Buzzing Hints

Hello,

Here are some buzzing tips that have been helping my students.

Try buzzing with a chopstick under your tongue. This helps teach a wide, forward tongue position and "3-way stop" of the lips and tongue, while developing a happy path for the lips to travel on to create intervals.

Try getting different pitches while buzzing with the chopstick under your tongue. Start out holding the chopstick with both hands (or stay away from breakables!)

Many students who have not been able to get much buzzing resonance, volume, or pitch change have found this to be quite helpful in speeding up the learning curve (learning new habits).

Other students have been finding it useful to whisper "emmm" and continue the exhale with a buzzing sound. This also teaches a wide, forward tongue position and "3-way stop" of the lips and tongue.

Let me know how these ideas work for you!

"Buzzing off" for now,
Catherine

The Right Brain vs Left Brain | The Daily Telegraph

The Right Brain vs Left Brain | The Daily Telegraph

Check out this interesting test! I am more right brained than I realized. Maybe it is because of all the time I spend in the Playground at www.catherinelegrand.com...

Here's to the creative mind!

Catherine

Buzzing and Balance

Greetings,

At the Keith Underwood/Anne Waxman Flute/Alexander Technique Workshop on September 28-30, frequent topics included:

body mapping of the atlas occipital joint versus the jaw
balanced use of the zygomatic major and triangularis muscles

Remember that your atlas occipital joint (where head rests on the spine) is located between your ears--behind your tongue and soft palate. Most of us were allowing either our jaw or our upper back to carry part of the weight of our heads while playing our flutes, rather than allowing the head to actually balance on the atlas occipital joint (despite how much Alexander training we have had).

Allowing the head to balance naturally frees up the masseter (jaw) muscle so that the zygomatic major muscle can have improved function, helping the lip to lift very slightly laterally from the upper edge, across the cheek bone to the jaw bone. I notice that both my buzzing and my flute tone become more resonant (my upper lip vibrates more) when my zygomatic major muscle is activated.

Allowing the head to balance naturally also helps the jaw to be relaxed but not hang open which can cause a somewhat unfocused tone. (This happens when the head pulls forward and down, straining the upper back. I call this condition "turtleneck.")

Balanced use of the zygomatic major and triangularis muscles in the embouchure: the triangularis muscles stabilize the corners of the lower lip and the zygomatic major muscles lift the lip laterally across the cheekbone to the jaw joint. Most of of us were using either the upper or lower pair of muscles more than the other pair. As we adjusted this balance, everyone's buzzing, flute tone, and articulation improved!

I found that when my head/jaw body map was clear, my head was balanced, and I used the zygomatic major muscle in balance with the triangularis, my tongue position was naturally ideal and my embouchure felt organized and very flexible.

Hope you enjoy experimenting with these thoughts!

Feel free to post questions. I will do my best to answer them or to find out the answer for you.

Best,
Catherine

Facial Muscle Quiz

Here is a great, interactive, quiz-style facial muscle diagram.

Facial Muscles

The seemingly obvious omission for flutists is triangularis, but the diagram uses its other name, depressor anguli oris.

In case you have not visited the DataFace website yet, it also has an interactive facial diagram. When you click on a muscles you see a short movie of a man activating that muscle.

For more information on the Alexander Technique and its benefits you may visit these sites:

http://alexandertechnique.com
http://www.alexandercenter.com/
http://www.stat.org.uk/

Do your homework now, so you will be ready for my comments on embouchure, buzzing, and more, from the September 28-30 Keith Underwood/Anne Waxman Flute/Alexander Technique Workshop. Look for them soon!

Best,
Catherine