Blow straight ahead or diagonaly

sinebar · Post by **sinebar** » Sun Jan 21, 2007 1:02 am

So when playing the flute do you blow straight over the hole or diagonaly down into the hole?

flutepicc06 · Post by **flutepicc06** » Sun Jan 21, 2007 1:41 am

Neither, really...Or more correctly, a combination of the two. What makes a flute sound is vibrations set up in the air column by the splitting of the airstream against an edge. In the case of the Boehm flute, that's where the riser and the lip plate meets. You need your air to come in contact with that edge, but at the proper angle to create the best possible tone, which is a matter of experience, familiarity with the flute, and embouchure flexibility. Blow to horizontally, and you'll get tons of air sound and very littlw tone, but blow straight down, and the flute probably won't respond, or will sound very thin.