Getting a grip: how to hold your flute

By Alexa Still

Icannot begin this discussion without reliving a vivid memory; I asked a famousplayer, 'How do you hold the flute?' He threw me a very direct look of amaze-ment and disbeUef. Following a pregnant pause, where I was evidently supposed

to feel embarrassed, I chose to pursue a different question. I wish I had instead askedwhy he found that so difficult to answer!

I've asked other great players the same thing and received a few fabulously well-considered replies, but it is true that most of us pick up our flutes as reflexively as wepull on a T-shirt. After cogitating on this for years and struggling with explanations,I hope this article goes some way to explain different concepts so that others mayreview their own unique situation with an understanding of pros, cons and possiblealternatives.

The one-size-must-fit-all-flute simply suits some people's physical structure betterthan others. One individual's hold on the flute might just work out to be terrificallycomfortable and functional, whereas the next different-sized person might have todeal with real difficulty and discomfort albeit perhaps at a subconscious level. Muchof this has to do with body proportions as well as general size, but another vitalcomponent is the tone the player desires.Do you press the flute into your chin and or bottom lip? Some of us play with con-siderable pressure on the lip-plate and some of us don't. This is one of those polaris-ing 'can of worms' issues, which I'd really prefer not to get drawn into, but cannotignore either in this discussion. Pressure at the lip-plate is created by pushing theflute firmly onto the chin—pushing from the hands and arms versus pushing fromjaw and neck.

I grew up playing with so much pressure that my flute actually showed tendenciesof imitating a banana, but graduate study with Thomas Nyfenger' persuaded me totry alternatives. Now I prefer to reduce the contact pressure at the chin and lip asI feel I have more flexibility in embouchure shapes resulting in more flexible tonecolour. On occasion, I even pull the flute away from my chin to increase volumedespite the resultant instability. For many of the flute players I admire, however, avery firm contact at the chin area is fundamental to their concept of tone and thecontrol of the sound. This type of the pressure at the lip-plate varies immensely.For some, that pressure may be so vital a fundamental that the degree of pressuredoesn't change.

1 Thomas Nyfenger was a most influential teacher in the New York area. To geta better idea of his teaching, his book Music and The Flute (^9^6, self published) is mostilluminating. This was reprinted by his sons and is obtainable from Flute World in the USA.

Alexa Still records for KochInternational Classics, and toursregularly, mostly to the US. Basedin Australia, she is the SydneyConservatorium of Music's Chairof Woodwind (University ofSydney) and enjoys that researchenvironment. You can read about hnrecordings, concerts, teaching andmore, at her website: www,alexasiilicom. Alexa invites comments andqueries at any time; you can emailher directly from her websiteAlexa thanks her students and hercolleague James Kortum for beinggracious models.

www.bfs.org.uk

One of the two generalised types of flute-holding positions I am going to outlinehere better suits the pressure on the chin while the other better suits the desire forless pressure. And of course I've also seen many variations. This article could also goon for years so I'll limit myself to just a few.

Understanding these two very generalised approaches should be helpful to diag-nosing and remedying causes of discomfort, and discovering easier ways for thehands to function (smoother technique!) in addition to providing different possibili-ties for further development of tone.Why worry about it? Walfrid Kujala' expresses the need for fingers to be free ofthe effort of holding the flute steady in order for good technique to be more easilyattainable. Even Quantz devoted a chapter to 'Of Holding the Flute and Placing theFingers'. This concern isn't new.

My observation is that, again, a few players' hands just fit the keys beautifully,probably without any conscious effort but perhaps as the result of careful train-ing. Then, some of us manage to play with impressive technical brilliance despiteobvious extraneous work for the hands including excess lateral motion to reach keys.tineven timing of fingers due to some collapsed joints and obvious areas of tension(for example, the little or 'pinky' fingers of each hand often feel more tense and dif-ficult to move than index fingers). These flute players have made huge investmentsin practice time to pull off the brilliance! And then, some of us really struggle, andeven suffer pain and injury. Slender and personality-type-AAA+ individuals oftenslot into this latter category. Besides not being fun. practising is not a good idea whenit hurts!

So, regardless of how you actually hold the fiute. we are all after the same ideal.We can't disrupt the connection between flute and face for fear of damaging tone,and we want predictable, minimal, as-absolutely-uniform-as-possible finger motionin order to get the best technique with the greatest ease. This amounts to a steadygrip of the flute that requires the least contribution from moving fingers.

I will concentrate on the position of the flute in the hands, but first one generalobservation:Ar^gle of head to body. If we orient our bodies while standing or sitting facingdirectly forwards when playing the flute, weird contortions of the back occur inpulling the right arm back far enough to accommodate the fiute. and the right sideof the chest area can feel constricted with that stretch. Younger American studentsoften have to unlearn this posture from their marching band experience. Most ofus do some degree of neck-turning to reduce that back constriction and to get amore relaxed chest and feeling of space within the circle created by the fiute, armsand body. I like to suggest that the player look at least a quarter-turn to the left andelbows should be situated forward of the waist. The neck is much better .suited toturning and tilting (most of us lean the head ever so slightly to the right) than theback, but health professionals agree that the neck cannot sustain a turn, a tilt and a

2 Walfrid Kujala, renowned piccolo player and teacher, retired recently from theChicago Symphony Orchestra and still teaches at Northwestern University in Evanston,Chicago. His book The Flutist's Progress (Progress Press, 1970) provides a comprehensiveinstruction on holding the flute complete with photos. His later book The Flutist's VadeMecum (Progress Press, 1995) further demonstrates the depth of his thought regardingthe mechanics of flute-playing technique.

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forward-re ach ing crane. It is very important to always bring the flute all the way upto your head rather than reaching your head to the flute!

'Pressure' hold. I don't name examples of famous individuals here because I amworried about offending someone through omission! In any case, this is a ver\popular style of holding the flute, easily observed looking around any group of fluiiplayers.

The flute's lip-plate is firmly fixed into the chin area, or further up the lipwhich may require more pressure to stay put. The base of the left hand index fingnpushes the flute on a horizontal trajectory towards the player's right shoulder areaI understand some Italian players have great success moving the flute down a littKfurther into that small notch you can feel in the middle of the index finger-knucklejoint. Some players back up this horizontal push with arm power, lifting the leftelbow somewhat, and even positioning the left wrist higher as if the whole hand ispushing from the forearm.

Along with the chin or jaw, the right hand thumb provides the best opposingforce to the left hand, pushing the flute forward horizontally. A player who reallyunderstands this holding position will move the thumb right up the side of theflute to the area right helow the rods. From here, the thumb can exert the neces-sary opposing force very effectively and all of the other fingers are completely free.Possible problems include thumbs that don't lite pushing (for example, the 'hitchhiker' type thumh shape with a pronounced curve may hecome painful in the jointafter exerting pressure for any length of time). Sometimes thumbs just aren't theright length. A long thumb in this position may mean the fingers are almost straight,which isn't best suited to fast motion.

A more common position which I would probably have to call 'pressure andsqueeze' has the right hand thumb under the flute. Sometimes a thumb placed underthe flute can still work; a very fleshy thumb may still have enough mass to exerisome force forwards, horizontally. But if the right hand thumb cannot exert enoughforward force, the right hand little finger usually has to help. Immediately, the littlefinger will form a vertical opposing grip with the thumb in addition to exertingpressure forwards, which usually requires a collapsed joint or two in the little finger.The httle finger in this position is simply overcommitted and unable to move easilyor with great facility. And any reaching beyond the Di key (Ci and lower) will mostlylikely require a hand shift because the little finger is already fully extended due tothe collapsed joints. (The only way to reach further is by moving the hand.) Anylateral hand shift means that all of the right hand fingers have a new position fromwhich to 'find' their keys. Any extra 'searching' equates to more technical difficulty.There are many wonderful players who play this way, but in my view, they workmtich harder.

Where the player is able to limit the tension or pushing sensation to the bits oftheir anatomy that do that activity, this hold can achieve a wonderful stability andconsistency. However, this holding position can be problematic for players who don'thave good body awareness and can't control or limit the tension (we do not wantany more body involvement than is required to keep the flute in position and steady

3 The placement on the face is also related to head size. Sometimes thoseconcepts of planting 'A' on point 'B' Just don't work out anywhere near achieving thedesired effect on a student with a smaller physique.

James Kortum's relativelybig hands handletechnically challenges withaplomb despite what I'ddescribe as a 'pressure hold'and an 'overcommitted'little finger.

My iiuii.ri . much

smaller hands fare muchbetter with the flute tiltedforward into a balanceposition. Note that the gripis more relaxed-loo kingand the little finger iscurved. Adoption of thishand position dramaticallyimproved her technique ina matter of weeks.

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To find the point of balancefor each instrument, placeyour hands into a karate-chop shape with fingersabsolutely horizontal asifdescribingthesizeofthat físh that got away.Place the flute across yourhands, so that your handsare lifting the flute andcontacting somewherearound the foot joint andthe barrel. Of course, yourheadjoint will need to beplaced differently so thatyour head isn't forced intosome ridiculous angle. Toincrease the accuracy ofthis balancing exercise,try to estimate wherethe headjoint needs tobe moved to (the sameorientation to your headas previously, now lookingrolled in compared to theflute body). If that seemstoo difficult to figure out,adjust it so the lip-plate isfacing downwards to thefloor or take it off the flutebody altogether.

when the fingers move). If this isometric force increases (anyextra push needs to be counteracted with more push froman opposing force), the pressure can become so intense thatdiscomfort can quickly result in any of these areas: base of leftindex finger, knuckle joint, left wrist, right hand and wrist,base of neck, tendons controlling the jaw (TMJ syndrome"*)and even the shoulders. Too much tension also restricts cir-culation and can even impinge on nerves. We are generallyfamiliar with the carpal tunnel syndrome (compression oínerves in the carpal tunnel at the wrist). Thoracic outlet syn-drome* happens in the collarbone area, and of course anythingis possible with compression of the vertebrae of the neck.'Balance Hold'. Any of the aforementioned tension can happenin any type of holding position if the player allows it, butbecause this 'balance hold' balances the flute to achieve stabil-

ity rather than using pressure to hold the flute steady, it is naturally easier to main-tain a lower intensity of body involvement.

However, whereas the pressure grip can accommodate a flute in almost any rota-tion, the crucial aspect here is that the flute key work must be rolled forwards tothe point at which it will stay put. The rods in the flute mechanism make the flutefar heavier on the player side of the keys. If the upper tone holes face towards theceiling, the flute will roll directly backwards towards the player, unless the playerexerts some pressure.

The flute is most often placed on the chin so there is a feeling of resting the lip-plate on the face. If that doesn't work well for the purpose of sound production dueto the player's physical dimensions, then the point of balance becomes even morecrucial and the feeling of instability makes this holding position more difficult toexecute.

The left-hand contact is still on the base of the index finger, but that spot isbrought down to a lower contact onto the flute, so that the hand is more underneaththe flute and the trajectory is of a gentle lifting upwards motion. The keys will prob-ably be rolled so far forward that reaching them (the ring or third finger to the G keyis often a stretch) will be even easier despite the hand being lower.

The right hand thumb attempts to find the comparable spot on the tubing to theleft hand—an opposite position contacting on the bottom third of the tubing. Thisis not so much about providing an opposing force but another contributor to liftingfor stability, something like the third leg of a tripod.

With the orientation of the keys being forward, the footjoint may need to berotated closer to the player. With this hold, the little finger may contribute to controlthe degree of roll, but that control is very light indeed, and should not require any col-lapsed joints. The little flnger should be able to maintain some curve when touchingthe Et lever, and straightening for the lower notes. (No hand shifts are required.)

4 Temporomandibularjoint syndrome can be caused by stress-related grindingthe teeth or other excessiVe jaw motion that may occur when moving thejaw forward forpitch control or higher register work.5 Thoracic Outlet Syndrome is constriction of nerves and arteries underneath theclavicle.

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With this 'balance' holding position, the main problem isleft wrist discomfort. To get the hand sufficiently below theflute and into a lifting position, the wrist generally requiresmore bending. Depending on arm length, this wrist bendmight seem too extreme and a high elbow will make thatsensation much worse. The left arm is best as relaxed aspossible, with the elbow falling downwards and close tothe body. (Well-endowed ladies may need to turn the headmore to the left to make this more easily possible.) The wristneeds to form a bent but 'inline' extension from the forearm,akin to the position where the wrist will flop up to if onewere bouncing a basketball, and even curling the fingersup as one would in raising the hand before bouncing thebasketball.

The second problem is the right hand wrist position.Regardless of holding position, we work the right hand at thetips of the flngerswithsome weight of the Hute on the end of the thumb, so the righthand wrist orientation is always very important. Thumb length makes a diflerencehere too. A very long thumb many mean the fingers are straighter than we'd like,and at that point, it becomes difficult to get comfortable.

The best working range for the right hand wrist is somewhere between havingthe fingers in line with the forearm, or thumb in line with the forearm. This ismore easily achieved if the fingers are curved as if hanging from a bar rather thanholding an overstuffed hamburger where the fingers would be flat. A wrist bendoutside this range will probably result in discomfort near the base of the forearm,towards the elbow area, where the muscles that work the hand are located. Withthe keywork rolled forward, the right elbow may need lifting to get the wrist to agood angle. Unless there is pre-existing rotator cuff damage in the shoulder, liftingthe elbow should not be difficuit or problematic beyond using some previously lazymuscles. Shoulder discomfort in flute players is most often related to poor mnscletone or slumping in the upper back, letting the shoulder blades and everything elseslop around until the shoulder joints don't work properly-—easily fixed with simpleexercises from a physiotherapist.

So, to discover the potential of your technique, you might want to evaluate howmuch you use pressure and how much you use balance to keep the flute steady. Avery quick playing test can be done in front of the mirror: play Cfl (second spacedown on the stave) using no fingers at all, even leaving the right little finger ofl̂ .Alternate this with the D. a half-step higher.

You'll see if you instinctively keep a finger or two down on the C? to stop theflute rolling, and you'll also notice if the flute wobbles when you change the note.In either holding position, if you cannot move all of your fingers freely with theflute remaining stable, you are using a finger or two to hold the fiute steady andthose fingers cannot be working smoothly at speed—in other words, you have atechnique problem that you must work very hard to overcome. Figuring out whichholding position you want to emulate will help you figure out what to change. Itmay well be possible to make a very small change and get a lot more comfortableand productive.

This shows a relaxedhand position with themechanism turned quitefar forward or out, puttingthe flute body into abalanced positiori.

Long slender fingers are,in my view, predisposedto excess tension andcollapsed joints. Thisstudent is using a pieceof plastic tubing to addwidth to the flute aroundthe left hand contactarea. The extra diameterseems inconsequentialbut in fact tilts the handslightly towards the G keyand reduces some of thehyperextension of the indexfinger. I prefer studentswith this sort of handshape to maintain distinctlycurved fingers to minimiseunnecessary tension.

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Bad: the hand is turnedto accommodate the endof the thumb, placing thethird or ring finger at agreater distance from theG key

Good: the thumb iscontacting the key in away that accommodatesthe best position for thefingers. The ring or thirdfinger is reaching the G keycomfortably, in a curvedshape.

A few more thoughts I'd hke to share concern isolated digits for either holdingposition:Hyper-extension of the left index ñnger. I hyper-extend my left index finger and ithas never bothered me, hut this tan be really problematic for some people. Makingthe tubing of the flute wider really helps—Bo-Pep type clip-on gadgets are common,as is the application of moleskin or some type of self-adhesive foam {applying thesesorts of things is also popular for dealing with pain from pressure). My favourite 'fix'is a piece of nylon water pipe of slightly smaller diameter than the flute, cut openand trimmed down to fit around the keys right where the base of the index fingershould go.

Spacing of the left hand and reaching the left hand keys. Making the tubing thickerhere can also tik the hand orientation just a little SÍ) that the knuckles are closer toparallel with the flute tubing. This brings the fourth or ring flnger closer to that keyand has surprising results. This very slightly different angle can free the left hand ina miraculous fashion, enabling greater facility in fast passages and especially so forpeople with narrower hands.

Adding height and perhaps sideways reach to the index finger's C key is an obviousimprovement. Many flute makers now have experience of placing that key at theplayer's request. Short of an alteration of a permanent nature, a do-it-yourself exten-sion can be made and glued on, or you can purchase the Brannen plastic C? exten-sion'' or use one made by Sandford Drelinger especially for his UpRite© headjoint.Any of these are terrific for people with smaller hand widths as they effectively placethe whole hand a little further down the fluce and bring the G and Gj keys morewithin reach.Right thumb. There are a number of right thumb position 'aids' that have come on tothe market in the past flve years. Each design has great merits, but in my view, dueto the difference amongst our thumbs (just take a look amongst your close friends;thumbs come in an amazing array of shapes and sizes) it isn't possible to endorseone design to help with the 'pressure hold'. The gadget has to match the hand.

Especially for the 'balanced hold", my favourite is tlie Thumbalina by RogerHolman'. This is a very simple piece of shaped cork stuck on to the flute with doublesided tape. It is light, inexpensive, doesn't damage the flute, and because the goal isonly to provide a larger shelf or contact area, it does suit ail thumb shapes.Left thumb. Here, the diversity in thumb length can quietly cause havoc. For manyplayers, it works well for them to use the thumb near the tip. For others, to use thetip would require a significant bend at the first joint. Some might feel inclined tobend the thumb because we are accustomed to using the tips of our fingers andthumbs, but if the bend approaches a 45 degree angle, it is too extreme and cancause tendon problems. You'll note that the keywork for the Bb is carefully shapedout of the way, so that the thumb can contact the B lever almost anywhere and notrun into the keywork for the B|,.

6 Brannen Brothers Flutemakers create extensions that are applicable to all flutes,but built to match theirs; beautiful, very functional and priced accordingly. You can viewand order these at http://www.brannenflutes.com/extensions.html7 Roger Holman's Thumbalina can be viewed and obtained from http://home.nethere.net/roger45/Thumbalina_Flute_Thumb_Rest_Support.htmAnother interesting aside: this gadget is particularly popular with alto flute players.

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It is very helpful to understand that where the thumb contacts the thumbkey can often dictate the left hand wrist angle, whereas the wrist angle (muchmore important) should dictate the thumb position.Right little ñnger. To risk stating the obvious, the less pressure required todepress the El, key, the better. On student flutes in particular, the spring onthis key can be so strong that it requires a clamp! A good repair person cantake care of this in short order by reducing the spring tension and seating thepad more carefully to ensure it will still close properly.

Furthermore, the best mechanical advantage is gained by depressing thiskey near the end closest to the player. While it takes a while to get confidentenough to do this in fast passages, the difference in effort required betweendepressing the key at the end and depressing the key at the top near the rodsis easily apparent.Collapsed joints. I usually hear a left hand collapsed middle finger in some-one's technique before I see it. We often hlame this type of finger position onthe person having 'double-jointed' fingers and resign ourselves to living withit. A finger with a collapsed joint or two requires great effort to close a keycompared to a curved finger; the collapsed joint means that the finger firstcontacts the key and then is pulled down further to where the collapsed jointsare at full collapse and then the key feels closed. At speed, this action fromeven one finger can make technical passage-work quite muddy. Curved fingersare stronger and faster (and much less likely to collapse) so using such a fingerin a deliberately curved position helps substantially. If the fingers aren't strong,the curve needs to be distinctly more curved to feel controllable. With correctuse, strength will improve and the curve may be reduced in time. For verysmall hands or very weak fingers, adding key extensions so that a finger canbe curved and reach easily will shorten the training process and it may well bepossible to remove extensions in time if the hand size is adequate.

I often ask students to tape offending fingers into the curved position^.When they hear the technical aspects of their playing being cleaner as a result,there is much more incentive to play this way!Tools. That we cannot see how we play is a very serious handicap! A mirror ispriceless. A computer camera set up so you can view yourself while playingfrom another angle is dramatically better. A flute-playing buddy with whomyou can share your darkest secrets, and who can look at you from every angleimaginable and let you concentrate on the playing sensation, is the mostprecious.

To finish this brief and generalised overview, as an owner of ridiculously big andexclusively fiute-suited hands, I'd like to thank my students who led me to pondersolutions and graciously indulged my experiments. I'd also like to thank some col-leagues who have been very open and frank with me in discussing personal experi-ence. I hope that some little piece of information here is helpful to my fellow fluteenthusiasts.

Three views of acomfortable, balancedhand position that reducestension and promotes agood technique.

8 A piece of athletic strapping tape, supporting a curved joint in a figure of 8pattern around the curved joint, or sometimes a stripe stuck on the inside of a curvedfinger and anchored by two bands, can help the player learn altered hand positions thatenable fingers to curve when operating the keys.

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