5 Essential Tips for Beginner Flutists

Flute is such an incredible instrument, so first of all, yay! You’ve chosen a fun instrument that can do a variety of things - classical, jazz, even rock and metal. The possibilities with flute are endless, but we do need to make it through the basics to get to the really fun stuff. So, I have five essential tips for you to fly your way through the basics and become an incredible flutist. Proper posture, breath control, finger placement, a great practice routine, and the ability to seek guidance are some of the most important things to keep in mind when beginning your flute journey on the right foot.

Tip 1: Proper Posture

Posture is a big issue that many beginner flutists run into. Posture affects your breath support, tone, and tension within the body, which can effectively contribute to every single part of your playing - tone, quick fingers, and more.

First and foremost, it’s important to stand straight with your head “floating” on the top of your spine. Keep your feet about hip-width apart and give a slight bend to your knees - never lock those knees! Bring your left foot slightly forward, pointing your foot forward, and distribute your weight slightly back to your right foot.

Finally, you want to bring your flute UP to your lips. Don’t bring your lips to meet the flute. Twist your body to the left, bringing your flute out in front of you. Your flute should have a slight downward angle to the right, but only slightly. You want your flute position to be natural, but still upright. Don’t let it sag to the ground!

Tip 2: Breath Control

Learn to control your air using your abdominal muscles. We don’t want to release all of our air all at once into our flutes or else we will just get dizzy and sound breathy, right? So, we need to learn to release our air slowly, consciously using the diaphragm to control how fast or slow the air moves through the flute.

To improve breath control, I like to practice exercises like “box breathing” (and other variations of box breathing) in order to learn to breathe with control. Breathe in for 5 counts, hold for 5 counts, and breathe out for 5 counts. Make sure that your out-breath is matching those counts and gradually increase that number as you go.

You can also practice the breath by laying on your back with a book on your belly, making sure that the breath is filling up low enough that you see the movement, up and down, from the book resting on your abdomen.

Finally, practice long tones with increasing length of holds on each pair of notes. Work your way down chromatically (if you can) or just work through your scales as you know them.

Practice breathing and breath control regularly. Mastering this art will help with tone quality, intonation, phrasing, and endurance, so we must keep working on this skill.

Tip 3: Finger Placement

Of course, it’s important to memorize your finger placement as far as which finger goes where, but have your considered HOW your fingers are sitting on the keys? Are they flat? Are they at a 90 degree angle at the knuckle? We need to fix that! Keep your fingers curved and the pads of your fingers directly in the cups of your keys. Use those cups as a way to feel when your fingers are in the right place. Keeping the fingers lightly resting on top of keys, even when you aren’t pressing the keys down, will help you be able to switch between notes that much quicker.

Practice this by closing your eyes and playing through something that you know well such as your scales. Pay close attention to the feel of your fingers resting on the keys. Aim for that every time.

Tip 4: Practice Routine

Creating a great practice routine is important for improvement in every way. You can’t progress if you don’t put in the time, but just putting in the time isn’t the best way to practice. You need to be efficient. Some people work really well by setting a specified time every day to practice, but other people don’t function as well that way. For those students, I like to recommend “habit stacking” - so, finding one habit that you do every day (example: setting your backpack down after school) and pair it with practice. So, every time you set your backpack down, you pick your flute up and practice for 10 minutes. Sometimes it’s helpful to “habit stack” with other family members, so when your parent or spouse (or whomever the duty typically falls with) starts dinner, you can plan to pick up your flute and practice for a few minutes. (Hint: parents, this is a great time to say “I love hearing what you’re working on while I’m making dinner” to encourage that habit stack.)

Aside from just finding a time to practice, you want to make sure you know what to practice. Come to your practice time with a clear goal - whether it’s to tackle a new etude or to feel confident with the latest note you’ve learned - any goal will do as long as it’s Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-Based (SMART!). Know exactly what you want to achieve before you start practicing and practice with that goal in mind.

Tip 5: Seek Guidance

A qualified flute teacher or mentor can change the game when it comes to your playing. A teacher can help build inspiration when things are feeling dull, challenge you when you don’t quite know what’s next, and can help fix issues that you didn’t even know were causing problems. Finding a teacher that works well with you and your goals is important, so make sure you ask lots of questions when beginning lessons with someone new (click here to learn about the right questions to ask a music teacher before beginning lessons).

It can be difficult to find qualified teachers in rural areas, so be sure to use the resources you have to find someone that works well for you. Online music lessons have never been more accessible and doable than they are now and there are plenty of opportunities to find someone that will propel you to your flute goals.

To Recap

• Play with proper posture. Be sure to record yourself playing so you can be certain you’re standing (and sitting) correctly.

• Work on your breath control - this can be a passive practice activity, perfect for days you don’t have a lot of practice time at your disposal.

• Pay attention to your finger placement and learn to play by feel.

• Tweak your practice routine to make it workable and consistent for you.

• Find a qualified teacher that can help you with all of your flute-playing difficulties and get you to where you’d like to be as a player.