How to Play Beautiful High Notes on Flute
We all know the struggle. Once we start delving into the higher register on flute, it can be like fighting to get a beautiful, full tone. Some notes, particularly e-natural, can sound thin and airy, and other notes just can’t be achieved at all. Here are a few strategies to help those high notes open up and sound beautiful, full, and lush.
Diaphragmatic Breathing
First and foremost, your breathing is the most important tool you have as a flutist. Knowing how to breathe correctly is going to change everything. You can learn to do this correctly by first laying on your back and placing one hand on your belly and the other on your chest. Breathe deeply, all the way into your belly, allowing it to rise first until it’s totally full, then the chest should follow. You should feel totally full of breath, and as you empty, you should empty from bottom to top. Repeat this exercise breathing slowly in and out, feeling completely full on the in breath, and emptying completely on the out breath.
Practicing Harmonics
Harmonics can teach you a lot about flute, including the correct aperture position for the second and third octaves, as well as good intonation. The idea is that you begin in the first octave, lets say a low D, and overblow the note. It’s important, though, to not change the position of your flute, not change the position of your fingers, and to not blow harder if you can help it. Try also to not create tension by holding your fingers down harder or squeezing your lip plate to your lip harder.
The harmonics of the flute are as follows:
First Harmonic: your fundamental
Second Harmonic: your first overtone, which is one octave higher
Third Harmonic: your second overtone, which is a perfect fifth above the second harmonic
Fourth Harmonic: your third overtone, which is two octaves above the fundamental
Fifth Harmonic: your fourth overtone, a major third above the fourth harmonic
Sixth Harmonic: your fifth overtone, a perfect fifth above the fourth harmonic
Seventh Harmonic: your sixth overtone, a major sixth above the fourth harmonic
Eighth Harmonic: your seventh overtone, three octaves above the fundamental
Ninth Harmonic: your eighth overtone, a major second above the eighth harmonic
Some of these harmonics simply aren’t possible to achieve on flute, so don’t feel bad if you’re struggling with those eighth and ninth harmonics, but practicing for just a few minutes a day will significantly improve your ability to play beautiful, strong 3rd and 4th octave notes.
Opening the Jaw, Throat, and Sinus Cavity
A lot of your flutes resonance and tone actually comes from your own anatomy! The shape that you create with the inside of your mouth can greatly affect your ability to play those 3rd and 4th register notes. To optimize that shape, try the following:
Relax your jaw, the muscles around your mouth (called the obicularis oris), and the muscles of your face that surround your nose.
Relax the muscles of your neck and throat. This can be tricky and is definitely something that most people need to practice, as we all have a tendency to hold tension in our neck and shoulders.
Drop your jaw and breathe in, mimicking a yawn (honestly, if this causes you to yawn, that’s okay!). I like to picture a balloon filling on the inside of my mouth.
Adjusting the Aperture
Your aperture should be slightly smaller than when you’re playing your second octave, but be careful not to squeeze it too tight. If you find yourself squeezing to the point of discomfort, you’ve gone much, much too far. If you find that your flute consistently requires this level of squeezing the aperture to get any sort of sound from your third octave, then it may be time for some flute maintenance.
Adjust your air stream to be slightly higher than it would be if you were playing in your second octave, but again, try not to blow harder. With the slightly smaller aperture, the resulting air stream should be faster.
Remember to play with the wet part of your lips, continuing to keep your “head cavity” open and relaxed.
Vowel Sounds
Just like in the English language, we have different vowel sounds that we can use to change the cavity of our mouths. Take a moment and walk through them: A (aye), E (eee), I (eye), O (oh), U (ooh). Different vowel shapes can help you change tone color, but also can help you hit a note cleanly. For instance, it’s typically easier to hit higher notes with the E shape than it is with the O or U shape, but you can produce some interesting and beautiful timbres by experimenting with the different vowel shapes. I would encourage you to play around with that, noting the differences in tone color and timbre between different octaves and with different notes.
Long Tones
As they always say, practice practice practice. If you work on tone at least 15-20 minutes out of each practice session, you’ll soon find the correct formula to play beautiful, rich high notes. Long tones is a wonderful place to start if you don’t have a workbook, starting in your middle register and working your way down, then starting again in the middle and working your way up. Work slowly and mindfully, and repeat pairs of notes that you feel need work. If your embouchure begins to hurt, then take a break. It’s okay to come back to it later or tomorrow.
I highly recommend working through Trevor Wye’s Practice Books for the Flute, in this case Book 1 Tone is going to be your best workbook. Continuous, intelligent practice will bring you the results you need.
As always, I’m so proud of you for showing up! If you’d like to work one-on-one with me on your tone, please reach out! I would love to hear from you.
