Flute Course for Beginners

Let's get started!

An introduction to your course.

Hello, my name is Mark, I will be leading you through these videos as you commence your flute learning.

I recommend having a notebook or online document to take some notes as you go through. This will help you write down some key concepts and questions you might have as we go through.

Please ensure that you take your time as you go through these videos. If you were to learn an instrument in a traditional format, by meeting weekly with a teacher, for example, the material that this course covers would take up to one year. So, take your time to practice before moving on.

There are documents attached to the videos which act as a worksheet for you to begin your practice. I recommend getting a practice book to accompany your learning. The key to learning an instrument is practice. The only way to truly learn an instrument and improve is frequent practice.

If you have any questions, please ask!

In this course, we will look at how to take the flute out of the box and assemble it correctly.

It is important to remember how to assemble the flute carefully to ensure that the instrument doesn't get accidentally damaged.

The most important and the most difficult aspect of learning to play the flute: learning to blow.

This might take a little while, don't worry if you don't get it immediately. The sound becomes stronger with more practice. Take the time to practice to make sure you have found a comfortable position that produces a good note.

NB: lots of repetitive blowing can make you feel light-headed. Please ensure you either sit down to practice and take breaks in between.

In this video, you will learn how to hold the flute and where to place all of your fingers. We will also look at posture and position of flute playing to enable correct airflow through the flute.

We are now starting to look at some fundamentals of music theory: the stave, treble clef, bars, bar line, notes, octaves.

Our first note!

We will look at how it is: a) written on the stave, b) the fingers on the flute, c) an opportunity to practice the note.

Here we also learn that a crotchet is a 1 beat note.

There is a PDF to accompany this video to give you resources to practice.

Adding in notes A and G, how they look on the stave and how the fingers are to be placed on the flute.

Alongside beats, there are rests. A crotchet rest equals a 1 beat rest.

A time signature is the number of beats in each bar. The symbol 4/4 at the beginning of a piece of music means there are 4 crotchet beats in a bar.

Adding notes F and C.

Ensure you pause for practice to keep on top of the music theory and reading music and also to ensure the quality of the notes you are playing in the flute.

The next, new resource is also available.

A little challenge for you to try!

Next steps part 1.

Bb is our new note which is in between A and B in pitch.

A new sign here is the natural sign which brings a note to its' "natural" state.

Don't be afraid to watch any of the videos again to refresh your memory or to clarify any of the new learning ponts.

We already know a crotchet = 1. A minum = 2. A minum is a 2 beat note that appears like a crotchet but instead of a black centre, it has a white centre.

We are stepping things up a little here and learning 2 notes at once: low E and middle E.

We are also adding in a new value of note, a semibreve. A semibreve = 4 beats.

It can be a helpful aide to write down the names of notes on your music, just at this stage as you are learning the notes. Then as you become more familiar you will not need to write it down.

Luckily, on the flute, we start repeating the fingers of the notes, we have to tailor our breath to achieve the sound of the correct note. This new note, F, has the same fingers but we need to blow a little extra. Sometimes, as we are learning, you can go between the two different octaves of notes. Over time you will become familiar with how much air you need to put into the flute to achieve the desired note.

We know that 4/4 means there are 4 crotchet beats in a bar. 2/4 means there are 2 crotchet beats in a bar.

The top number represents how many notes there are and the bottom number represents the type of note.

The first scale, F major. F major starts on the lower F and finished on the middle F. In F major we play Bb instead of B natural.

Time fpr a recap and a quiz!

Getting up into the higher range of notes, using ledger lines and 2 ledgers lines.

The last value of note we are going to cover in this course is a semiquaver.

Extra notes High D, C, Eb, Ab and G#