Jennifer Cluff
Canadian Flutist and Teacher
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A Thousand & One flute tuning ideas
Index of tuning articles:
Help for flutes that seem 'too sharp' throughout their range
The following are tone
& tuning experiments from Roger
Mather books dealing with embouchure and pressure points on the lower
lip:
___________________________________________
Are you consistently sharp on the flute even though your headjoint is
drawn 1/8th to a 1/4 inch already? If so, check the following
possibilities:
- your headjoint cork is in the wrong place? check it with the line on the cleaning rod
- you are trying to play an A-444 or A-446 European-market flute in an A-440 country? check with the manufacturer of your flute, and query the serial number.
- you are playing with too much air-speed and air-pressure? check with your private flute teacher.
For most of us, however,
consistent sharpness has to do with blowing style and embouchure angle. If
you're taking private lessons, you will want to address this topic with
your teacher, to ascertain whether it's time to start working with
"How much pressure on the lip" and "How to get Great tone
without pressure", and "how to play less sharp". All
these individual embouchure considerations are covered in the excellent
three volumes of Roger Mather's "The Art of Playing the
Flute". These books volumes 1-3 are available at www.fluteworld.com
. They are a very important reference set for any flutist's library.
(if ordering Roger Mather from the library, order volume One for
"Varying your tone colour" experiments to read about and try
the following experiments.)
Here are some of the things to consider working on to reduce
overall sharpness in flute playing:
1. Experiments with angling the lips north, south, east and
west, and using a mirror to insure the lip-hole is centered and
the flute is parallel to the face. You'll want guidance in flexing the
lips a tiny amount in each direction so you can control the exact angle
with the most inner-lip-membrane being used and deciding where the most
comfortable postion is for the lower jaw. (this depends on whether you
have an overbite or underbite etc.)
2. Creating a long air-reed:
This is about maximizing the distance between the hole in the
lips, and the striking point for the air on the far side of the
embouchure hole.
It's achieved by gradually lowering the pressure point of the flute's
lip plate on the chin so that it goes from squishing the lower lip at
the level of the lower teeth (a beginner's sound that is too short and
air-reed and has no colouring possibilities) to feeling the flute's
lip-plate pressure as against the roots of the bottom teeth. (lowered
pressure point of the lip plate allows freedom for the lower lip to move
and reposition itself.)
This is combined with uncovering more of the blow-hole in the flute in a
series of experiments. Note: The EDGE of the blow-hole still remains at
the red-line of the lower lip, but the pressure of it is rotated down
and out.
3. Creating an air-pocket between the upper lip and the upper
front teeth.
Many novice and intermediate players pull their upper lip too
tightly against their upper teeth, so that there's no space for the
upper lip to be stretched out and away from the teeth. You want the
airstream to be directed by the upper lip at a downward angle, so that
the flute in a low, relaxed position, can stay still while the upper lip
changes its angle minutely to blow more deeply or more shallowly into
the flute. See
picture.
The more you are able to flex the
upper lip away from the teeth, the more experiments you can proceed
with.
4. Relaxing the jaw and opening the mouth cavity behind the
embouchure:
This is about creating a resonant chamber inside the mouth, even though
the lips are in the "flute embouchure postion." You want to
use all the resonating cavities you have (open sinus, open throat, open
mouth) so that the flute's vibrations echo back into the body cavities,
and create a resonance there. (Helmholtz effect).
5. Puckering vs. drawing the lips back (lips moving together):
Roger Mather's experiments allow the individual to gradually
pucker forward to see what effect that has on the tone in various
registers, and then to draw the lips back again to see which is more
effective for his particular dental construction and lip tension.
When I was taught to experiment with this (when I was 16) it was done by
considering the position of the CORNERS of the lips, with the mind on
the final feel of the lips in the center; Are they fleshy/pillowy? Or
are the lip centers getting tighter and tighter?
Which amount of puckering (move only microscopic amounts at first) works
for low notes, high notes, medium notes? etc.
6. Uncovering the flute's embouchure hole more or covering it
more.
This has to do with the lower lip specifically.
If the above changes are being done as experiments, many times the sound
will become too "covered" as the lips are allowed to become
more fleshy and more mobile. The student has to constantly check whether
"rolling out 2 milimeters more than they think they need to"
in fact results in a more projecting and ringing sound.
The optimal covering of the embouchure hole is between 1/4 and 1/3, and
most flutists tend to cover too much as their lips become more flexible.
So at every chance you get, uncover the flute's blow-hole by a milimeter
or two, and listen to the sound become more open and free. (rotate the
flute down and out on the chin)
7. Releasing the tension in the upper lip so that the hole in
the lips has a rounded arch in it, instead of a long thin slit.
This is the single most effective change to varying tone-colours that
I've found once the other experiments have resulted in a vibrant and
open sound.
This "arch in the lip aperture" also allows a quick ascent or
descent into different octaves of the flute's range, without making too
many other changes to the lips.
Since Roger Mather wrote nearly
105 pages with experiments in all the above areas, and since your
teacher wants you to experiment......I think that all I'm able to do
here, is try and interest you in trying out Mather's Vol. 1 of his
"The
Art of Playing the Flute".
You'll find it possibly using the interlibrary-loan function of your
local library, or you can order it from www.fluteworld.com
Best,
Jen Cluff
Back to index of TUNING articles
Why do flute students play flat?
There are several reasons why a flute student would play flat, and you may wish to check for them one by one:
1. The headjoint cork has been pulled outward by the student twisting the crown, trying to tighten it. Check the cork with a cleaning rod marker, and advise the student that if the crown becomes loose, that they should tighten it only "finger tight", and not keep turning it. If you do not feel you can move the cork yourself (if it is stuck, or if it moves too easily) take it to repair. See article on this topic.
2. The student is blowing too softly and not using abdominal support when playing. This is fairly common. You'll want to spend time teaching the student to play FORTE and using full abdominal muscles when playing the flute. Teaching FORTE is best taught before teaching soft playing. See article on this topic.
3a. The student's lower lip is covering too much of the blowing hole or they are rolling the flute inward to create a short air reed.
The optimum lower lip coverage for flute students is between 1/4 and 1/3 the blow hole. Band students without private lessons often roll inward too far when they play as it makes high register leaps easier, although poor in intonation and tone quality. They use a short-air-reed instead of lengthening the upper lip and using it to angle the air downwards. Rolling in too far is a common habit when trying to obtain a high register with inadequate embouchure development. Having a private flute teacher to coach them in how to notice when they're rolling too far inward is advised.
Often too, it's possible that the student starts out by covering 1/4 and 1/3 the blow hole with the lower lip, but then, unknowingly, the student's flute is slowly rolling inward when they play over several lines of music. This unconscious inward rolling is due to either having the headjoint put on incorrectly for their chin and lip shape, or by the student not making proper contact with the chin and the lip plate, or other posture and hand balancing problems. See article on best alignment for the headjoint for flute balance.
4. Finally: Sometimes when the student feels that they are out of tune, or isn't playing well, they will suddenly choosesto start playing more quietly to compensate for not liking what they hear. This quiet playing flattens the pitch. The air is too slow to sustain pitch, and the tone quality is quashed.
I suggest work on crescendo-longtones, done back and forth at the beginning of each lesson, with the teacher, as well as plenty of weekly duets. See article on tone.
This is a GREAT new product that I highly, highly, HIGHLY recommend!!! This is a CD consisting of the 12 notes of the scale for 2 minutes each;
Tracks 1-12 are the pitches C, Db, D, Eb, E, F, F# etc.
You can change the volume of playback to hear "beats". You can press "repeat" on your CD player to repeat the track for as long as you like.
Each track consists of the principal pitch sounded with harmonic tones audible (like an organ chord) so that you hear several octaves and fifths, as well as the basic tonic pitch.
You can use the Tuning CD for any flute tuning project you have:
You can tune:
- scales, arpeggios, technique, daily exercises
- melodies (change pitch to match modulations)
- orchestral passages prior to orchestral rehearsals
- excerpts from etudes (that remain in one key)
- passages from flute/piano solos
- chamber music, prior to chamber rehearsals
Any piece of music that remains in one key for at least a few bars can be played with the Tuning CD. If you need to modulate to a different key, just walk over to the CD where the tuning CD is playing, and change to a different track on the CD.
This is the best product yet devised for playing in accoustic tuning, which is the tuning system used by choirs, orchestras, bands, chamber groups, and any other combination of instruments that does not include guitar or harp, (fixed tuning) or piano/organ (fixed tuning).
Order it for $25 U.S. by sending a money order to the address given at www.thetuningcd.com
You will find thousands of uses for this as an intonation training tool.Note: This CD is NOT the same as a midi or keyboard sustaining a pitch for several minutes. The sound that comes from the CD is "triangulated" in pitch, and includes all the overtones.
Also included are several tracks with intervals given in acoustic tuning against a bass note of C, C# or D, and a final sample of a CMaj7 chord in Equal Temperament (beats are audible) followed by "Pure" tuning, and then in ET, again. Very interesting to use as a comparison to Equal Temperament.
Trevor Wye's & other books on Intonation
A student asks:
I'm having intonation problems. I can tune my flute to a
keyboard etc. but when it actually comes to playing my intonation really
suffers. I really try and listen but can't hear if I'm going flat/sharp.
I notice this in my grade 8 study, which has large leaps over an octave
from the middle to the top register. My teacher says, get sharper as I
go higher which is to be expected, but I can't hear it and its getting
really annoying. Has anyone got any ideas??! Its getting me down now
______________
Jen answers:
Hi there!
First of all, see the information on the Tuning CD above.
If your top octave is
consistently sharp, you need to shape the airstream more downward, and
also drop the mouth cavity open. Also, you may want to take a look at
Trevor Wye's book "Intonation" which is the fourth book in his
"Practice books for the flute" series.
He explains at great length what the tendencies of the flute are, in
learning to play with good intonation, gives many exercises, and most
importantly, gives you the RIGHT exercises so that you learn to adjust
your pitch to match what the ear demands.
Check it out, and do the Wye Intonation exercises thoroughly to develop
an ability to tune as you play. Get your private teacher to guide you in
working with the top octave in tune.
And of course sing often, and learn to sing in tune. Then you'll have
both skills: the "inner ear" that allows you to know what
"in tune" is, and the physical skills, practiced daily, to
subtley change the pitch of your flute using airspeed and embouchure.
Trevor Wye's books are
widely available.
Try www.fluteworld.com
if you are in the U.S. and TopWind or other UK sheet music company in
the UK where these books are published by Novello.
The Omnibus edition contains FIVE of the Wye practice books all in one
volume. An excellent resource.
Jen Cluff
Back to index of TUNING articles
-----------Another great book: ---------------------
LIES MY MUSIC TEACHER TOLD ME
Dear Flutenetters,
About a month ago I came across the most interesting book: "Lies my
Music Teacher Told Me" by Gerald Eskelin ISBN: 1-886209-11-1; 1997;
Stage 3 Publishing.
I found it to be extremely invigorating since, as I have been
simultaneously teaching ear-training and flute intonation exercises to
my college and conservatory students using a *piano*, while dealing with
woodwind and string intonational problems in our developing symphony
orchestra.
I needed tuning solutions!
And I needed to be able to turn around and teach them to my own
students!
:>)
Teaching tempered tuning to young students so that they can play solos
with piano was obviously the first order of the day.
[Note: since writing the
above, I have now found "The Tuning CD" which solves this
dilemma; See Tuning
CD above.]
But in coaching chamber groups, I found myself (horrors!:>) *singing*
scale intervals for students, and stumbling over my words and
demonstrations trying to impart the differences between the acoustic and
tempered-tuning harmonies.
Even using acoustic-tuning charts, such as the kind that say: perfect
fifths should be 7 cents high, perfect fourths 4 cents low etc., was a
system slightly too advanced for some of my young flute students who are
not in chamber ensembles, or don't own tuners, and can't yet judge
"cents".
And of course, in orchestra, among colleagues, there is always a point
of confusion about the differences between the keyboard's tempered
tuning and the actual pitches used by woods, strings, brass, and choral
groups.
You'd have bassoonists with their tuners switched on, in a Mendelssohn
chord saying:
"We MUST be wrong---my tuner says I'm 18 cents SHARP!! That is
incorrect!" when 20 minutes of sectional work has resulted in an
arbitrary tuning stasis that is just on the edge of working, but no one
knows why!!! :>)
So after reading "Lies my Music Teacher Taught Me", all
enthused by what I saw as the teacher's connection to the
"instincts of in-tune players", I went to Eskelin's website
and ordered a second set of materials:
"Natural Ear
Training".
This is a folder
containing 'flash card' like teaching charts for leading group-tuning
exercises, forming chords, in a choral class or sightsing class.
The charts can also be used by the self-teaching adult using single
piano pitches and following the instructions of what to listen for in
pitching their own voice in harmony.
This slim folder and its
well written 4 page instruction sheet arrived two weeks ago, and I've
been following through, slowly, trying to teach myself how to *teach* a
level of wonderful flute intonation, and merge all the disparate bits.
:>)
I'm convinced enough by the materials to order Eskelin's hardcover book,
now:
"The Sounds of Music: Perception and Notation."
(includes recorded samples on CD)
I find his explanations are just terrific reading all around! John
Zornig put me on to this author. So thanks again John. I'd love to
discuss this with you all, to find out if other teachers are discovering
htis as a 'breakthrough' in ear-training.
For more info. see the following Eskelin links:
For those interested in
orchestral tuning phenomena that affects flutes,
read: http://www.stage3music.com/tuning/tuning.html
For more info. on author
of the above book titles:
http://www.stage3music.com/gre/welcome.html
Jen
_______________________
A quote from "Natural Ear Training" ~ Eskelin
_________________________
"The value of a natural approach to ear training is immediately
evident to anyone who realizes that keyboards cannot accurately
reproduce pitch relations in the same way that ears hear them.
While the keyboard is limited to one tuning per digital, the sensitive
musical ear naturally tends to adjust tuning according to the harmonic
and melodic context of pitches.
It follows then that any approach to developing musical aural skills
should focus on the nature of relative pitch perception and avoid the
compromised sound models produced on a keyboard.
Our current fascination with digital electronics and computerized
methods of teaching tends to distract us from natural perception of
pitch relations. Unfortunately, accurate acoustic tuning cannot be
expressed in digital tuning based on 100 cents (divisions) per
"half step."
The human ear----even of a novice----is more sensitive than that. Just a
single click of the knob can go right past the point of an "in
tune" perception.
Therefore it seems unlikely that computer-based drills will lead to
success in learning to hear and produce well-tuned pitches. Fortunately,
computers and digital drills are not needed to accomplish the task.
Youngsters reared in musical environments usually have no difficulty
assimilating acoustic truth.
For the adult who missed that opportunity, the materials contained in
"Natural Ear Training" can help. A simple sustained sound
source and a willing and curious spirit can lead to the discovery of
harmonic reality and musical insight."
____________end Gerald Eskelin quote
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Thoughts on working with an electronic tuner
Question: A Flutenet member writes:
>Dear Jen: What are
your thoughts on tuners? Training tool, necessity, useless waste of
money? I wonder if I should start working with one, but then big players
like Galway says "throw them away!". He recommends singing,
singing and more singing. What's all this about? JT
_________________
Jen replies: Dear JT and other Flutenetters,
Tuners are controversial in one sense: You cannot come to rely on their
"tempered tuning" setting when it comes to non-tempered
instruments.
There is a terrific article on this that explains it all on this clarinet site.
If you're playing with a piano, yes the tuner will tell you what pitch the piano will play. But almost every other instrument uses ACOUSTIC tuning, which is not "equal temperament". So you need to use a drone that sounds from an electronic tuner or a Tuning CD to train your ears to hear pure intervals instead of the kind the piano provides.
This can be confusing to contemplate.
So in general: Developing a very good 'ear' and the ability to sing in tune allows you to start to react much more quickly to any intonation errors that come from your flute playing. If you can hear the exact pitch that is going to work, then in milliseconds you can adjust your flute's pitch almost instantly to match the sound that is "in your mind's ear".
But for the middle-ground of student, those without fabulous 'ears' for hearing pitch, some systematic way of developing pitch could be used, and a tuner might be of some help. [Update: see The Tuning CD above ]
For a start, flute and piano is a *very* common instrumental partnership, and therefore tuners are very helpful tools to the degree that you play with tempered instruments (harp, piano, organ etc.)
I could list the myriad of warmups and intonation exercises that I do
with a tuner if that would help? (overblowing octaves etc.) Or maybe all
our Flutenet flute teachers could all list our favourite exercises for
using with a tuner.... get everyone's current opinion on "what is
useful"? What do you other Flutenet teachers use?
Here are some of my uses of electronic tuners:
Four sample uses for an electric tuner (equal-tempered scale):
ie: Setting up your cork position and how far to draw out the
headjoint/footjoint for A440 or A442.
ie: Crescendos and diminuendos done with the ear fixed on keeping the
pitch level, and then checking the tuner to see how well your ears are
picking up pitch changes.
ie: Bending notes purposefully to see how far each one can be sharpened
and flattened.
ie: Playing perfect octaves to establish embouchure formations (as
opposed to the stretched octave that the ear prefers)
To see more on the human preference for stretched octaves (making any
advice about teaching yourself octaves without a tuner somewhat dubious
for later intonation-with-piano)
Note on stretched octave phenomena: Read Susan MacLagan's NFA convention report on tuning in the Flutenet archives: Sent: Sunday, August 17, 2003 1:24 PM
Look for: Subject: [flutenet] Convention - Tuning for Flute Players with Peter Middleton.
You can do an
archive search for
"Middleton" or go to Aug. 17th, 2003 to look it up.
Excellent post that reviews some recent research on how we tune.
Lenny Lopatin also commented on the net recently that he modified the
modern flute scale NOT to stretch octaves, and play sharp in the third
register, but pro-players who tried it found it too odd, compared to
what they were used to.
All very interesting food for thought........glad you brought up this
topic. Always new info. coming to light........ see below for "why
is it so hard to explain?"
Jen
P.S. [Update: see The Tuning CD above ]
Back
to index of TUNING articles
Why is it so hard to play in tune? And why are the theories so confusing?
Follow up
question: M. writes:
>let's see if I have some of it right - tuning to a tuner
isn't always effective because playing "in tune" is work and
can change with embouchure, registers and possibly volume; .....(signed:
slightly baffled and wandering aimlessly in circles).
__________________
Dear M,
I hesitate to add much more intonation information for folks to swim in,
, but you do ask so sweetly, so I will do my best to cover each of these
topics as best I can without drowning anyone else in too much
information! :>)
Important Update 2005: see The Tuning CD above
__________________
First of all:
BEATS AND TEMPERED PIANOS
_________________
A tuner will help you anticipate the exact pitch of a well-tuned piano.
If you are going to play with a piano at any point, the tuner will be a
good substitute in practicing flute-alone.
Pure tuning (where there are no "beats" bashing into each other in midair, sounding like "wha....wha...wha...") however, is very different from the equal-temperament of the piano.
Pianos are a compromise.
They can play in any key, but they produce "beats" that prove
'out-of-tuneness' like crazy.
The ear's sweet and innocent desire for the "beat-less-ness"
that we need for acoustic tuning must be shut-down when we play with
tempered instruments, so we can tolerate the piano's being out of tune
with itself..
ie: I can sing perfectly in tune (acoustic tuning/pythagorean/sensitive-tuning etc), but when I sing with a piano, I have to modify my pitches to match the piano's equal temperament.
A very good article on this phenomenon and how to come to terms with it is here:
http://www.tishkoff.com/articles/tuners.htm
_______________
Secondly; If you already play out of tune, then
YOU DO GET USED TO YOUR OWN PITCH VAGUERIES:
_________________
Over time you will train
your ears to no longer notice out of tune notes that occur frequently as
you practise alone. You actually will begin to think that your sharp
high E sounds 'normal". This is why you may want to check your
overall intonation with a tuner at first; to dispel the out-of-tune
notes that you have grown immune to hearing.
An electronic tuner will help you discover where your own personal
embouchure and air-speed is typically going to put your flute's pitch.
Mark down a home-made graph of each pitch of your flute played at mezzo
forte, with a fabulous, full tone. You'll soon get an idea of where
you've started to become habituated to typically sharp and flat notes.
Chris Potter has a useful leaflet called "Seven Steps to
Intonation" which is available at Fluteworld.com
ie: if your entire top octave is sharp all the time, you will want to
use the tuner to change the position of the headjoint, and perhaps the
embouchure that you use on the flute. These changes take time and the
tuner can show you how you're progressing.
Learning to shape the
embouchure differently and to gradually learn
to bring the pitch down on sharp areas of the flute can take several
months, but is work well worth doing until you've mastered a new
embouchure or way of controlling the air-speed so you have a choice NOT
to play sharp in the high register.
By the same token:
If your entire lowest octave is flat all the time, you will use the
tuner to figure out what you must do in the low octave to bring the
pitch up,.
This work is actually
fascinating, and the tuner helps until you've learned a new embouchure
etc. so you will have the choice NOT to play flat just because a passage
is marked pp or is very low in the flute's range.
Now, why would your entire top or low register be so sharp or so flat,
and why wouldn't your ears have told you this already?
_____________________
Reasons:
______________________
ACCEPTANCE via EAR-MORPH:
- You've been playing alone for so long that you've accepted your
out-of-tuneness and no longer hear that it's out of tune. (and your
flute may have been set up incorrectly in length, cork position etc, and
you may have learned how to play with this set up by blowing a certain
way for various octaves.)
- Even the best ears will begin to accept "out of tuneness" in
under one hour of being subjected to out-of-tune playing---I read this
in an article about a band adjudicator who tuned his harpsichord BEFORE
going band-adjudicating, and could not do so again until the next day,
as his ears had accepted the cacophany of the band pitches and were
'blown' for the rest of the day in terms of sensitivity.
_____________________________
More reasons for playing out of tune without knowing it:
RUSTY LIPS/TONE COLOUR & EXPANDED DYNAMIC RANGE:
- You're a bit rusty and your embouchure and air-speed are still being
invented fresh every day with no way to yet find the balance of all
the variables. After an hour or so, you're de-sensitzed to pitch while
you've been searching for other tone solutions.
- You're developing your dynamic range and experimenting with tone
colours, and pitch has taken a back seat to trying to expand to HUGE
fortissimos and triple "P" pianissimos.
- You've been playing with an orchestra or chamber group that uses
extreme dynamics, and don't know how to correct the pitch while
maintaining very precise tone-blending (non-vibrato) and extreme-dynamic
matching sessions (changing your ear's focus like this can cause you to
lose the pitch center.) You may not use the tuner in situ, but you may
want to use it in preparation to "get you into the ball park"
of the pitches you're going to use at extreme blends and dynamics.
Important Update 2005: see The Tuning CD above
_________________
M. continues:
>flutes are made to be in tune at different . . . keys (?A440, A442)
so adjusting head/foot joint may not help; ears need to be used to
check for "in-tune-ness" at different
registers/volumes/styles.
> And to train ears, we need . . . a tuner??
__________________
PLAYING A 442 FLUTE AT 440:
Yes. Playing a 442 (or in the case of Yamaha, one rep. tells us....443)
flute at 440 is very challenging in terms of control of air and
embouchure.
While practicing alone, your ears may make corrections possible at
first, but after an hour or so of playing, they will then start
accepting anomalies as "normal". And even once you know for a
fact that you can bend each pitch up or down 20 cents from the
"440" setting, you may have to bend even farther if you're in
an orchestra (in worst case scenarios, up to 30 cents!!!)
__________________
Add to that:
TEMPERATURE FLUCTUATIONS:
___________________
Apart from having to test dynamics AND bend the pitches according to the
prevailing pitch of a musical group, you may also have to deal with the
temperature fluctuating in the hall or room you are in.
To prepare for both these problems, using a tuner is faster than using
the ears.
If you can play in tune with the tuner at all dynamics, you will be
closer to the pitch you will eventually have to bend to, when acoustic
tuning is required. (you won't be 20 cents flat, you'll only be perhaps
4 cents flat; and therefore having to suddenly play 13 cents sharp will
be within reach when required.)
And if and when the temperature of the room changes (and just turning
the heat on or off can cause the flutist to need to move their headjoint
up to 1/8th of an inch in compensation as small metal instruments react
quickest to temp. changes), the tuner quickly shows you whether you've
moved it enough for ease of play at regular dynamics etc.
______________________
Other uses for tuners that the ears-alone can't help:
UNISONS & CREEPING PITCH
______________________
- Playing perfect unisons with other woodwinds (including piccolo/bass
clarinet etc.) when you are not used to the harmonic content of their
sound, and your ears are being "fooled".
- Understanding why, in an orchestra, you are being asked to play so
sharp or so flat that the flute is actually out of position on your
face, ruining your tone (ie: another set of instruments is so high or so
low, that the flute's headjoint length would have to be changed to play
to their pitch, so therefore they are TOO far away from the pitch, and
only the tuner will really confirm this on any given passage; ie: whole
passage goes from A440 to A448 over eight bars.)
In the above case, the solution is hopefully NOT to have to move your
headjoint just for one passage, but to fix the problem in rehearsal by
referring to the tuner as a guage for everyone to consider.
_____________________
And finally: Acoustic tuning:
USING THE TUNER TO ADAPT TO THE KEY CENTER:
____________________
In The Flute Player's Book by Vernon Hill, he prints the following chart:
To tune acoustically (not tempered tuning) the flute needs to make the following alterations to the tuner's indicated pitch. Play sharp/flat by the following amounts depending on the interval you are playing with another wind, string or brass player (obviously not piano or other tempered keyboard):
If you are playing this interval, you will need make this correction in order to have intervals sound "pure" and "musical":
ie: A pure major 3rd should be flatter by approx. 13.7 cents than what the electronic tuner says is "in tune" in order to be a beatless major 3rd.
Major 2nd - 3.9
cents sharp
minor 3rd - 15.6 cents sharp
Major 3rd - 13.7 cents flat
Perfect 4th - 2.0 cents flat
Perfect 5th - 2.0 cents sharp
minor 6th - 13.7 cents flat
Major 6th - 15.6
cents sharp
minor 7th - 17.6 cents sharp
Major 7th - 11.6 cents flat.
Important Update 2005: see The Tuning CD above
If you have a tuner that
is only showing you tempered tuning, you can
still use the above chart AND the tuner to figure out why you sound out
of tune in a piece that has just modulated 4 times (into mulitudes of
flats and sharps) when practicing alone, without an orchestra.
Your ear may tell you to raise a certain note, but you've modulated so
many times, you don't know why. A chart like this will help you and your
tuner put your embouchure and air-speed into the correct ball-park, so
that you don't get a narsty tuning surprise in rehearsal.
______________________
Real life scenario:
______________________
You prepare Rimsky Korsakov or Tchaikovsky using a professional CD of a
UK orchestra at A442.
This high pitch center drives you totally crazy, so you finally borrow a US orchestra CD at A440. Okay, step one completed.
You match the overtones (and intervals) of every single pitch-problem area using your ears, the electronic tuner, and a tuning CD.
Finally you have figured out exactly the air-speed and embouchure you'll need to land every chord and melody perfectly in tune with the professional orchestra on the CD.
You arrive to rehearse with your own orchestra, and as it turns out the oboe player has only 2 bars to switch to English horn (or the clarinets to A clarinet).
Picking up the cold second instrument means they play much flatter than you anticipated.
Or conversely, the violins decide as a group to keep getting sharper and sharper in pitch as they play a long string passage, and by the time you enter with your flute harmonies, they are now up at A-444, and you're expected to join them there.
The pitches you so carefully prepared with the professional Tchaikovsky
recording of this work are now "out" to the pitches all around
you, and you have to dive down 15 cents (cold woodwind instruments play
flat) and then soar up again to 20 cents sharp. You have to do this in
both directions at once, often.
When would you ever have "practiced" diving down 15 cents and
soaring up 20 cents if not during daily use in pitch bending with the
tuner or Tuning CD?
Open to responses (not-including; join a different orchestra!)
Hhahahhahahahah!!!
Jen Pitch-obsessions-*are*-my-forte :>D
For more 'tuning your flute in ensemble articles click here.
Back to index of TUNING articles
Important Update 2005: see The Tuning CD above
Follow up
question: Dear Jen, any thoughts on electronic tuners to check
out??
____________________
Dear M,
I have a Korg DT-3 chromatic tuner which, 14 years ago,
cost around $100 Canadian ($75 US). I picked it because it goes high
enough for the full piccolo range and can be callibrated to 440 or 442
(or other).
I also have a $25 small
sized tuner that can play 12 pitches aloud, and can be calibrated for
A-440 to A445. Both these tuners are useful in different settings.
I've also recently read on the net that some new tuners can also be
switched over to provide "acoustic" or "just"
tuning, and this idea sounds GOOD!!!
I would suggest getting a
tuner that generates a good electric pitch or tone,
instead of just showing lights, which actually trains the ear to hear,
rather than one with lights only that is of dubious use (training the
eyes to see lights flashing doesn't help the ears at all.)
Also, if you're a fan, like me, of the book "The Physical Flute" by Fiona Wilkinson, there are intonation exercises that require a tone being sounded in that warmup book; very good.
______________
Important Update
2005; A Tuning
CD is very
much more useful than an electronic tuner.
Back to index of TUNING articles
Stages of flute student intonation development
Teaching Intonation for flute
A Quick overview
of the steps to good flute intonation training by Jen Cluff
_____________________________
Level One:
_______________________________
1. Flute set up:
a) Cork position-cleaning rod check-cork care and function
b) Inserting the headjoint to leave room to push in.
c) Headjoint alignment-balancing the rods on top of the flute
body-flute holding and balancing to keep mouthpiece stable during
fingering
d) Prewarming a cold flute before judging its intonation center.
2. Blowing angle and coverage:
a) Lower lip coverage of the embouchure hole
- 1/4 to 1/3 coverage; lower lip stretched the length of the lip
plate
b) Use of the upper lip to aim air at correct striking angle
c) Refining the size and shape of the lip aperture to find "sweet
spot" for each pitch
d) Steadying of the embouchure through chromatic longtones.
__________________
3. Determining whether your flute is tuned to A440, A442 or
other.
(May have to be the teacher's or expert's domaine):
a) Knowledge of flute manufaturer; examining tone hole placement
(Adrian Brett posted on this topic too); Which scale your flute
is
designed with; what to expect with RH and LH notes, C#s being sharp;
Bennett and Cooper scales and how they are corrected.
Trevor Wye's chart of flute scale physics and measurement:
http://www.larrykrantz.com/wyept1.htm#wyecheck
b) Overblowing
low C fingerings to match C1 and C2 to establish over all length of
flute with footjoint, followed by overblowing low D1 to D2 until
octaves match perfectly. This must be done with minimal embouchure
distortion, and careful airspeed adjustment and aids in determining how
much to push in or pull out headjoint so flute plays octaves in tune
with itself.
This exercise tells you what your flute was manufactured to play at:
A440 or A442 or possibly higher (European flutes.)
__________________
4. At this fourth stage in early ear training, the student must
practice specific exercises to gain the physical skills necessary for
"in tune" playing.
a) LONGTONES: Tuning to 440 on a chromatic tuner: set
the tuner to
A440, and learn the vagueries of your flute's scale embouchure
adjustment as you ascend and descend chromatically. Determine how to
alter your flute to get it to play at this pitch, even if it's a 442
flute.
(May want to use a concept from "Seven Steps to Intonation" by
Chris Potter for her graphing-your-pitch method of determining which
pitches need to be altered for tempered tuning on your own flute.)
b) HARMONICS: See Dean Stallard's Flutewise article (back issue 2002 or
search for online versions at http://www.fluteped.org/)
on overblowing octaves and fifths and matching to real fingerings:
E1--E2---B2(harmonic)-----B2(real fingering.)
These patterns of
harmonics and overtone exercises allows several things:
i) teaches the embouchure to not be over-manipulated but very accurate
in small motions. Teaches the amount of forward &/or closing motion
of the jaw and/or lower lip.
ii) teaches not to blow with excessive pressure or force for the high
register
iii) teaches the student to refine the forward lip motion of the center
of the lips.
iv) teaches the student to sense the center of lip
"resistance" and microscopic lip pressure changes that allow
the flutist to ascend octaves easily
Other sources for good exercises such as the above can be found in:
Robert Dicks book "Tone Development through Extended Technique" &
Werner Richter's book
"Conditioning Training for the flutist"
c) LIP and AIRSPEED FLEXIBILITY:
Using Etudes and Intonation exercises from various authors
(Trevor Wye's "Intonation book Four"; daily exercises;
Taffanel and Gaubert exercises; standard arpeggios etc.) the student
learns how to anticipate air-speed and lip shape requirements for rapid,
flexible movements within a tonal center.
The student is urged to HEAR the pitches before playing them, even in
rapid passage work. Harmonic understanding of key-changes also important
part of ear-training at this stage.
This stage continues indefinitely into pro-level practicing to keep the
aim of the embouchure accurate and flexible, and to keep the player in
daily practice for hearing chords in advance while sight-reading.
_________________
Level Two:
_________________
At this next level the student has a controlled approach to producing a
fine tone in the three octaves of the flute.
The next stage of development is to teach the student to have
"sensitive" ears for melodic intonation.
2.1.Playing flute solos with tempered tuning instruments:
Guitar/Piano/Harpsichord etc.
a) Checking melodic material against A440 tuner to
erradicate erroneous pitch errors caused by embouchure, air stream
angle, and air-speed and pressure miscalculations.
b) Adjusting your dynamics to avoid airstream errors
(Use Fiona
Wilkinson's "Vowel dynamics" from "The Physical
Flute" and Moyse's
"Fullness of Tone" exercises from "De La Sonorite".)
c) Upper lip aiming more downward to correct sharpness;
lower non-retraction, or lower jaw coming forward to correct flatness.
d) Opening of the body's resonating cavities to correct thinness
of tone and sharpness. See Roger Mather's book "The Art of
Flute Playing" or Ann Cherry's book "Playing
in Colour: Improving Tone for Advanced Players".
e) Both audible and silent singing of a flute's pitch to
increase lung resonance
f) Covering less embouchure hole and making lip aperture taller,
in order to invite lower fundamentals into the sound (see: "The
Physical Flute" by Fiona Wilkinson)
g) Listening to, and matching, the fundamental pitches of chords
in
order to match octaves and fifths with a tempered instrument.
Developing pitch memory and standard ear-training levels of pitch
recognition.
h) Choosing the placement of a third in a chord to match
fixed-pitch instrument. (or having them eliminate a 3rd or play
it softly, as advocated by Trevor Wye in his intonation articles on the
web.)
__________________________
2.2 Using alternate fingerings for pitch correction:
a) Alternate fingerings that adjust high register pitches. (ex: no
righthand 4 on high E3 allows forte playing without going sharp. Middle
finger F#3 is flatter, etc.)
b) Alternate fingerings to raise problematic low notes (ex: half-holing
F2; or adding trill key to E2 in order to sharpen slightly.)
c) Other alternate fingerings for raising pianissimo notes up to pitch.
ex: High notes that are "ppppp" and no-vibrato.
___________________
2.3 Matching pitch with another flutist.
a) Experimentation of vertical harmony with teacher, utilizing visual
charts that explain just intonation.
Examples of acoustic tuning (non-tempered tuning):
Minor second -- raise the pitch slightly [+3 cents]
Major second -- raise the pitch slightly [+5]
Minor third -- raise the pitch significantly [+15]
Major third -- lower the pitch significantly [-15]
Perfect fourth -- lower the pitch slightly [-2]
Augmented fourth -- lower the pitch
Perfect fifth -- raise the pitch slightly [+2]
Minor sixth -- lower the pitch significantly [-15]
Major sixth -- raise the pitch significantly [+15]
Minor seventh -- raise the pitch significantly [+20]
Major seventh -- lower the pitch significantly [-7]
b) Listening for difference tones:
- Use Trevor Wye's "Intonation Book Four" for duets
that include
difference tone as a third flute part
- Spend a great deal of time playing duets with teacher.
_______________________________
2.4 Tuning with stringed instruments (violin/cello/viola/etc.):
- Understanding human tendency to "stretch octaves" ie: rise
in pitch
during solo lines
- Understand soloistic tendency toward sharp playing for audibility
- Balancing the flute's dynamics to play in tune and blend with
strings
- Listening for low chordal pitches to match octaves, fifths, and
thirds.
- Temperature changes while performing with a large group (cold
stage-warm stage.)
- Discouraging vibrato as a method of pitch blurring. :>)
b) Tuning in orchestra:
-Prewarming instrument before entries
-Hearing pitches PRIOR to playing them
-Studying the score for harmonic content
-Studying the score for melodic dovetailing
-Studing the score to match pitches prior to flute entry.
- Learning the tendencies of other woodwinds and brass
____________________
Summary:
The above serves as a guide for the specific skills that a flutist
needs in order to become a player known for their fine intonation.
I hope that with further input that we might come up with a document
that will help flute teachers cover more areas of expertise when it
comes to teaching intonation for flute.
Back to index of TUNING articles
Important Update 2005: see The Tuning CD above
Student flutes & older flutes with sharp C#s
A Sharp C# on your flute?
Question: I've been told to never again buy a flute with a sharp middle register C# (example; some of the older Haynes before 1986 are really cheap right now, and I really want one.) My regular flute is apparently "old scale" and I never notice a problem with the C# (although my teacher tells me to lip it down all the time.) Can someone clear this whole thing up for me? Thanks.
Jen replies:
I think to clarify the whole issue I should simply describe the
difficulties that occurs if a flute has a single pitch that is sharp to
the other notes surrounding it in its scale such as found on the new
Powell Sonare, and some other flute brands in which the C# is far too
sharp (old Haynes, old Powells, any flute that is pre-Cooper or
pre-Bennett scale.). For example, if you have a single sharp note on the
scale of your flute:
- You have to adjust your lips quickly when changing from the "lip
down this sharp note" position to "normal embouchure
position". This is fine at certain slower tempi, but can become
impossible when playing a line of music, in tune, at faster tempi,
forcing the player to have to leave the sharp note out of tune.
Play this example all slurred , slowly and at a quiet dynamic:
C#3 (lip down), D3 (lip up slightly), E2 (lip up more), C#2 (lip down
profoundly.) Repeat the above pitches, checking with a tuner, at faster
and faster tempi, until you feel that the embouchure changes become too
demanding. Now imagine the myriad occasions when such lip gymnastics
will have to be accomplished at high speeds.
These lip gymnastics can create terrific tension when playing in unison
with another woodwind in an exposed orchestral passage, or when playing
in harmony with another flutist who does not have the same scale on
their flute, or playing with the piano in a professional recital.
- You will find that a sharp C# will work in certain key centers where
this note is needed to be sharp, but conversely you will have to
strain the embouchure when in key signatures where that pitch needs to
be considerably flattened.
Ex: C# needs to
frequently be flattened as much as
Major 3rd - 13.7 cents flat (A major)
minor 6th - 15.6 cents flat (e minor melodic)
Major 7th - 11.6 cents flat (B major)
Flattening the sharp note this much can require additional fingers on
the righthand which can affect timbre, or lipping down so far that the
tone colour is darkened or muffled compared to the notes played just
before or after. To create a tone colour change for no other reason than
intonation is highly limiting to the flutist.
That's why a flute's inherent pitch problems only become noticeable
atethe higher levels of flute playing. Simply playing unaccompanied at
the novice or intermediate level, without the demands of tuning to an
orchestra will NOT show up the need for excessive embochure or fingering
compensation.
Just to clarify, as perhaps students don't foresee this when purchasing
a flute that they hope will see them into their first orchestra or first
recital. I advise that students do not purchase step-up flutes without
having a professional flutist check the flute's scale to determine
whether the compensations are excessive or not.
Jennifer Cluff
Back to index of TUNING articles
Tuning observations by Albert Cooper &Philip Farkas
Jen writes:
Despite North American
pianos being tuned to A440, I've discovered that some orchestras that I
play in can rise in pitch as high as A444 to 446 during a single
overture, at which point my A442 flute is pushed in all the way, I'm
blowing my face off, and rolling so far out that it's a menace to
keeping the flute on my chin (especially if there's a sudden pianissimo
passage among all that sharpness).
I've learned now to adjust the headjoint between certain sections of
music, and in fact push in and pull out according to what I figure out
in rehearsals.
Ex: Push in for soft solo---pull out for fortissimo tuttis.
I never thought I'd see the day when I have to do that, but that's the
current reality.
I once played with a second flutist who was playing a Brannen flute
tuned to A440 and could not push the headjoint in any farther when the
strings got so sharp they were beyond matching. On occasion this A440
player had to drop out of soft passages that got too sharp. So there is
some consideration to buying A442 flutes even in North America, since
the tendency is always toward sharpness and brilliance, rather than
flatness.
In my experience of playing a 442 flute in a professed A440 ensemble
means that at times, I have to make all sorts of top register pitch
adjustments when playing with piano. But in orchestra, the tendency is
for the players to go sharp over time, and this was even commented on in
the '50s in the great book 'The Art of Musicianship'
by Philip Farkas when he wrote:
Farkas quote:
"Serge
Koussevitzky would not condone the slightest bit of flatness in the
pitch of any player, although to be slightly too sharp was apparently
acceptable.
All of us in the Boston Symphony, being well aware of this attitude,
made certain, in our solo entrances, that the pitch was well up----at
least as high as the previous player.
This led to a gradual climbing of the general pitch in the this
orchestra over the duration of the concert. This was so gradual that at
no time was the orhestra really out of tune.
One broadcast which I heard after leaving the orchestra was checked for
pitch by means of a stroboscope.
The opening note of the concert had a pitch of A442 and the closing
notes, two hours later, had a pitch of A447."
________end P. Farkas Quote
Note: Naturally, when playing with piano, I simply reign in the extremes
of dynamics in my top register, adjust fingerings, lip down as required,
and generally stay within tempered tuning---which is alot more
predictable, and hence LESS scary than rising to obscene pitch-heights
during a concert.
I'd dearly like to hear more from other orchestral players who
experience similar pitch rises.Apparently, this is a human phenomenon.
:>)
Jen
__________________________
Dear Flutenuts,
Just dug out an Albert Cooper article on the tuning of flutes which
may help you feel less bizarre. Read what he said in "Choosing a
Pitch" (Flutist Quarterly, I think)
___________________
Albert Cooper writes:
" I have discovered that two players in an
extended test both before and after tea, and without altering the
headjoint in any way, blew a flute 7 vibrations apart; one at A439 and
the other at A446! And this may not at all be the widest variation
possible.
So, while one flutist may blow a flute at A442, another may play it
comfortably at A444 and another at A440, and there are some variations
evn greater than this.
<snip>
To point out what differences exist, there is a very good Canadian
player, Robert Aitken, who plays an old A435 flute at a higher pitch
than Peter-Lukas Graf uses with (his) new A446 scale. However it must be
said that he (Aitken) admits to doing this with some difficulty and is
currently moving up to a higher-pitched instrument when he plays at
around A448."
________________________
Jen continues: Perhaps we all need a cup of tea between pitch tests,
just to even out our sense of time and space?? :>)
For my own admission, the first tuning graph I did based on Chris
Potter's book "Seven Steps to Intonation"
[Falls House Press] was all over the shop too, and out of curiousity I
then I had a student (a band player who always played horribly out of
tune every time I heard her perform) play chromatically while I graphed
*her* pitch, and she hit the tuner's tempered pitch almost bang on every
note!!! Evidently this player doesn't HEAR out-of-tune playing when
actually in an ensemble, but DOES manage not to overmanipulate their
embouchure. That was the only explanation I could come up with.
Yes, indeed there is a
horrible mystery going on here.
No one, not even Cooper can explain it.
(And clarinetists are STILL blaming the flutes for being out of tune...
sigh......
It's probably only
because they go flatter when they play louder and we play sharper as we
get louder, and vice versa)
Another curiousity: Recently I tried the tuner on an overblown series of
harmonics (fingering low C and then blowing up to C2, G2, C3, E3) and
each of these notes registered exactly in tune in NON-tempered tuning
(using Vernon Hill's tuning chart for accoustically tuned chords that he
gives in his "The Flute Book with demo CD"). It seems that the
flute tube itself plays accoustically correctly on its own harmonic
series, which is a good thing...but when I use the tuner to try and
tempered-tune the flute, I too have to work hard to memorize where each
pitch is, throwing off my sense of "rich and full" tone
centering.
The work continues.
Best, Jen :>)
Back to index of TUNING articles
Overblowing octave D's to find flute's best length (headjoint draw) & cork position
Question:I'm
really confused by this. Is the overblown D3 supposed to be in tune with
D1 or is the T.23./...4 supposed to be in tune with the D1? It seems
like one is either sharp or the other flat. When I move the mouthpiece
out, the D's are more in tune to eachother, but every note is flat
compared to A=440 and the headjoint is pushed all the way in. What am I
doing wrong here?
__________________________
Dear M.,
This question has come up before, and was answered by both Joe B and
Adrian Brett. To read Joe B's explanation, click
here.
(Adrian Brett's email from the Flutenet ARCHIVES is below):
Re: Tuning the 3
D's by overblowing:
__________________
Question: How on earth do you move the cork to
re-tune??
Adrian Brett answers:
I would say that this question of the correct position for the cork
assembly
is one of the most misunderstood facts regarding the flute.
Howzat for a controversial opening? <G>
=========================
Previous post that needed correction:
> Play low D then the D an octave above. Move the cork until the two
> are in tune exactly an octave apart.
> Now do the same thing with the D3 above the staff. Get then dead in
tune. Now all three should be Ok and your cork is in the right position.
======================
Adrian writes:
Upper D 3 should be FLAT to middle D2 if you want the cork and
the parabolic curve of the headjoint taper to do its job
correctly...which is to keep the 3rd register notes DOWN in pitch.
This is not an opinion but a scientific fact....
All the notes from the bottom C or B up to little C sharp are
fundamentals.
Middle D and D sharp are vented octaves by the opening of the little C
sharp ( which is roughly half way up the flute tube) so that the first
note you actually have to produce as a 2nd harmonic with the lips and
air-speed is middle E2...a problem note for many players and prone to
split hence both Galway and WIBB add the vent of the 1st trill key and
close the D sharp key.
From E2 to C sharp3 the notes are all 2nd harmonics...octaves from their
low register but requiring a faster air-speed, by resistance at the lip-centre
and NOT by blowing harder. Faster NOT harder.
D3 is the first note which is produced from the note a fifth below, G,
and all these 3rd harmonics...D3 to G sharp..are naturally flat but we
add additional fingers with the RH to sharpen them.
Try this experiment to prove my point, starting on G sharp.
Play the fundamental G sharp, increase the airspeed by resistance and
you
will allow the tube to divide in two and produce G sharp2. Further
rersistance will sound a FLAT D sharp 3. Add the RH fingers 123 and the
D sharp will sharpen. Do this with all the notes E/F/Fsharp/G/Gsharp.
Play the natural harmonic
5th and then add the additional fingers of the RH for the normal 3rd
register fingering and you will notice the note rise in pitch.
Now if the cork were placed in a position which made D3 with its normal
fingering of Th -23/---4 an exact octave from D2 you would be tampering
with science...never a good thing <G>..You would then SHARPEN all
the natural 5ths upon which the 3rd register notes are based and further
sharpen them by the additional RH fingers............result?...3rd
register sharpness...the most commonly encountered problem in players.
So where do you put the
cork?
Well I have never found a mark on a cleaning rod which is
"correct"...and why? Because the starting position for
adjusting the cork is the diameter of the actual HJ you are playing
measured at the centre of the mouth-hole and moving the faceplate of the
cork assembly the same distance to the left of this position...so if the
diameter is 17mm then the cork should "start" at 17mm from the
centre of the mouth-hole. No one cleaning rod can accommodate all the
many diverse measurements and though 17.35mm is most common it is by
no means mandatory.
Find out the bore of your HJ at the mouth-hole centre either with a
disc..I had made a set of discs from 19mm down to 17mm in half mm
increments. Failing this measure the outside of the HJ at the centre of
the mouth-hole with calipers and deduct TWICE the tube thickness...so
you need to know whether this is .012/.014/.016 or .018 (French tin
flutes are sometimes more)
Now from the "starting position"... whatever it is..let's say
17.35... if you were now to test the three D octaves WITH THE SAME
FINGERING you would be much closer to getting the BEST position. Think
about it a moment.
The octave and double octave are perfect intervals. D1 is x cps (cycles
per second) D2 is 2x and D3 with the same LONG fingering is 4X. (an A2
lurks around in between and is 3x..and is the sharp fingering we use for
Boheme on the piccolo for the famous sustained A). Therefore we can rely
on this...but we must not confuse the normal D3 fingering with these
octaves...as it ain't one!!
D3 with the normal fingering is a 3rd harmonic from low G and as our
experiment showed SHOULD be slightly flat as we do not
....normally...add additional fingers to sharpen it as we do with all
the other 3rd register notes which are 3rd harmonics. This why we always
need to lift high D3 slightly and utilise the other fingerings in p and
pp...most usefully:
Th -23/1st trill - 3
So if your D2 and D3 regular fingering ARE an exact octave then the cork
is too far towards the body of the flute and you are exacerbating 3rd
register sharpness.
One final remark....the cork position seriously affects the ability to
articulate middle E and if having gone through the preceding rigmarole
you have difficulty with this you might try a very small adjustment..or
open the trill key all WIBB and Galway..or add the low C sharp key as
well as opening the D sharp (thereby removing the high Gsharp harmonic).
C.P. asked about the piccolo...well the above would be true for a
cylindrical piccolo (Ottavino) but not for a conical instrument where
the taper occurs in the body and how good this taper is depends on how
good the octaves are...often they are flat.
Adrian Brett
________________end quote
Another flutenutter added:
When you get D3 in tune with its lower bretheren you have a solid base
for the upper register but you have to use the tunnel in your lips more
& more forward and airspeed less & less the higher you go to
stay in tune. F3 is the easiest 'high' note to pitch from F2 - scarcely
needing to raise LH2. Try it and compare intonation: it must be exactly
the same pitch [not timbre] with either fingering.
As the uppers have to be pitched rather than just blown, practise
quietly playing the harmonics on the lower octave, especially the foot
notes, to gain mastery over the embouchure and make your inconsistencies
consistent.
______________
Jen adds, the technique described above is a fine way to work,
especially the sensation of a "tunnel between the two lips"
for the 3rd register of the flute.
However I believe that the reason the overblown lower register
fingerings should be matched to the upper register real fingerings, in
pitch, is in order to:
a) find a good embouchure
suitable for controlled high-register tone quality
b) to ascertain the amount of lower lip should be covering the blow hole
for pitch accuracy in the high register.
Jen Cluff
(Sherlock in Intonation areas.)
Links to online Tuning Theory Articles (for the scientific mind):
Basic Info:
http://www.tishkoff.com/articles/tuners.htm
Complex info:
http://www.precisionstrobe.com/apps/pianotemp/temper.html
http://www.amarilli.co.uk/piano/meter.asp
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/music/tempercn.html
http://www.kylegann.com/tuning.html
http://pages.globetrotter.net/roule/temper.htm
http://www.justonic.com/history.htm
http://www.newmusicbox.org/webcasts/revelation/notes.nmbx
http://www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/
Important Update 2005: see The Tuning CD above
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