How to make your first sound on the flute
Most people pick up a flute, blow into it, and hear nothing but air. That’s normal. The flute has no reed and no mouthpiece to seal against, so the sound depends on a thin stream of air hitting the far edge of the embouchure hole at the right angle. You find that angle faster with less flute in your hands, so start with the headjoint on its own.
Hold the headjoint, not the whole flute
Take the headjoint off the body. Hold it with both hands near the open end, the embouchure hole facing up.
Rest the lip plate against the dip just under your lower lip, where your chin starts. Roll it until the near edge of the hole lines up with the edge of your lower lip. Your lower lip should cover about a quarter to a third of the hole. If you can see more than about two thirds of the hole uncovered, roll it towards you a little.
Shape the opening
Keep your lips relaxed and together, with the corners loose rather than pulled back into a smile. Now make a small opening in the middle, as if you were about to say “poo”. It should be a narrow oval, not a round hole.
Blow gently across the hole, the way you’d blow across the top of a bottle to make it hum. The air goes across and slightly down, aimed at the far edge of the hole. You are not blowing into the flute.
Listen for the note
When it works, you’ll hear a clear, fairly high note with some air around it. Cover the open end of the headjoint with your palm and the note drops about an octave. Try switching between the two. That tells you the air is doing its job.
If you get only a hiss:
- More air than note. The opening between your lips is probably too big. Make it smaller and blow a little faster.
- No sound at all. Your lower lip may be covering too much of the hole, or the air is going straight down into it. Roll the headjoint out slightly and aim further across.
- A thin squeak. You’re blowing too hard. Use less air and let it come out slowly.
Change one thing at a time and give each change a few tries. Feeling light-headed is common in the first week. Stop, breathe normally for a minute, then go again.
Put the flute together
Once the headjoint gives you a note most of the time, put the flute together. Line up the centre of the embouchure hole with the first key on the body.
Most beginners learn B, A and G first, because they use only the left hand. B is your left thumb and first finger. Add your second finger for A, and your third for G. Your right little finger rests on the E flat key for all three. With those three notes you can play Hot Cross Buns, which is where Flutio’s first lessons start.
How long it takes
Some people get a sound in five minutes and some take a week of short tries. Ten minutes a day works better than an hour once a week, because the muscles around your lips need time to learn the position. A tuner, or an app that listens, helps here: it tells you when a sound is a real note rather than air, which is hard to judge by ear at first.