video on this soon :)

[@aaronvillafuerte2934]

I got scared when you did the HAAAAAAAAAAAH sound