In a relaxed and effortless position, such as reading at eye level, the head is subject to opposing directional forces meeting at an isometric resting point (Figure 3),
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which is the head’s center of gravity, roughly at the cervical vertebrae.26 But if the chin is jutted (Figure 4) or dropped for any length of time, the equilibrium is displaced, with consequent fatigue, pain, and eventual injury.
Isometrics Figure 3
Isometrics Figure 4
In a nutshell:
Muscles
Isometrics are an essential part of comfort and efficiency in flute playing. They affect balance between vertical forces in posture, between lateral fulcrums in the flute’s position, and between muscle pressure in the air column.
Please refer also to:
Appoggio
Cough Point, Sneeze Point Posture
Fulcrums Tenuto, Sostenuto, Ritenuto
26. Atlas-axis. Atlas: the first cervical vertebra, named after the mythological Titan, whose curse was to bear the weight of the world. Axis: the second cervical vertebra, providing lateral movements of the head.
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There has always been more than one school of tone production, in any instru-ment. However great the difference in the level of noise, we have more affinity with brass than with reed instruments. For one, neither a horn nor a flute can blame their problems on the reed.
I remember an illuminating discussion with my schoolmate Maurice André, one of the rare trumpeters of our generation to have had a dazzling solo career.
He told me that he used very little lip or chin movement. He relied almost ex-clusively on the abdominal belt and a low center of gravity.
Must flutists believe facial gymnastics and systematic jawboning help consti-tute a productive and reliable way of playing?
By jawboning, I mean constant change in the angle of the airflow into the em-bouchure. Playing intervals of more than a third (for example, changing from the lower to the middle range), they seem to need a different thrust of the chin and/or an alteration of the shape of the lip aperture.1 My contention is that this practice is neither logical nor totally reliable. If we slur a slow chromatic scale down from, say, middle FS (the exact middle point of the flute’s entire range) to low FS, there is no perceptible lip or chin movement.
Jawboning Example 1
Likewise, if we were to go chromatically the other way, but in an identical manner, from the same FS, we would arrive at D above the staff without any no-ticeable jaw or lip change.
Jawboning Example 2
The movement is smooth; there is no need for adjustment. On a bad day, if we have only one good note in the middle range of the flute, by proximity and with-out messing around with the embouchure, we should be able to extend this
qual-1. The air brush.
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ity over at least an octave. Our ears are our best (and cheapest) professors. Boehm advises starting on a different note, C2.2 “While sounding the C with a beautiful, clear and pure tone, close the C key3 by a quick motion [of the thumb], yet with-out altering the embouchure or the force of the wind. The B thus obtained should remain unaltered in quality and purity of tone. Then sound the B alone, and, after breathing again, proceed to Bb. Continuing in this way and with the least possible alteration of the embouchure, gradually, certainly and without ex-ertion proceed to the lower tones and in similar manner, practice the tones from C2 upward to the highest. Since each tone is always developed out of the pre-ceding tone, which is as perfect as possible, all of the tones will remain perfect in quality, strength and purity.”4 The only slight correction we might be led to make is for intonation, not for the actual tone production of each note.
Why then is it necessary to use these facial movements to go from the high note to the low or vice versa? Granted, intervals wider than an octave must often be helped, but 99 percent of the intervals we have to play in actual music are within the octave. The octaves, for the most part, can be played without jaw-boning, in a manner that I will describe below.
Jawboning Example 3. Prokofiev, Peter and the Wolf, beginning
On the other hand, let us play a rapid succession of intervals, an arpeggio over two octaves:
Remember: the tempo is indicated as quarter = 176!
Or attempt the end of “Lux Aeterna” in Verdi’s Requiem:
There is just no time (and no need) for jawboning. What is necessary is:
• Support as low as possible.
• Smooth phrasing with the fingers.
• Great stability of the lip plate on the chin.
2. Which he calls c4.
3. Actually the B thumb key.
4. Theobald Boehm in The Flute and Flute-Playing in Acoustical, Technical, and Artistic Aspects, trans.
and annotated Dayton C. Miller (Cleveland: Savage Press, 1908).
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Jawboning Example 4. Verdi, Requiem, Lux Æterna
It is almost like a scientific equation: lip pressure + left arm support (stability) + air speed = tone. Change any parameter, and you must compensate with an-other parameter.
To create an isometric point of focus at the lip aperture or air brush, you could use more lip pressure and less left arm support; or you could leave the lips alone and compensate with the stability generated by the left arm. If you produce a lot of effort with the lips, you risk fatigue and imprecision under stress. If you use less facial action, then you must rely on the left arm to bring in the flute.
Therefore, my way of playing emphasizes the action of strong muscles (arms, especially the left arm, abdominals, even leg muscles) for support, leaving control to weaker ones (lip, finger and intercostal [chest] muscles).
Comfortable and efficient playing is impossible without flexibility (souplesse in French). But souplesse requires that fragile muscles work as freely as possible.
Don’t produce the sound or the phrase with the lips. Don’t systematically play in-tervals with the chin. Don’t balance the flute by holding it with the fingers that form notes.
You could try pulling a semi trailer with a garden tractor. It might be possible, but under great strain and with drastic consequences for the motor. Souplesse is getting the same result with a powerful and smooth engine, never working at more than half its possibilities.
Constant jawboning and forcefulness in technique, like slamming the keys, contribute to pain in playing. They are not recommended in cases of RSI,5 carpal tunnel syndrome, TMJ6 syndrome, writer’s cramp, focal dystonia, tennis elbow7, and many other horrors. I have been fortunate enough to avoid them, by luck no doubt. I have always avoided playing with pain. I have tried to use the simplest means, thinking about the physical as well as the aesthetic aspects of music mak-ing and listenmak-ing to my body as much as to my soul.
5. Repetitive strain injury.
6. Temporomandibular joint.
7. Epicondylitis.
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“Very well,” say the jawboning advocates. “But how do you get the shift in air speed and angle that generates a wide interval?”
First, obsessed as we are with our tone and embouchure, we fail to see that often fingers, even one finger, are responsible for many a broken interval. For ex-ample:
Jawboning Example 5. Mozart, Concerto in D Major, K. 314, second movement
Jawboning Example 6
Good technique does not only imply playing fast and loud. Smooth phrasing with the hands is also an effect of good playing. Rough fingers affect musicality and efficiency.
The shifting of the air speed for wide intervals must be generated by the ab-dominal belt (support), at the cough or sneeze point, below the navel. The leg muscles, in the standing position, or the lower back muscles, when sitting, contribute to a low center of gravity, as do low shoulders that help open the throat.
To reach for a high note while in the middle range, think first of lifting left hand fingers instead of slamming the right-hand ones. Then lower your shoul-ders, push on your legs, feel as if you are sinking into the ground, and jut your belt out (not your chin!). After a while, you will see this is more reliable and smoother than a mandibular movement and a big slap of the right-hand fin-gers.
The Chastain Maneuver
Now let’s try the Chastain maneuver, playing octaves in the pattern described in Intervals 1 (quarter note = 60). Starting from a sitting position, count two or three beats and stand up at the bar line. This action brings the center of gravity into play almost without your being conscious of your lips. It shows that jaw-boning is most of the time unnecessary.
147 Jawboning is still necessary to correct intonation, especially to taper off a long note. There are two elements that are sometimes overlooked in this matter:
If the flute is held too loosely, intonation control must rely exclusively on lip-ping and jawboning, with varied results. The more stability is achieved, the more intonation can be corrected with the hands. For instance, the Bb lever can help, without affecting the “real” fingering, by providing that extra little balance to turn the flute in or out.8
Jawboning Example 7
Most long notes don’t have a printed diminuendo, but we are tempted to do one anyway. The tone should not be throttled on a diminuendo. The air speed must be maintained to keep the intonation from falling. Bringing up the chin is also helpful for this, but not as the only means.
For intonation in f or ff, lowering one’s center of gravity, playing with low shoulders, opening one’s throat, and, as a last resort, rolling in the flute all con-tribute to controlling sharpness.
In conclusion, I do think that jawboning can be helpful, but it should be one of many options. I am convinced by any style of playing if it works under stress and does not threaten flutists’ health. If it works, do it. But do not block out any experiment or any new idea. There should be no taboos, only the great joy of making music.
In a nutshell:
chin.
Jawboning does not have only advantages. It is useful for correcting intonation. It quickly becomes a mannerism if used constantly. Ninety-five percent of intervals in our repertoire are under the octave. They require the in-volvement of the whole body, not just the mouth and
8. All these notes can be played with the right forefinger on the Bb lever for balance. There are other combinations.
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Dynamics
Please refer also to:
Center of Gravity Little Devils Finger Phrasing Fulcrums Silent Keys Intervals