Texas Bandmasters Association
Bandmasters Review • September 2013
12
SETTING UP THE EMBOUCHURE
Suzuki-influenced Method:
Without the flute, spit an imaginary grain of rice
(with tongue in lips—use a quarter note, half note
rhythm: “hot dog”):
a. down onto plate (low register)
b. across table onto brother’s plate (middle register)
c. over brother’s head at mom…all the way across
the kitchen (high register)
Next, the teacher moves the headjoint in and out
of position, then the student helps, and finally the
student does this by himself. Teach low, middle, and
high on the headjoint. Teach regular tongue NOW.
(Tip of tongue touches roof of mouth—scratch the tip
to sensitize it.)
Another Method of Teaching Embouchure:
First, place index finger in the dent of chin. Have
student say “pure” and blow fast air on their finger.
Then replace finger with the headjoint.
THINGS TO LOOK FOR (Good Things vs. Bad
Things):
• Approx. 1/4-1/3 of embouchure hole covered
by lower lip vs. Tight corners and lips (“smile”
embouchure)
• Embouchure plate nestled in dent of chin vs.
Embouchure plate sitting on red part of lower lip (too
high)
• Corners relaxed (lips relaxed) vs. Embouchure
hole almost totally covered by lower lip (rolled in too far)
• Inside edge of embouchure hole where the pink
part of lip meets the chin vs. Clenched teeth, tight jaw
“But Helen! Isn’t ‘Kiss-n-roll’ a great and easy way
to start the embouchure?!?!?”
The horror!!! “Kiss-n-roll” causes a thin, putrescent
tone (big, rich tone is virtually impossible) AND it
creates even worse intonation tendencies than usual!
Please…DON’T EVER TEACH “Kiss-n-roll”!!!
Additional Embouchure Tips
• Drop jaw from hinge and glide forward and back
to find the optimal position.
• Experiment with vowel shapes inside the mouth:
“A, ah, E, eh, I, O, ooh, uh” to find optimal resonance.
• The wet part of the lip surrounds the air like 2
cushions (the lips cushion the air).
• Keep tongue relaxed (“AH”) and “down” (tongue
should lie on the floor of the mouth like a blanket or
rug).
• Keep jaw relaxed.
• AIM the airstream with upper lip (think of it as a
beak). Aim down for low notes; more across for high
notes (slide jaw forward, too).
• No stiff upper lip! Keep it supple & flexible…
release it away from the top teeth so there is a cushion
of air between the upper lip and teeth.
• Clarinet=Concrete; Flute=Jello
TONE
The basics of great tone are air speed (velocity), air
volume, air direction, and size of aperture. To develop
a great tone take a HUGE breath, open teeth up wide
(1-2 finger widths) and drop jaw. Blow a super-fast
airstream and blow down into the hole (use upper lip
to aim air…think “beak”). Demonstrate air speed and
direction by blowing on finger.
Flute is Not a Four Letter Word