Music students' skills in playing the flute
As the saying goes: "A thousand days of playing the flute and a hundred days of playing the sheng, the flute will play once or five times." This only means that it is easier to pronounce the flute. However, it is not an easy task to fully adapt the length, pitch, intensity and timbre of the flute to the needs of the musical work. The player must use the correct method and practice hard often. The most important link is to master the close cooperation between breathing and mouth shape, and develop the coordinated function of breathing and mouth shape.
The breathing and embouchure in playing are not fixed. This is the most essential characteristic of breathing and mouth shape.
Respiratory changes are mainly reflected in the amount of inhalation and the urgency and thickness of exhalation. The changes in mouth shape are mainly reflected in the size of the damper, the size of the mouth, and the displacement of the upper and lower lips. They all rely on the contraction and contraction of the muscles of the relevant organs to be controlled. If the contraction force is large, the exhalation will be rapid; if the contraction force is small, the exhalation will be slow. If the damper is large, the exhalation will be thick; if the damper is small, the exhalation will be thin. The speed of exhalation is directly related to the pronunciation of the flute. The thickness of the exhalation has a direct relationship with the strength of the pronunciation. Breathing and mouth shape also play a decisive role in the timbre. Strictly speaking, any different pitch, different strength, and different timbre are obtained by different breathing and mouth shape coordination.
The commonly referred to as "mouth wind" refers to the airflow exhaled through the damper, which also refers to the airflow formed by the combination of breathing and mouth shape.
Exhalation can be divided into degrees of urgency, and the wind and mouth strength can be divided into large and small. As a comprehensive application of breathing and mouth shape, the breath includes the contents of urgency, thickness. The performer relies on the control of exhalation, damper, and mouth tone, that is, the change of the speed and thickness of the breath, to obtain the different sound qualities required by the music.
(1) Different pitches: The different pitches are mainly determined by the urgency of the tone. The pronunciation of rapid oral wind is higher, and the pronunciation of slow oral wind is lower. The different pitches of pronunciation are also related to the direction of the tone of voice. The higher-pitched tone is slightly higher, and the lower-pitched tone is slightly higher.
Generally speaking, for the alto range of the flute, take "opening three holes as 1" as an example. When playing the alto area, the tone of voice is required to be natural and moderate. When blowing in the high-pitched area, the mouth is required to be sharper (the damper is smaller, and the lips are slightly moved forward on the basis of being slightly drawn back, so that the airflow is thin and concentrated). When playing the bass range from 1 to 5, the mouth wind is required to be slower (the damper is slightly larger than the mid-range range, the lips are stretched and moved back to both sides of the mouth, and the lower lip is close to the flute body, making the airflow thick and powerful).
The tone of voice is directly related to the accuracy of different pitches. When the contraction and contraction strength of the mouth muscles, especially the breathing muscles, does not meet the pitch requirements, the sound will rise or fall. For example, weakening of the strength of the labial muscles, especially the respiratory muscles, will inevitably lead to a decrease in the sound; excessive tension of the labial muscles, especially the respiratory muscles, will lead to an increase in the sound.
Inaccurate pronunciation of the flute is sometimes caused by the quality of the flute itself, and sometimes it is caused by the improper tone of the player. Therefore, when you find that the flute tone is not accurate, do not dig and repair the flute hole easily. You should first find out what is causing the inaccurate flute tone.
The accuracy of pronunciation is the result of the coordinated movement of breathing and mouth shape (and of course the fingers). This coordination must be corrected at any time with the help of the auditory organs when playing.
(2) Different strengths and weaknesses: The strength of the sound is mainly determined by the thickness of the tone. The pronunciation of a thicker tone is stronger, and the pronunciation of a thin tone is weaker. Just like using a folding fan to fan the air, if the entire fan is opened, the area of ??the fan will be larger, but if it is folded in half, the area of ??the fan will be smaller. The same is true for the damper. If the mouth is wide and the damper is enlarged, the wind will be thinner. If the mouth is narrowed and the damper is closed, the wind will be thinner. When a thicker mouth wind blows into the flute tube, the amplitude of the air column in the tube is larger, so the pronunciation is stronger. When a thinner mouth blows into the flute tube, the amplitude of the air column in the tube is smaller, and the pronunciation is weaker.
When playing strong and weak sounds, you should strive to achieve "strong but not too high, weak not too low. Strong but not weak, weak not weak." When playing a strong tone, the tone of the mouth should be thicker, and special precautions should be taken to prevent the air speed from accelerating; when playing a weak tone, the tone of the mouth should be thin, and special precautions should be taken to prevent the air speed from slowing down. Under the premise of keeping the air speed constant, making the breath thicker and thinner (increasing or reducing the air volume) can produce sounds with the same pitch but different strengths and weaknesses.
Slightly turning the flute body inward can overcome the problem of rising flute sound that often occurs when playing strong sounds. Slightly turning the flute body outward can prevent the flute sound from decreasing.
To be strong but not loose, you must strengthen the control ability of your mouth muscles so that the air can be exhaled in a controlled and free manner. To be weak but not weak, you must strengthen the control ability of your breathing muscles so that the airflow can be exhaled gradually as if it is being pulled. After mastering the above strength control, it is not difficult to achieve the crescendo of the sound.
(3) Different timbres: The timbre requirements for flutes are generally "loose, thick, round, and bright." Sometimes it is also necessary to be "flat, narrow and dark". As for the pronunciations of "tight, floating, loose, and miscellaneous", they are all among those that should be overcome.
From a performance perspective, the various timbres of the flute are determined by the combination of breathing and mouth shape. Therefore, in order to make the timbre of the flute rich and varied, it is necessary to constantly adjust the breathing state and mouth shape. The contraction of the respiratory muscles is natural, coordinated, powerful and elastic. The parts through which exhalation passes, such as the lung lobes, trachea, glottis, and oral cavity, are relaxed, unobstructed, and open, allowing the airflow to flow from bottom to top from deep into the mouthpiece and into the flute tube. The air column, flute tube, and flute membrane vibrate fully, and the sound is loose, thick, round, and bright. And reduce the strength and elasticity of respiratory muscle contraction, the part through which exhalation passes becomes appropriately tight and narrow, so that the air flow is subject to certain restrictions when passing through, and the air in the blow hole and flute pipe is input hard and narrowly into the flute pipe and flute pipe. If the vibration of the membrane is subject to certain restrictions, a "flat, narrow, dull" tone can be obtained.
In addition, the timbre is also related to the tightness of the soft membrane on the inside of the lips. If the lips are tightly squeezed and the pia membrane inside the lips is tense, the tone will inevitably be stiff, dull, and noisy. On the contrary, if the lips are weak and the pia membrane inside the lips has no control, the tone will be loose and complicated. Only when the breathing and mouth shape are completely coordinated and the soft membrane inside the lips is moderately tight can the ideal tone be obtained.