Name: How to Make Your First Sound and Embouchure
Uploaded: 2021-09-25T22:25:52.000Z
Duration: 12 min 40 s

In this video you will get detailed instructions on how to form your embouchure (the special lip position for playing the flute) and how to produce your first sounds on the flute. I will guide you through the whole process of how to find the correct position of the flute on your chin, as well as how to trouble-shoot common mistakes when trying to make your first sounds on the flute. After watching this video you will be able to make a clear beautiful sound on the head-joint of your flute with ease! 

Flute

I am a professional flutist based in California, and teaching flute to kids is my passion. I am constantly refining my teaching skills by regularly attending teacher  training courses, masterclasses with renowned flute pedagogues, and performers, as well as staying updated on all the new teaching techniques. Some recent courses that I have attended to improve my teaching have been the "Flute Roots" pedagogy course with renowned flute educator Dr. Katherine Emeneth,  as well as the "Music minus Pain" course for teachers with Body-mapping expert and flute teacher Dr. Lea Pearson. When you enroll your child in lessons with me, I can guarantee that making sure that your child not only makes progress in their playing, but also enjoys the process will be my top priority. Not only do I strive to provide the best lesson experience possible, but I will go above and beyond to help your child learn, by providing detailed lesson notes and assignments after every lesson, recording videos of their repertoire/exercises for them to listen to throughout the week, as well as letting the student send me little audio recordings of their playing mid-week, and giving some feedback, so that they can feel supported and completely on track in between their weekly lessons.

In my flute lessons I aim for helping the student to achieve good technique, and learn to play with a beautiful tone, and to make steady progress in learning the flute, but I also aim for making sure that the student is enjoying their lesson experience: I create a positive, and encouraging atmosphere in lessons, consider the student's learning style, as well as their musical interests. Though most of the repertoire studied in lessons is selected by me, to best fit the student's level, I always give the student several options of musical pieces to choose from, as well as encourage them to bring music which they are interested in playing. I want my students to learn from me all the necessary skills for being a good musician, but to also develop a love of music, and to enjoy the process. 

 A little bit about my own experience as a flutist:

I have played flute since the age of 10, and went on to study Flute performance in college: I attended the "Saint-Petersburg Music College named after N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov" in Russia. It is one of the best music colleges in the country. I have been lucky enough to have amazing teachers, while studying there: Natalya Zaznobina--an "Honorary worker in the arts of the Russian Federation", Dr. Alexander Kiskachi--a wonderful flute professor, and expert in child music education, and Olesya Tertychnaya--the first flute of the Saint Petersburg Philarmonic Orchestra. They have taught me a great deal about not only being a great performer, but also on being a good teacher, and I channel the knowledge I gained there into my lessons. 

During my studies in Russia, I have also extensively attended masterclasses with such "stars" of the flute-world as Emanuel Pahud, James Galway, Denis Bouriakov. I have also performed  with various orchestras, chamber ensembles and as a soloist. I have been performing with "Apollo Arts", a California based non-profit organization for years, and even performed as Principal Chair Flute with my college orchestra in a performance at the world-famous Mariinsky Theater.

I had to leave and go back to the US, due to family circumstances shortly before graduating, so I have transferred to the Sacramento State University music department, and will be completing my BM in Flute performance under the guidance of Dr. Katherine Apple.

How to Make Your First Sound and Embouchure

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Beginner

Intermediate

Privately teaching flute students ages 5-80; teaching beginner and intermediate levels

Flute Teacher

Teaching English as a Second Language to small children in Russia

ESL Teacher

English

I am a professional flutist based in California, and teaching flute to kids is my passion. I am constantly refining my teaching skills by regularly attending teacher  training courses, masterclasses with renowned flute pedagogues, and performers, as well as staying updated on all the new teaching techniques. Some recent courses that I have attended to improve my teaching have been the "Flute Roots" pedagogy course with renowned flute educator Dr. Katherine Emeneth,  as well as the "Music minus Pain" course for teachers with Body-mapping expert and flute teacher Dr. Lea Pearson. When you enroll your child in lessons with me, I can guarantee that making sure that your child not only makes progress in their playing, but also enjoys the process will be my top priority. Not only do I strive to provide the best lesson experience possible, but I will go above and beyond to help your child learn, by providing detailed lesson notes and assignments after every lesson, recording videos of their repertoire/exercises for them to listen to throughout the week, as well as letting the student send me little audio recordings of their playing mid-week, and giving some feedback, so that they can feel supported and completely on track in between their weekly lessons.

In my flute lessons I aim for helping the student to achieve good technique, and learn to play with a beautiful tone, and to make steady progress in learning the flute, but I also aim for making sure that the student is enjoying their lesson experience: I create a positive, and encouraging atmosphere in lessons, consider the student's learning style, as well as their musical interests. Though most of the repertoire studied in lessons is selected by me, to best fit the student's level, I always give the student several options of musical pieces to choose from, as well as encourage them to bring music which they are interested in playing. I want my students to learn from me all the necessary skills for being a good musician, but to also develop a love of music, and to enjoy the process. 

 A little bit about my own experience as a flutist:

I have played flute since the age of 10, and went on to study Flute performance in college: I attended the "Saint-Petersburg Music College named after N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov" in Russia. It is one of the best music colleges in the country. I have been lucky enough to have amazing teachers, while studying there: Natalya Zaznobina--an "Honorary worker in the arts of the Russian Federation", Dr. Alexander Kiskachi--a wonderful flute professor, and expert in child music education, and Olesya Tertychnaya--the first flute of the Saint Petersburg Philarmonic Orchestra. They have taught me a great deal about not only being a great performer, but also on being a good teacher, and I channel the knowledge I gained there into my lessons. 

During my studies in Russia, I have also extensively attended masterclasses with such "stars" of the flute-world as Emanuel Pahud, James Galway, Denis Bouriakov. I have also performed  with various orchestras, chamber ensembles and as a soloist. I have been performing with "Apollo Arts", a California based non-profit organization for years, and even performed as Principal Chair Flute with my college orchestra in a performance at the world-famous Mariinsky Theater.

I had to leave and go back to the US, due to family circumstances shortly before graduating, so I have transferred to the Sacramento State University music department, and will be completing my BM in Flute performance under the guidance of Dr. Katherine Apple. 

I believe in slow but steady progress, guided by the system and curriculum which I create individually for each of my students. All of the lessons which I teach are not spontaneous, but carefully crafted and planned out by me, according to what the student most needs to work on at the moment, and structured around what will be most beneficial for the student.

 

I build my lessons on a ladder system: ensuring that the first level is completely understood and absorbed by the student, before moving on to the next level of difficulty, constantly deepening and widening the knowledge and skills of the previous levels, as we move up.

 

Besides learning the basic technical and musical skills needed for playing their instrument, I make sure to teach my students about music theory, music history, music form and structure, spending some time in each lesson to offer them some knowledge in these areas.

 

I believe that positive reinforcement should be at the core of all musical education, and that is something that I practice daily in my teaching career.

The materials used will largely depend on the student, but, generally, with beginners I use either Blocki Flute Method Book 1, Flute 101, or A tune a day for flute book 1 (the book used will depend on the student, and how they learn--after a few lessons I will decide which one will work best for them). Often I will use a combination of 2 books. There will also be supplementary material, which I will send out prior to the lesson, which the student can then print out or have on a computer screen. 
For intermediate students I use Flute 102, A tune a day for flute Book 2 (or a combination of both) + supplementary materials, such as etudes and excerpts from standard flute repertoire. 
For advanced students, we will probably not use any method book, but we will use a combination of flute repertoire, etudes, and studies, which will be selected by me. 
***I encourage students to bring music to lessons that they have a personal interest in working on--whether it be classical, or contemporary music, music from movies , etc. I am always happy to support the students' musical interests. However, this will be supplementary material, and will not replace the usual work with a method book and repertoire selected by me.

Diana is an incredible teacher. She is so patient and so helpful! My 10yo son loves his flute lessons with her. She follows each lesson up with instructions and videos, and she is conscientious of his progress. Highly recommended!

Our 16 year old daughter had a wonderful lesson and is looking forward to many more!

Diana is an excellent musician. She has studied under very fine masters in Russia .  I have seen  her in many concerts as a soloist, part of an ensemble and in an orchestra.  Not only is she a fine musician but also a very good teacher.  I highly recommend taking flute lessons from a very gifted artist.

Diana is an excellent instructor! Patient, encouraging and super good at explaining. She took my 11 year old daughter from not being able to play a single note and not knowing how to read music to playing pieces and reading notes at top speed really fast! And my daughter always looks forward to her next lesson with Ms. Diana! She sends a detailed homework assignment after each lesson as well as a monthly progress report. My daughter loves her lessons and Ms. Diana takes great care to make practicing not just effective but fun! She has a great understanding of children and how to get them engaged.

Diana was a super kind and friendly teacher. My son is 9 years old and he really enjoyed his first lesson. My son didn't play for 6 months plus and he wanted to get back into it. She asked many questions beforehand, in order to get him on the correct level. There are more lessons to be followed in the upcoming weeks with her.

Diana really helped me with tone and with correcting my finger tension. Starting flute again after 30 years, I remembered the theory but Diana showed me how to play more smoothly, connect the notes with better phrasing and understand the musicality of the whole piece.  

She gives useful exercises for embouchure to get a much better sound and helps one enjoy working with the details that hold one back.  

Diana showed me what to appreciate in recordings of masters like Galway and Pahud, so I enjoy the exercises that will improve in my playing.  

I have also seen her coach groups of intermediate players to blend together for ensemble pieces.  

Definitely I would recommend Diana as being a patient and pleasant teacher to work with.

Diana is first rate and helps me a lot each lesson. There is nothing like personal, Individual instruction, especially for embouchure difficulties. She has access to practice books to down load that are excellent. She is always looking for warm ups and etudes that make the most of your practice time. I highly recommend her.

I was really dumb in flute but she helped me a lot to improve in many areas. She has patiences to teach people like me who are not confident in playing. 
I heard about her from one of my friend who studied in Russia’s prestigious university and she also took lessons from her many times. She is really a rare person with a great talent at very young age. I would recommend to every age group.

Diana is a truly knowledgeable, inspiring and passionate instructor! I am so happy to have had the opportunity to take classes from her. When I first came to class I was a complete beginner but she patiently worked with me through the basics of playing, gradually giving me more and more challenging material, so that after a year of classes with her I went from a total beginner to being able to read music, understand theory and be able to play pieces quite well! She is kind, patient, explains very well, and is incredibly knowledgeable in her field. She sends detailed notes after every lesson as well as recordings, and check up emails to get you inspired to practice throughout the week. I was always looking forward to my next flute lesson with her and would never dream of going to any other instructor!

This video has lots of great tips on being able to balance your flute much better and hold it up more easily by showing how to adjust your hand position for perfect flute balance. 

How to balance your flute better

Proper flute headjoint positioning is essential to creating a beautiful sound on the flute. In this video lesson I give a detailed explanation of how to get the headjoint in just the right spot in order to get a clear and beautiful flute sound every time. The student can expect to learn the 5 steps to getting the flute headjoint into the proper position. 

Diana Y.

How to Make Your First Sound and Embouchure

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How to balance your flute better

Correct Flute Headjoint Placement

How to Make Your First Sound and Embouchure

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