Learn how to play a pan flute. MUSIC 104 In this video BP teaches you how to produce good clear, rich, melodious notes on your pan flute. Many new pan pipers have some initial difficulty getting their flute to speak properly! Everyone's mouth is shaped differently so there isn't a "one size fits all" specific for everybody.
HOW TO GET A NOTE
1) Place the flute a little below your bottom lip.
2) Take some air into your lungs,
3) Form your lips into a slight smile, "purse" them and blow gently across the top of the hole BREATHING FROM YOUR ABDOMEN ... PUSH YOUR BREATH BY CONTRACTING YOUR ABDOMINAL MUSCLES.
4) When you blow, start the stream of air using an action with your tongue as if saying the word "too."
5) Adjust the distance of the rim of the flute viv-a-vis your lower lip, as needed, by moving it a little up or down and also the angle, (as demonstrated on the video) and you'll find the right spot where the flute delivers the best note.
As you play, listen to the quality of each note and fine-tune it -- as necessary -- so you produce the purest note on each pipe. i.e. - you're playing a song, you're moving the flute and playing on different pipes, - keep your ear cocked as you play each note and make alterations by adjusting the angle of the flute, its position on or below your lip and the tightness or openness of your lips (your embouchure) as needed, to secure the purest note.
You may possibly find as you go to play the very highest notes to squeeze your lips very tightly together and position the rim of the flute maybe just a millimeter or two beneath the slit of your lips. And when you go to play the very lowest notes, to drop the flute and relax and open your embouchure All this will become rather automatic as you practice and gain experience.
ABOUT PLAYING A SONG. Songs are based on a particular pattern of notes called a Scale. The scale on your flute will probably be the familiar 7-note scale you know, beginning on the first note (the lowest one) and as you play the notes one after the other you recognize the progression ~ do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti - do. Practice this scale while you practice getting good notes. Soon you'll remember which pipe produces the note you hear in your head. Then you'll be able to hear a song and play it straight off.
Now, newbies learning to play a harmonica have lots of song sheets with tabs where the words of the song are written down and over the words are the numbers of the hole on the harmonica. This makes it easy to learn to play a song. I have never seen, on the internet, tabs of songs for pan flute. Let me just interject here and say I play entirely by ear. But most pan flute players I know learn to read music. It is not for me to suggest to you how you should go about learning a song, What I will say is ~ if you learn to play a song by reading music, MEMORIZE THE SONG and then play it from memory. This is the ONLY way you will make good progress. DO NOT accustom yourself to having to read music every time you wish to play a song.
Listen to the words of the Master ~ "After memorizing the song and you're playing it correctly - that is the beginning of your practice not the end of it. Only then can you begin to make it sound like music." Be guided accordingly!
Some technical information ~ It's possible to tune your flute to any Scale (there are dozens of different Scales.) A popular scale is the Major (and Minor) Pentatonic Scale. A pentatonic scale is a 5-note scale. Playing the Major Pentatonic Scale you won't be able to play a note that "crunches" or sounds discordant! But there are songs you will not be able to play with this Scale because 2 notes from the "regular" (seven note) scale, upon which most the songs you know are composed are missing. With your flute tuned to a Minor Pentatonic Scale you're all set to rock the Blues! You can tune and re-tune your flute to any scale you want with an inexpensive Korg meter, as I show you in my lesson 3 in this series.
DEVELOPING YOUR SKILLS: doing various exercises is a good way to hone your skills. You can think up exercises for yourself.... e.g.
1) Play the scale, up and down.
2) Play the odd-numbered pipes - i.e. pipe #1, #3, #5, #7, #9 etc. up to the last one.
3) Return on the even numbers.
4) Play pipes 1 - 3 - 2 - 4 - 3 - 5 - 4 - 6 - etc. etc.
Make up patterns of your own. Play them slowly at first, aim for pure tone, then speed up your pace....
Space has run out, please go to Lesson 2 where I continue essential information. Thank you!
To Lesson 2 - LEARN TO PLAY PAN FLUTE - click here ~
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiMCqXPLuJk
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Bolivian Pan Flute playerby chikovargas38,496 views
. been experimenting with the blowing bout 6 months and got nothing..
i play several instruments too.. but somehow i just cant play any wind instrument..
its easier to play piano and guitar at the same time than get a clear note on a pan flute..
wezos 1 year ago
@wezos I cant figure out what's causing your problem. ? - do you have a 'real' pan flute or one of those thingies made for tourists when you visit south america? In all my time I have never heard of anybody who cannot "get a note" on a pan flute after 'experimenting' for three minutes... something is wrong ... not so much with you I don't think. "Purse" your lips, place the edge of the flute on the bottom edge of your lower lip, breathe gently - use an action as if pronouncing the letter T
BajanPiedpiper 1 year ago
@wezos continued ... tilt the flute so you change the angle of your breath as it hits the outside edge of the flute... and you should be off and running. Search on Youtube for Douglas Bishop and for Brad White - they have excellent tutorials. DONT GIVE UP! There is a problem with your flute OR a technical flaw somewhere - discover what it is that's wrong...... and you'll rock!
BajanPiedpiper 1 year ago