FLUTE

Stance

Without proper stance, full and free breathing is difficult. Slumping forward, hunching the shoulders or raising them while taking a breath, and holding the arms either too close or too far from the body all make a relaxed, full breath an impossibility.

Peter Lloyd advocates the "Gilbert stance." The Gilbert stance includes the following: (1) standing at least a flute's length away from the music stand, (2) placing the feet about twelve inches apart with the left foot forward and the right foot back, with the flutist's weight resting on the right foot, and (3) turning the body slightly to the right [at the waist] and keeping the elbows lifted a bit and held away from the body.

Geoffrey Gilbert taught students to balance more on the right leg than the front, which keeps the flutist from hunching forward. Lloyd modifies this aspect.

One should balance oneself on both legs equally. Weight needs to be strong on both legs, because otherwise tension comes in if you don't balance properly.

Both agree that flutists should stand back from the music, which eliminates the temptation to raise the stand to head height [muffling the sound and looking ridiculous in performance--i.e., the headless flute player] or the temptation to crook the head down in order to see the stand, impeding the flow of air coming through the back of the throat. The latter is a problem even with advanced flutists.

Peter Lloyd also advises a slight rotation at the waist, settling into a comfortable position facing toward the left. This relieves a great deal of tension in the left arm.

What happens when you play directly in front of the music stand, you're pulling that left shoulder across and that is going to cause you muscular problems. If you start trying to practice for long periods of time....and you've got any pain back there at all, as the years go by, it'll get worse.

Another problem with "band stance"--the stance many flutists learn in marching band--is the tendency to hold the elbows so high that they are almost parallel too the flute. This causes the wrists to become highly flexed and rigid, constricting the blood and oxygen flow to the fingers and inviting carpal tunnel syndrome due to the type of rapid, repetitive movements needed for flute playing.

When you set up, be careful that the left arm isn't higher by too much. The left arm should be allowed to drop, under normal circumstances.

If you're going to balance yourselves, try to balance the flute from the right hand first, onto the [left] shoulder. Then you hang the left hand off. [Then] come round to the right, to wherever your normal position is. This [indicates head, neck, shoulders] floats. You can float right around, you can go as far as it doesn't hurt. Don't go so far that you bring your shoulder in. [Now] you're totally relaxed without pressure on anything.

Don't put that left arm up, if only for the reason that if you go too far, the only [other] way you can support the flute is by pushing it into your lip. And once you start that, you are bringing tension to [the embouchure]....the whole thing is as free and relaxed as can be.

Then, when you're playing, think free wrists. Think relaxed wrists. If your wrists are relaxed, it's probable that the rest of your shoulders is pretty free. If you leave your left hand down [a bit], you're totally free. But if you raise that elbow two inches, you can feel the tension.

Now, usually when that happens you've tightened the muscles here [indicates chest area and back area] and that interferes with your breathing. The whole thing adds up.

The mirror is your best friend....It's going to be able to suggest, point things out. Your development is always in the practice room and the more mirror you use [the better]. [You'll see] problems of tension. If I tell you that you are moving, you don't believe me. Why should you? You can't see yourself. Seeing is believing, okay?

A stance problem that Peter Lloyd points out to many students is the tendency to move about a great deal while playing. This habit was a "pet peeve" with Geoffrey Gilbert, who felt that excessive body movements were "subconscious behaviors caused by not being sure of your ability to communicate expression in the sound." Lloyd feels strongly that too much "expressive" movement can displace the flute from the aperture hole, causing control problems and also constricting the breathing process.

Generally...the more movement and tension, the more it affects the breathing and then it affects the projection. I don't think that anyone should be stock-still. Take a lesson from Monsieur Rampal. When he moves, all this is absolutely stable [indicates flute mouthpiece/ embouchure area]. He moves here [indicates waist].

You've got to keep the stability here [indicates embouchure]. That's the important thing. If I'm moving, I'm going to do it from my body and not from my head. I'm going to move there [indicates waist] because that will keep me stable here [indicates lip] and I think that's terribly important. Otherwise, you could drop this [flute headjoint] a bit and the sound will change.

Displacing the embouchure is not the only problem of overly-expressive body movement. It also causes tension in the upper chest and shoulders, and control is considerably decreased.

When considering the aforementioned instructions and admonitions, Lloyd cautions flutists against becoming over analytical. He feels that trying too hard to be correct in one's stance only results in tension, producing exactly the opposite result intended by his suggestions.

Please try not to try. Stop thinking. Once you've gotten yourself set up well, try to relax and just play. The more tension that comes in from the brain, the harder it's going to be.