Tips for playing the low register on the flute:
1- Make sure you have a working flute and all your pads are sealing correctly. Ask your teacher to look for leaks or take your flute to a repair shop.
2- Warm up. It is important to warm up on the flute before you start doing anything difficult- fast fingers, high register, or low register… which means, warm up in the middle register with long tones.
3- Be relaxed. You should never have tension in your shoulders or jaw when playing any note on the flute.
4- Reach the low notes you are working on by starting higher and slowing working down one note at a time. Don’t move on to the next note until you are satisfied with the note you’ve just played.
5- Press the flute a little closer to your mouth and drop the corners of your mouth. You will need to blow downward more for the low notes (at a steeper angle).
6- You will want your embouchure to have more of an oval shape when playing lower notes. The hole will be a little bigger and not as circular as higher notes.
7- Blow more air and slower air for low notes. You don’t have to blow harder, just adjust your steam angle, slow down a little, and make your hole slightly wider and more air will come.
8- Once you’ve got your low notes play them with a full breath and maintain a nice rich sound.
9- Practice playing the same note an octave higher and lipping down to the low note. Watch in a mirror to see what it looks like in the two octaves and notice how it feels different when playing low notes.
10- Practice, practice, practice. When you stop playing the flute the first things to go and the last to come back are those low notes.
