Do you have difficulties getting your low C on the flute? You are not alone. It is often a note that doesn’t sound great, has a delay before sounding and is airy.
Don’t despair there is hope.
I get a lot of inquiries about how to get a low C to sound on the flute. I have discussed this in a video before but let’s talk about it more in depth.
Your low notes from E down to low C are often difficult to get, especially if you have to tongue them in a very short span of time a.k.a. staccato or double tongue. Staccatos can wreak havoc, especially when they are in the low register, such as the Cantabile et Presto by an Enesco. At the beginning of the Presto there is fast low register staccato. For the younger student this is very difficult. I almost never hear this played well when I judge solo festivals.
The place to begin is the C chromatic tonguing exercise, which I’ve explained in more depth on my low C video, How Do I Get my Low C? The exercise playing short tones beginning with middle C and descending chromatically returning to middle C in between each note ie: CBCBbCACAbCGCFCF# etc. Play it VERY slow. What this exercise reveals that most of the time you blow too much air on the low notes. I can’t emphasize that enough. There is too much air coming out to get that low C to come out properly. Hold your breath. Literally hold your breath. I take my breath hold it in and only use the air that’s situated in my mouth.
In that video How Do I Get my Low C, I mentioned that the first thing you need to do is make sure that you don’t have any leaks because the low C, with all your fingers down will reveal if you have a leakage problem. If that’s in any way the issue here, get your flute looked at and make sure that it’s not a leakage problem, because there is nothing more frustrating than to be working and getting nowhere. You want to work hard but you also want to see results from that work and you won’t if your flute is leaking.
Be prepared that you won’t see results right away. It’s going to take time, perhaps days, in order to learn how to play the low Eb, D, C#, and C.
After having practiced these notes and I’m getting reasonable results, it’s time to put it in the music. Go back to your solo that has these fast low notes and practice what you are learning in the music. Take it slow and consider the placement of every note. Gradually work it up faster always thinking about holding in the air and placement of the embouchure.
Placement of the embouchure is important as well. When you are playing your embouchure needs to be a state of flux. The embouchure has to be flexible in order to change from a high embouchure to a low in the middle of a piece. Sometimes your low notes do not come out simply because your embouchure stayed high. Low notes will not come out with a high embouchure. The embouchure get in the habit of adjusting in the middle of pieces and quickly. To get used to this way of practice, you should learn to play the sections with high and low notes very slowly. The slow tempo will allow you to learn how to adjust the embouchure. You can then get faster and faster learning how to make that embouchure change to the octave you need.
The tongue plays a role in achieving low notes as well. The ideal tongue position is on the roof of the mouth as far forward as you can get without being on the teeth. A tongue too far back is going to allow for that delay, that air that comes out before the sound. Bring the tongue forward and demand that low C to happen right away. Remember that the tongue does not have to propel lots of air out. It merely releases the air that is your mouth.
All right so those are some of the ways that I work on when I need to get a low C and I need it fast. It can be frustrating working on getting this. Do it for little bits of time. Do it frequently. Work on the C chromatic tonguing exercise. Watch that video, How Do I Get my Low C? Add that to this, and you’ll have a framework of how to work on that low C, and it will start working for you. I guarantee it will. But what’s my biggest key here? Hold in that air. Don’t let it out. Most people don’t believe how much you truly hold in. But I do mean all of your air.
When you work on that low C and other low notes the tone gets richer and fuller. It’s just phenomenal that you are working on getting a low to note to respond and yet you are also playing a tone exercise! Work on your low C response. You’ll be glad you did!
Have Fun!
DoctorFlute
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