Flute high notes?

Question:I play flute and i dont understand why my high octaves sound so airy and kinda squeally... i've heard other flutists play them with nice tone quality but mine sound forced no matter what i do with my air... can someone tell me why??

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: I play flute and i dont understand why my high octaves sound so airy and kinda squeally... i've heard other flutists play them with nice tone quality but mine sound forced no matter what i do with my air... can someone tell me why??

Do NOT listen to anybody who tells you to blow harder. That is completely WRONG!

You need to make the air move faster. Yes, there is a difference!

Blowing harder is just like blowing a bubble. All of the energy behind it is coming out of your mouth, and only your mouth. This is wrong, and it can make for terrible sounding flute playing.

The key is breath support.

Making the air move faster involves usage of the diaphragm. You must support the tone with your diaphragm a lot. The best way I can think to explain this is this: Make the air leave your lungs at a faster rate. You lungs should empty quicker. Your diaphragm is the muscle that allows you to do this. This is part of why musicians are always told to support the tone with the diaphragm. The energy should be coming from your diaphragm, not anywhere in your mouth.

If you don't know how to use your diaphragm yet, you need to learn. The easiest way to explain it is to try flexing your stomach muscles. Play like this, and it will be much easier to make the high register sound better.

You also need to try to relax your embouchure. Your embouchure needs to be smaller, but not tighter, per say.
Sometimes if you try to lower your jaw slightly, it improves the tone.

Also, the person who said to push your fingers harder is absolutely wrong too. All parts of your body need to be relaxed when you play. If your hands are relaxed, you will be able to play much faster music. Not to mention that how hard you press your fingers does not affect your tone at all.

However, a bad tendency when playing high is to tense your lips. People often tense their hands too, just because they become all around tense. If you can learn to relax every part of you, it will be a lot easier.

I actually find that my tone sounds better if I'm tired, because my body won't put forth any energy to tense my embouchure.

Improving tone can take a long time, so don't be disappointed if you don't see immediate results. Just keep practicing.

Best of luck.

You need to position your mouth at an exact position and hold your fingers down quite hard !

Hope I helped !

Also, try to blow hard enough to let the high notes "spark" so to say!! Don't forget correct breathing technique!!!

You need to work out the correct embouchure to play these notes as well as the correct air pressure to produce the notes. Finger low C and keep overblowing to produce the harmonic notes. Then move onto C# etc...... Really helps to improve the tone in the top register.