I see it all the time when I visit schools and work with the flute players. It doesn’t matter if it is middle school, high school, or even at the collegiate level. I see all kinds of improper head joint alignment with the flute when they are playing. I cannot tell you many times, when I arrived at the rehearsal, I find the band director (or student) was changing the position of the cork in the head joint to try to get the flute better in tune. Here is a picture of what proper flute alignment SHOULD look like:
If you notice, the head joint blow hole is perfectly aligned with the center of the keys of the main body of the flute. The foot joint is also aligned properly. The shaft of the foot joint where the keys are attached to the foot joint body also runs down the center of the main body of the flute.
NOW, check the cork in the head joint and readjust according to the little line on your cleaning rod and then LEAVE IT ALONE!
THIS IS A STARTING PLACE TO ALIGN YOUR FLUTE; NOT THE FINAL SETTING!
THEN what you do is to slightly adjust the head and foot joint to fit your particular body type.
- If you have an overbite (your upper teeth stick out beyond your lower teeth a lot) then you could roll the head joint out just a little bit for the proper fit.
- If you have an underbite then you could roll the head joint in just a little bit.
- Now you can adjust the foot joint to fit the size of your right hand and pinky for the most comfortable position (caution-you do not want the angle of the foot joint to negatively affect your other fingers of the right hand).
Now here is why it is so important to have your flute aligned properly!
- The further out you roll your head joint the sharper you may play. Conversely the further you have your head joint rolled in the flatter you may be.
- The sharper you play the more you pull your head joint.
- The flatter you play the more you push in your head joint.
- The keys of the main body of the flute are now parallel to the floor (this promotes much better hand positioning for the fingers.
I have witnessed young flutists with their head joints almost all the way out or in. This does not work guys! Here is why!
By pulling your head joint too far out or in you are changing the mathematics of the flute intonation curve. The mathematics of the distance for the keys was designed very precisely (how far each key is from each other and the blow hole). By pulling further and further out (or pushing in), you are changing the mathematical curve of the flute thereby making certain notes of the flute go further and further away from being in tune.
A case in point. I was very recently working with a college flutist. She was practically begging me to help her play more in tune. She said the band director kept after her for playing so sharp and being out of tune. I already knew what the problem was before she started playing. And after she played her first note I was right on with the solution. Her head joint was pulled over three quarters of the way out. And her head joint was rolled out excessively. So here is what I suggested to her:
- Align the head joint to the center of the main body.
- Align the foot joint to the center o of the main body.
- Push the flute head joint 95% in.
I had to help her reset her embouchure also. She had the head joint lip plate setting on her lower lip instead of under the lower lip.
Then I had her play an A and checked with the tuner. She was spot on! Then we checked her other sour notes that the band director kept harping to her about. Almost all of them were instantly perfect or at the least much, much better.
I have been teaching flute since I was nineteen and during this entire time I have encountered only “one” flute that was actually badly out of tune (and I have been around literally tens of thousands of flutes).
No flute is perfectly in tune. You have to play them in tune. But flutes today are actually made much better than they were even thirty years ago.
Give this a try and see if these suggestions will help with your intonation!! Good luck!
To see a YouTube video on how to play your flute in tune click here.