I recently went on a flute course, and I was sitting in a class run by Sarah Newbold who is a teacher at Guildhall and she said that I use my shoulder too much when holding the flute. I think she meant that instead of lifting my flute up from my elbows, I was twisting with my shoulder. I often do get arm/shoulder pain though so is there anyway to rectify how I hold my flute.

Another teacher said I had good posture, but my knees were locked. This doesn't affect me but do you really have to bend your knees when you play?

Thanks!

I think im supporting my flute my the shoulder too

but i always try to keep my flute at horizontal line
I notice that some of my friends arms start to drag down when they play flute...

but keep backs straight!

as for the bending knees...i havent heard of that O_O

i used to have the most RUBBISH flute teacher ever! she was an old hag and she was really wierd! she looked like a man! she always told me to hold the flute up and have good posture. and then when she showed me how to play the pieces, she had the most rubbish posture i had ever seen! her flute was held right down, her back was bent and her shoulders were limp and her knees were bent! her breath control was rubbish, and she had the most rotten breath ever! it smelt of pee and sick!

QUOTE

it smelt of pee and sick!

Nice...

yes, i know!

QUOTE (nicki_flute @ Aug 2 2004, 08:34 AM)

Another teacher said I had good posture, but my knees were locked. This doesn't affect me but do you really have to bend your knees when you play?

No, there's a difference between not having your knees locked and actually bending them. When they are locked it's like pushing your knees backwards, and you can feel the muscles up the front of your thighs being tight. Just relax your knees so that you aren't really aware of them or the muscles above and below them. In general you need to find a position to play your instrument that doesn't use any unnecessary muscles at all.

QUOTE (nicki_flute @ Aug 2 2004, 08:34 AM)

I recently went on a flute course, and I was sitting in a class run by Sarah Newbold who is a teacher at Guildhall and she said that I use my shoulder too much when holding the flute. I think she meant that instead of lifting my flute up from my elbows, I was twisting with my shoulder. I often do get arm/shoulder pain though so is there anyway to rectify how I hold my flute.

I'm a flute teacher as well as a player. If you are getting regular pain when you play there's obviously something wrong either with the way you are standing (apart from the locked knees!) or sitting, or the way you are actually holding the flute.

Aim to use only the muscles you really need to stand well and support and play the flute.

Ideally the whole of your body should be straight and quite relaxed including your shoulders, with your feet at least slightly apart if you are standing, and preferably flat on the floor if you are sitting. Your arms need to be up away from your sides so that they don't interfere with your breathing and they should hold your flute well up so that you don't have to drop your head to play. Start by standing really straight and looking straight ahead, then turn your head towards the left and bring your flute up to your lips.

Have you got a full length mirror somewhere that you can easily stand in front of it with your flute? Start by facing it without the flute, and have a critical look at how you are standing. If your shoulders are really relaxed your arms should feel quite heavy (they are quite heavy!), and your hands should be quite floppy with the thumbs straight and the fingers a bit bent. Try shaking your shoulders and arms and hands about a bit.

Pick up your flute, and turn your head towards the left, just far enough to be able to bring the flute up to your lips without pulling your right shoulder back, which would twist your top half and again interfere with your breathing. Turn your feet and the rest of you so that you are looking straight at the mirror again, without changing anything else, so that it's easy to look at how you are holding the flute.

The way I teach people to hold the flute is to support it in three places: against the chin, against the side of L2 (I number the thumb and fingers L(eft) and R(ight) 1 2 3 4 5) just above its knuckle so that it can still bend over onto its home key and move freely, and against the end of the right thumb, which pushes against the side of the flute somewhere under R2/R3, wherever it's most comfortable for your particular hand. It's possible to have the flute absolutely secure holding it that way, without having to worry about whether you have any fingers on their keys. Bend your left wrist inwards so that L5 is ready over its key and L1 is relaxed and upright beside the gap between its 2 keys, ready to go to either B or B flat immediately. The other L fingers bend slightly so that their tips are over the middle of their keys. Your R fingers bend slightly onto their keys, and shouldn't touch the long rods that run along the top of the flute. R5 bends onto the E flat key, and when you need to use the two lowest keys it bends onto the C sharp one and goes flat across the C sharp key to reach the C key, holding both of them down. It's very easy to get a leak when you try to play the low C, and playing it with R5 flat helps to avoid that.

Alexander training is very helpful for musicians - I think all the music colleges offer it now. It's to do with posture and the way you use your body. I think it's usually only available privately apart from the colleges, where I assume it's offered as part of the course (I could be wrong). Don't ever ignore regular pain that you get while playing, as you risk causing long term damage. You may like to look at the Web site of the British Performing Arts Medicine Trust www.bpamt.co.uk