Flute Health

Flute health ranges from the physical to the emotional and plays a huge part in the performer's growth and development as a musician.

Ergonomics . . .

The flute can be a difficult instrument to hold comfortably. This might be a surprising statement since the flute is a small instrument. What's so hard about holding the flute?
If you feel this way, try this experiment...
Hold your arms up so that your elbows are above your waist. Now, stay that way for the next three hours.
Begin to make sense now? The flutist is constantly working against gravity when playing.
The tuba player rests his instrument on a chair or a stand. A cello sits on the floor. Saxophones and bassoons have neck straps. The trombone and violin rest on the player's neck. The flute must be supported by the flutist at all times when being played.
There are many incorrect playing positions that can be developed by young players, and all can lead to physical problems.
Proper position of the body when playing includes the following issues...

Position of the spinal column
Slouching is bad, as well as a tense body position.
Position of the arms
The left arm should be held close to the body while the right elbow should be held out so that the head joint isn't rolled in, causing the intonation to be flat and the tone to be muffled.
Position of the hands
The left wrist must be bent a little to properly hold the flute.
Position of the fingers
This involves not having the fingers properly located over the keys, hanging off the keys, or playing on the edge of the keys.

Of course, there are fabulous flutists who break all of the above rules, but in general, these are good guidelines to follow to maintain good flute health. Proper practice habits are important for avoiding overuse strains and injuries on the body. Flutists can develop carpal tunnel syndrome, focal dystonia, and other debilitating physical conditions. How can the player develop good flute health in holding the flute?
Some adjustments can be made to the flute to accommodate injured players, including...
Curved head joints
As the name implies, the headjoint is curved, bringing the rest of the instrument much closer in to the player's body. This allows smaller people, particularly children, to play the flute. Jupiter is a well-known manufacturer of curved headjoint flutes.
Vertical headjoint
The head joint is constructed such that the flute can be held in a position vertical to the body, causing much less strain on the arms.
Various aids are available to pad pressure points where the flute is held against the body.
One of these is the "Bo-Pep" flute finger saddle, designed to cushion the bottom of the left index finger. There is tremendous pressure against this part of the hand. After a long practice session, many times my hand would be a shiny, dark pink from the prolonged pressure. I often felt the finger becoming numb as well and wondered if the blood circulation was being cut off.

Stress . . .

Musicians are extremely susceptible to stress and tension because of the desire to achieve at a very high level. The flute world is very competitive and nerves are frayed.
When there is a lot at stake--an important audition, a symphony job, a scholarship--it can be difficult to play your best. Some of the symptoms are...

Cotton mouth or dry mouth syndrome
Shaking of the limbs
Stiff neck
Racing heart beat

Physical exercise . . .

Playing a wind instrument is an extremely physical undertaking, so optimum body condition is vital to optimum flute health. Aerobic exercise can increase the lung capacity that is so important for sustaining long phrases.

Hearing . . .

Because of the high pitch of the flute, your hearing can be affected, particularly if you play in a small practice room.
If you play the piccolo frequently, guarding your hearing becomes even more crucial.
A good set of ear plugs can save your hearing. If you find that after a long session of practicing the piccolo, your ears are ringing or feel numb, look into ear plugs.
If you play in a large ensemble, you may also find ear plugs helpful as well. It is well known that conductors can suffer hearing loss from the intensity of the sound they are exposed to, but this can affect the members of the ensemble as well. Save your flute health - save your hearing!

Chapped lips. . .

Nothing is worse than dry, cracked, or chapped lips when playing the flute. Cold winter weather exacerbates the problem. This aspect of flute health seemed to affect more than just about anything else.
Keep your lips hydrated and protected with a moisturizing lip balm.
There are many schools of thought about which product is best, but bottom line, even an inexpensive chap stick is better than nothing at all.
In addition, drinking lots of water maintains moisture throughout the body, as well as the lips.

Nutrition . . .

Nutrition goes hand in hand with physical exercise in maintaining good flute health.
Flute diet? The flute diet? Is this another wacky diet to lose weight overnight?
Well, there really isn't a flute diet per say. However, there is an exercise plan where you do a lot of stretching while you inhale deeply, hold the air, then breath out very slowly. This is supposed to speed up the metabolism and increase fat burning. Sounds amazingly like the process of breathing involved in playing the flute, doesn't it? At the very least, you can't overeat while you are playing the flute!

Piano Playing Tips - Stretching Exercises for Piano Players

Pianist’s technical problems are almost always related to tension and stiffness in the shoulders, arms and wrists. To overcome these problems, the player must re-learn patterns of coordination so that the shoulders and arms are involved in the playing of each note. There must be a coordination of movement so that energy flows from the torso through to the fingers on the keybed without be blocked anywhere along the way. Before starting in playing the piano, I have found that it is invaluable to go through a stretching routine to warm up the arms and release built up tension in the body. The routine I have developed involves three stages: Releasing Tension, Warming Up the Arms and Shoulders, and Warming Up the Hands. Releasing Tension Start by standing and stretching all over, whatever feels good. Take some deep breaths, voice HA on the exhales, feel free! Bend over from the waist, stretching the arms down to the floor. Let the arms hang, then slowly roll up from the waist. Let the arms hang down, then let them roll up from the shoulders. When standing, shake out the arms from the shoulders. Feel the entire arm as one connected structure. Bend at the knees, then let the arms drop. Lightly bounce on the knees, letting the arms bounce, with the shoulders very free. Warming Up the Arms and Shoulders Standing, move the arms in large rotations, 5 in each direction. Do either one arm at a time or both arms together. Do large Figure 8 motions with each arm, 5 in each direction. Shake out between each segment! Sitting at the piano, bend over from the waist. Let the shoulders roll over and lead the arms down to reach for the floor. Lift the arm up - from the shoulder - and let the shoulder lead the arm and hand onto the piano keyboard. Do this several times, making sure that the fingers are not reaching for the keys. Make sure that these large motions are starting from the shoulder, there should be no reaching with the hands. Let the arm and hand follow the motion from the shoulder. Warming Up the Hands After stretching out the arms and shoulders, the hands and fingers need to be warmed up. Repeat the shoulder roll up while sitting, but this time let one of your fingers come down onto a key - any key, and concentrate on moving from the shoulder. There should be no reaching for the note with the finger. Feel the weight of the arm sinking into the piano keybed, then slowly move the entire arm left and right with the key held down:
Do this with each finger, letting the finger slide on the key. Let one hand drop onto the keyboard, play a diminished chord or just a random cluster. Take the other hand and rub the hand and fingers into the keys
Let both arms drop the hands onto the keyboard, and with flat fingers, sweep the fingers up and down the keyboard along the black keys. Do this for several minutes, feeling the motion starting in the torso - this is a big arm motion that wakes up the fingers:
Stand up, shake out all over, and roll the shoulders again. Take each finger, and massage it with the other hand. There are many different ways to do this, the goal is to wake up the muscles on the sides of each finger. Here are a few ways to wake up the fingers:
These stretches are very helpful if they are done before and during every practice session. After playing for a while, stand up and shake out your arms, do some shoulder rotations, and run your fingers along the black keys. These stretches will help you learn new coordinations making your playing stronger!

Jumping in the Sky

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Flute and other instruments. Exercises for musicians. (: