Bamboo flute basic playing method

How to play bamboo flute? Here you can see the basic playing method of bamboo flute with me.

(a) Playing posture to play the flute should first pay attention to the correct posture, natural.

One is to have a correct instrument; the other is to adapt to the physiological characteristics of the human body itself, the posture is divided into two kinds of standing position and sitting position. In personal practice and solo performance on stage, the standing posture is used, that is, the two legs should be standing, the two feet apart with shoulder width, in the shape of a figure of eight; one foot slightly in front of the other foot a little behind (the right side of the flute holder, the left foot is in front of the left flute holder, the right foot is in front of the flute), the center of gravity in the two legs; the body is slightly sideways to the right side (the left side of the left side of the flute holder sideways to the left side), facing directly in front of the two eyes looking at the front, the head is straight, shoulders flat, chest, stomach, holding the flute with both hands, the two times naturally drooping; with the right hand to hold the flute, the flute, and the right hand to hold the flute. Both hands hold the flute, with both hands naturally hanging down; the first knuckle of the ring finger, middle finger and index finger of the right hand presses the first, second and third holes of the flute respectively, the thumb rests on the bottom of the flute (i.e. the bottom between the index finger and the middle finger), and the pinky gently presses on the flute; the first knuckle of the ring finger, middle finger and index finger of the left hand presses the fourth, fifth and sixth holes of the flute respectively, and the thumb rests on the flute's lower part, opposite to the index finger, slightly above the flute (in order to be comfortable and relaxed); the pinky also gently presses on the flute, The thumb rests on the lower end of the flute opposite to the index finger (whichever is more comfortable and relaxing); the little finger is also gently pressed on the flute, so that the flute can be held with the little and big fingers of the left and right hands. In the case of the flute and larger bass recorders, the lower end of the third section of the index finger of the left hand can also be used to hold the flute against the thumb, together with the little finger and the thumb. By holding the flute in this way, the flute will not move when the right hand performs a flying finger wipe, even if all three holes of the left hand are open. The sitting position is generally used in ensemble playing and accompaniment. The sitting posture requires the same upper body and standing posture, and the height of the chair should be moderate, so as not to hinder the blowing and breathing. When sitting, it is better not to set up the legs, and the legs should be naturally separated in order to sit securely. The direction of holding the flute on the left and right can be, but the keyed flute and the international Bohm key system are made on the right side, the beginner is still to hold the flute on the right side is preferred.

(2) Breathing is a normal activity of human physiology, inhaling oxygen and discharging carbon dioxide.

The correct breathing method is very important for the player, the method is not right not only can not play the flute, but also affect the health; the correct method in line with the natural laws of human physiology, not only can play well, but also exercise the player's lung expansion, so that the body gets more oxygen, promote blood circulation, and enhance the ability of metabolism. The movement of the abdominal muscles and diaphragm can prompt the peristalsis of the intestines and stomach, enhance the digestion of food, and promote the health of the human body. The physiological mechanism of respiration is realized by the rhythmic expansion and contraction of the thorax and the resulting passive expansion (inspiration) and retraction (expiration) of the lungs. Thoracic respiration is a form of respiratory movement in which the rib cage moves mainly to draw air into the thoracic cavity through the movement of the intercostal muscles in the middle and upper part of the thorax. Its distinctive feature is that the shoulders are lifted upward, and the breathing movement is mainly carried out in the thorax. During inhalation, the diaphragm closes somewhat upward, which does not actively help the breathing movement and affects the downward expansion of the thoracic cavity, and since the expansion of the thorax is constrained by the ribs, the inhalation volume does not reach the maximum volume of inhalation in human beings, and because the lifting of the shoulders strains the muscles in the upper part of the body and it is not easy to control them during exhalation, it easily strains and fatigues the human being. The form of respiratory movement dominated by the movement of the diaphragm and abdominal wall muscles is called "abdominal breathing". It is characterized by an outward expansion of the entire abdominal cavity (including the usual "small stomach", also known as the dantian). The abdomen is not surrounded by bones, so it has a large range of expansion and a large volume of inhalation. However, because the chest does not move sufficiently, the entire abdominal movement of the internal organs are displaced, the gas is sucked in the lower part of the body, and the exhalation is more laborious, which is easy to make people fatigued. With the lower part of the chest and the upper part of the abdomen at the same time movement force main breathing is called "thoracic and abdominal respiration", it is the human body in the natural state of breathing the conscious expansion. During inhalation, the lower part of the chest and the upper part of the abdomen expand in all directions at the same time, and the diaphragm between the chest and the abdomen sinks at the same time, so that with the movement of the muscles, the nose inhales and air enters the lungs. During inhalation the lower abdominal (belly) muscles contract at the same time, inconveniently expanding the belly outward, while allowing the gas in the upper abdomen and lower chest sucked full. Exhalation of the lower chest muscles and upper abdominal muscles contract at the same time, the transverse service membrane upward, the lower abdominal muscles and buttock muscles and even the anal muscles are in a state of contraction, so that the inhalation of gas to form a pressure, a steady stream of blowing out of the mouth. To begin to experience the chest and abdominal breathing method, you can lie calmly on the bed and carefully consider the body's usual natural breathing method, and then expand it to take deep breaths. In this way, you will be able to correctly grasp the essentials of chest and abdominal breathing. Breathing while playing is different from the usual breathing. Because of the large amount of inhalation in playing, you generally inhale through the mouth and nose at the same time to speed up the speed. There are two kinds of inhalation: slow inhalation and fast inhalation. The slow inhalation method is generally used before the beginning of the piece and in slow, melodious pieces. Requirements for inhalation full and sufficient, but do not inhale to the limit can no longer inhale, so as to avoid muscle tension, blowing can not be controlled. Fast inhalation is generally used in fast music and not labeled between the continuous exhale of the air change sign (commonly known as "stealing inhalation"). The inhalation time may be long or short, and the muscle tension may be large or small, but all inhalation methods use the chest-abdominal style. When blowing, the exhalation is not the usual natural exhalation from the two nostrils and mouth, but from the mouth control "wind door" (between the upper and lower lips, the breath passes through the gap) blowing out, so the contraction of chest and abdominal muscles to form the pressure and the two cheeks and the lips of a strong control (also known as "mouth force", "mouth force"). Therefore, the pressure formed by the contraction of the chest and abdominal muscles and the strong control of the cheeks and lips (also known as the "mouth force" and "mouth force"), make the flute blow out a breath (also known as the old wind) to form an even, controlled, pressurized column of air to blow the flute. The exhalation in playing should not be exhaled to the limit that can no longer be exhaled, so as to avoid muscle tension and trembling, but should leave a two-minute residual air, so as to facilitate the next inhalation quickly, so that the piece of music blowing can be carried out in a natural and coherent manner. In order to increase the lung expansion, so that the breath more adequate, usually can adhere to the long-distance running, swimming and do deep breathing exercise.

(3) The shape of the mouth is directly related to the tone of the flute.

The tone of a flute with the same membrane tension can be very different depending on the shape of the mouthpiece. The flute is played with air, so the first requirement is to make the breath and inhalation airway smooth, which includes blowing and inhalation neck, throat and mouth should be relaxed, open (i.e., expansion), like the usual yawn, upper and lower lips are aligned, so that the "wind door" (i.e., the gap between the upper and lower lips through the breath) is located in the center of the lips, the cheeks and the corners of the mouth towards the "wind door", and the cheeks and the corners of the mouth towards the "wind door", and the mouth is open to the "wind door". The cheeks and the corners of the mouth are closed towards the center of the "wind door", making the "wind door" oval (I feel that I want to make the wind door round). The upper lip is slightly in front of the mouth, so that the "mouth wind" is blown downward into the blowhole, which is gently leaning against the center of the lower lip and is about a quarter of the way covered by the lower lip. In this way, the airflow formed by the contraction of the chest and abdominal muscles is blown out through the open throat, mouth, and the self-perceived rounded "wind door". In addition, to avoid some other incorrect methods, such as: the two corners of the mouth back (like a smile), the lip muscles to both sides of the tight, so that the "wind door" flat, narrow, long, and cause the mouth before and after the compression of the larynx, the throat tension, and sometimes cause the throat to sound, so that the blowing of the airflow is extrusion, eruption, flat small "Mouth Breeze". Compared with the correct method, the former blowing out the airflow like a fully open tap, pipe diameter, flow, outflow is full and sturdy water to live. The latter is like a small flat water pipe, the water flow out of the faucet by the hand against half of the faucet mouth, the water extrusion sprayed out when the silk sound, splashing around, the speed is fast but the flow is small. The former method of blowing the flute sound bright, strong, round, less noise, low pronunciation (measured by the frequency meter blowing the same flute, than the latter method of about 10 minutes lower, which is very useful for the future practice of strong and weak changes, pitch control). The latter method produces a muffled, sandy sound with a lot of noises and high articulation. The principle of flute articulation is that the air column blown from the "windgate" is split by the edge of the blowhole and the air inside the tube is stimulated to vibrate and make sound. With the correct shape of the mouth, the flute must also be played at a certain angle. Generally, the lips and the blowhole are at a right angle of ninety degrees. Try to minimize the sound of air leakage after the blowhole is dissected, so that the air that enters the blowhole is unobstructed and fills the flute. This requires the player to carefully consider the shape of the throat, mouth, and lips, the sound of the tone, and the size of the sound of the gas when blowing long tones, so as to find the best method and tone.

(4) The use of the tongueThe tongue is born at the bottom of the mouth and consists of transverse muscles arranged in three directions.

The various movements of the tongue in the mouth during playing have various effects on the articulation of the flute. The different retraction and release of the transverse muscle of the tongue, so that the tongue to all directions of bending, stretching, blowing due to the alternating retraction and release of the transverse muscle of the tongue, so that the tongue and the palate sometimes close, sometimes away from the exhale plays the role of the "switch", resulting in the exhale of the intermittent, so that blowing flute sound produces a musical effect of playing, such as spitting, stacking, stacking, and so on. The tip of the tongue, under the condition of relaxation, utilizes the impact of the gas and the upper jaw to elastically open and close, so that the sound of the flute produces the "broken sound" effect, such as the flower tongue sound, the flick sound, etc. The tongue should be naturally relaxed when it is not in use, so that the flute can be played in a natural way. When the tongue is not in use, it should be naturally relaxed in the lower part of the mouth, so as to open the mouth and increase the channel of airflow.

(5) Breathing and mouth shape of the mutual cooperation and breath control in order to play a beautiful sound, need to correct breathing methods and mouth shape.

To play the high notes, low notes, strong notes and weak notes of the flute, it is necessary to coordinate and harmonize the breathing with the changes in the shape of the mouth. The first thing that comes to mind in playing the flute is the interplay between the breathing and the shape of the mouth for each of the holes of the flute (including the barrel notes), for both slow blowing (flat blowing) and sharp blowing (overblowing). When blowing the lowest seven keynotes of the flute, the method of slow blowing (flat blowing) is used from the full press of the cylinder up to the sixth hole, at which time the contraction of the breathing muscles is smaller, the "wind door" is more relaxed, the exhaled airflow is thicker, and the speed is slower and smoother. When you blow an octave higher than the seven fundamental tones, you should blow sharply (overblowing). At this time, the contraction of the respiratory musculature is strengthened, the pressure of the air increases, and the "wind door" is correspondingly narrowed (the sense of self to maintain a rounded shape, not to use the upper and lower lips to pull to the sides to compress the "wind door," but the two corners of the mouth to the center, to enhance the contraction of the pressure around the mouth to the center), controlling the "wind door" and controlling the "wind door". ), the strength of the mouth that controls the "windgate" increases, and the exhaled airflow is sharp and powerful. When you play a tone that is more than two octaves higher than the base note, you will be able to strengthen the contraction of your breathing muscles on the basis of rapid blowing (super blowing) to further strengthen the strength of your mouth and speed up the flow of the "mouth phoenix". Beginners can start the basic practice of blowing long tones, starting from the lowest cylinder tone, blowing one tone at a time, one by one, up to the highest tone. Pay attention to the correct posture, breathing method and mouth shape, so that each tone is even, full and loud, and avoid trembling and fluctuating highs and lows. When using the method of rapid blowing (super blowing) to play a high octave tone, pay attention to the speed of the exhaled airflow to accelerate, increase the strength of the mouth, the changes in the mouth wind more rapid, so as to make the high pitch blowing accurate, bright, strong tone. Whether the tone is accurate or not, first of all, we should have the concept of pitch and interval (listening ability), and usually, we should strengthen the training of sight-singing and ear training. The strength of the flute's mouth, the wind of the mouth and the windgate are constantly changing with the pitch of the tone. When you play a low note, the wind should be coarse and slow, and as the tone rises, the mouth force is gradually strengthened, the flow of the wind speeds up, and the wind door is gradually narrowed. Therefore, in practice, we must find the corresponding positions of the mouth force, mouth phoenix and windgate of the slow blowing and rapid blowing, because they have a direct relationship to the pitch. When the respiratory muscles are not strong enough, the mouth strength is not enough, and the flow of the mouth wind is not enough, the tone will be lowered; when the respiratory muscles and mouth muscles are overly tense, and the tone will be raised when the mouth wind is too strong. Generally speaking, when you play bass, the tone will be high when you punch it; when you play treble, the tone will be low when you loosen it due to insufficient mouth force. Beginners blowing, the beginning of dizziness and sore mouth phenomenon, this is normal, if the breathing method is correct, after a period of training, will gradually reduce and disappear. When you start practicing, you can play for twenty minutes at a time and then rest for a quarter of an hour. The bamboo flute is capable of playing both strong, impassioned and exuberant tones, as well as beautiful, elegant and bit like music. Breath control is an important part of the bamboo flute's expression of various feelings, which requires the player to make the mouth force, the mouth wind, the wind door, and the change of its position on the blowhole and the volume, tone and pitch to achieve a comprehensive, subtle, skillful and perfect cooperation when expressing the content of the music. Their interrelationships and natural laws are as follows: 1) When the mouth force is sufficient, the volume is strong, the tone should be high, and the tone is strong; 2) When the mouth force is loose, the volume is weak, the tone should be low, and the tone is soft; 3) When the mouth wind is rapid, the volume is strong, the tone should be high, and the tone is prone to noise; 4) When the mouth wind is slow, the volume is weak, the tone should be low, and the tone is more beautiful; 5) When the windgate is large, the volume is strong, the tone should be high, and the tone is full; 6) When the windgate is small, the volume is weak, the tone should be low, and the tone should be thin. When the damper is small, the volume is weak, the tone is low, and the tone is delicate. 7. When the damper is positioned inward (i.e., the lips are forward, covering the blowhole so that the airflow is downward), the volume is weak, the tone is low, and the tone is more pure. 8. When the damper is positioned outward (i.e., the lips are backward, away from the blowhole so that the airflow is forward), the volume is strong and the tone is high. Volume is strong, the tone should be high, tone noise. Breath control requirements are: 1. volume can be strong and weak. 2. pitch to be strong but not high, weak but not low. 3. tone to be strong but not noisy, weak but not false. Understanding the above eight relationships, to achieve the three requirements of breath control must be achieved: 1) loose mouth force, slow mouth wind, wind door, wind door position to the inside, so that the volume of strong but not noisy tone, the tone does not rise; 2) mouth force is sufficient, the mouth wind is rapid, the wind door is small, the wind door position outward, so that the volume of the weak, the tone is not weak, the tone does not lower. Beginners should first blow out all the flute volume and tone, stick to the most basic long tone training, and do not rush to practice breath control so as not to distract the energy. After you have mastered the basic playing method and have some luck, then you can gradually practice breath control. In playing the flute, there are several reasons that may cause inaccuracy: 1) low listening ability and poor concept of pitch; 2) unskilled playing technique; 3) inaccuracy of the flute itself. If it is a problem of listening ability, you should learn to sing and practice your ear first to improve your ability to recognize pitch. If it is a problem of playing technique, you should strengthen the basic practice. If it is a problem with the recorder, have it tuned and repaired by an experienced person. Don't try to fix it before you know what's wrong with it.

(6) To play with fingers, you need to hold the flute with both hands and press the finger holes in order to produce different tones.

Therefore, in order to make each finger flexible and elastic, and to be able to sustain, independent activities and mutual cooperation, it is necessary to carry out rigorous training. When playing, the arms and hands should be relaxed, fingers naturally bent, with the first section of the middle of the finger belly gently cover the holes (small flute tube diameter is small, the hole distance is close, with the fingertip press the hole, the hole distance is close, with the fingertip press the hole. (Small flutes have a small diameter and close holes, so it is more appropriate to use the fingertips to press them). When opening the holes, the fingers should not be lifted too high, about one to one and a half centimeters away from the holes. If the fingers are too high, the movement will not be fast enough, which will affect the playing speed; if the fingers are too low, the pitch will be low, the volume will be small, and the tone will become boring. The finger cover should be tight, not leaking, but not stiff. When opening and closing the holes quickly (vibrato) and when pressing the holes closed continuously from top to bottom (when playing a calendar note), the holes should be struck with elasticity. At this point, you can hear the same pitch of the basic tone (bass) when you hit the hole without playing the flute. In general, the relaxation of the joints of the fingers (especially the third joint) and the training of the striking action can be carried out without holding the flute, with the frequency increasing from slow to fast, and the faster the faster, the more important it is to maintain the relaxation and elasticity. The ring finger is generally the most inflexible, and should be strengthened. When the little finger is not in use, it should be lightly attached to the flute body, and should not be used to help other fingers. In the future, when you play all kinds of trills and ornaments, you will be able to use them easily and smoothly.