Skip's Tips

Skips Tips Express - The Low D

Skip — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 12:02:24 -0700

The flute lesson for people who don't have the time for a flute lesson. Skip shares his views, opinions and techniques for playing in a fast paced, 60 second flute lesson. Just click on the Hideout SXPF Music Player thingy and check it out! It's only 60 seconds, what have you got to lose???

Head Positions

admin — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 20:43:31 -0700

How To Position a Wooden Flute Headjoint for Good Tone & Volume

In the past I've spoken about using your fingers, don't give up your embouchure, and breathe when you breathe. The one thing these all have in common is that your head is playing a very active roll in all of these techniques. One important thing to keep in mind is the position of your head in relation to the embouchure hole on your flute.

The Importance of Projecting

admin — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 20:45:24 -0700

Projecting Good Tone on Wooden Flute

I'm baaaack.....!

Sorry being gone for a bit, but I just finished a new recording called Purgatory Chasm that I'm very excited about. It should be available in a few weeks. Now for a lesson.

The Importance of Projecting

Control = Speed

admin — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 20:48:45 -0700

Getting Up To Speed on Irish Flute

Be honest. Have you ever driven your care 45 MPH in a 25 MPH zone? Like most regulations, formal or informal, there is a reason for this rule. A speed restriction on our cars is meant to enhance public safety. It implies a certain vehicular decorum, if you will. It's the same thing in a session.

Play What You Hear When You Hear It

admin — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 20:49:34 -0700

Playing Each Note with Confidence

I've talked about how important it is to listen to what is going on around you while you're playing. As we've said, music at its best is like conversation at its best. This entails listening, understanding, and responding to what is being said or played. The trick is to not wait too long before responding. Let's think about notes for a minute. I like to think that a note is comprised of three parts.

Release Me, Let Me Go

admin — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 20:50:26 -0700

Tone Hole Techniques for Wooden Flute

Gotta Put Da' UUHHH In Da' THAAANG

admin — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 20:51:20 -0700

Putting Passion and Pulse into Wooden Flute Tunes

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Go Home and Practice

admin — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 20:52:03 -0700

Good Practice Techniques for Wooden / Irish Flute

First off, I would like to welcome all of the new members that we have on the Skip's Tips list. At the moment, we have nearly 450 people from ten different countries who apparently have nothing better to do, but read my nonsense. Welcome!

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Go Home and Practice - Part Duh

admin — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 20:53:59 -0700

Warming Up To Play Wooden / Irish Flute

Now that we have spent the last week lurking about in our hallways and bathrooms blowing on our headjoints till they are nice and warm, it's time to get to the good stuff.

People often ask how they can tell when the headjoint is warmed up. It's easy. The headjoint will feel warm to the touch. At this point, let's assemble your flute.

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Angles and The Position

admin — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 20:54:49 -0700

Good Posture for Playing Wooden Flute

This tip will be my idea of what optimum posture is and why it is essential to think of your body position in relation to the flute.

Sit up straight in a straight-backed chair. Keep your head pointed straight ahead and shoulders squared and parallel to your hips. Your neck is straight and your head is in its most natural position.

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Learning Irish Flute Tunes By Ear

admin — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 20:56:09 -0700

First off, I would like to welcome back the Minister of Information for the Healy Flute Cartel, Mr. John Harvey. John recently returned from his first trip to Ireland. If you want to see some of images of the musical side of his trip, just go to this link:

http://www.rhodeirish.net/frames/dublin_comhaltas.htm

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Do What You Think You're Doing

admin — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 20:56:54 -0700

Putting Passion Into Your Wooden Flute Playing

Before we get into this week's tip, I want to ask everyone to put on their thinking caps, open a new email, and send me ideas for what you want to hear me rant about in this column. There's no limit. Send me all you've got and everything you're thinking about. This will help me determine what kind of information you really need, compared to what I might think you want to read about.

This week I'm going to give you a quickie...

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So You Wanna Hear About Ornaments?

admin — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 21:00:04 -0700

A Short Guide To Ornamentation on Wooden / Irish Flute

First off, I'd like to thank all the folk who responded to my request for future subject matter in this column. All of the suggestions were thought provoking, though some may prove anatomically impossible to achieve. More on that later...

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The Scoop on Glissando & Vibrato

admin — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 21:01:34 -0700

More Ornamentation on Wooden Flute

I'd like to continue on with the subject of ornamentation that was begun in the past missive. The next two components of the seven venial sins of ornamentation that I'd like to talk about are vibrato and glissando. There are two main styles or techniques of vibrato. One is a finger manipulation while the other is done through breath and muscle control.

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Anybody for a Roll?

admin — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 21:02:25 -0700

How To Play a Roll on the Wooden Flute

The next stop on our whimsical mystery tour through the wonders of ornamentation takes us to the magical land of rolls. There are different kinds of rolls for different situations...a jelly roll with coffee in the morning, for example or a lovey kaiser roll for your hamburger in the afternoon. And of course, the furious rolling of your fingers as we play Irish tunes.

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Hear Ye! Hear Ye!

admin — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 21:03:03 -0700

The Zen Behind the Zoom in Irish Flute

Skip and John here. Welcoming you all, old and new members, to another chapter of Dante's...oops, I mean Skip's Tips. Many of you know that I sometimes do very technique-oriented tips, and sometimes very Zen tips. This is a Zen tip. Or, as I like to call it, the Zen behind the Zoom.

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Advanced Fingering Techniques

admin — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 21:03:59 -0700

Third Octave Fingerings for Wooden Flute

Skip and John here once again with a few thought provoking and hopefully helpful words to say about flutes and related themes. First off, we always encourage people to contact us with comments or suggestions for topics for me to bloviate upon. In the past several months, we've received more and more comments and we thank you for them.

Today's topic is "Advanced Fingering Techniques." Getting nervous yet...?

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Breath When You Breath

admin — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 20:38:25 -0700

Good Breathing Techniques for Playing Wooden / Irish Flute

We all get a bit "dry" when playing from time to time, when that happens, we reach for a glass of whatever and take a good pull off it to quench our thirst. Do the same thing when you breathe. Make sure you actually have an intake of air that is sufficient to play the next passage.

Try to fill your lungs and not just your throat with air. You should hear a deep "whoosh" sound when you inhale, not just a brief gasp.

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Weather or Not

admin — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 21:04:41 -0700

A Quick Repair Kit for Irish Flute Players

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Don't Give Up Your Embouchure

admin — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 20:39:33 -0700

Building a Strong Embouchure for Wooden / Irish Flute

In the last tip, we talked about getting a good supply of air. Remember, no air = no tune. In this lesson, let's discuss how to use it. Let's approach this from the standpoint that we're trying to fuse two separate machines into one integral unit. The flute is the machine that creates the tones and the player is the machine that supplies the fuel (air).

ALWAYS REMEMBER THAT YOUR EMBOUCHURE IS THE MOST CRITICAL FACTOR IN CREATING AND SUSTAINING TONE.

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Feel the Bore

admin — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 21:05:28 -0700

How Bore Design Impacts Your Playing Wooden / Irish Flute

Skip Healy & John Harvey here for another inner voyage into the Zen behind the Zoom. In past columns, I've tried to offer advice on both the physicality and philosophy that I feel is involved in playing flutes or fifes well. Today, I'd like to talk about the "feel" generated by various bore designs existing in flutes, fifes, and piccolos.

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USE Your Fingers...

admin — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 20:40:15 -0700

Finger Techniques for Creating Clean Notes

The first step of this lesson is to get your minds out of the gutter...

People often ask "How do you get notes to pop out of the flute?" The best way to create this effect is to bring your fingers firmly down on the flute when you close tone holes.

Listen to the playing of Matt Malloy. You can hear his fingers slapping down on the flute to close the tone holes. This gives a really cool percussive feel to your style of playing, too.

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Volume Control

admin — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 21:06:09 -0700

Maintaining Consistent Tone and Volume When Playing Wooden Flute

Skip Healy and John Harvey here once again after a short post Wind On The Bay hiatus. Here in the States, our Thanksgiving holiday has just passed. Hanukkah is upon us and Christmas and New Years loom imminent before us.

WHO HAS TIME TO BLOW ON A DANG FLUTE ANYWAY!

But for those who do, here is something to think about.

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Vibrato or Quiver-Quaver

admin — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 20:41:01 -0700

Good Vibrato Technique on Wooden Flute

Many people ask me about playing vibrato. There are basically three kinds of vibrato used in the various forms of traditional flute and fife music. I would like to talk about my two favorites. One is the traditional finger-style vibrato and the other is the more "classical" abdominally-driven vibrato.

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Straight from The Lip

admin — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 21:06:53 -0700

A Lesson About Embouchure on the Wooden Flute

Skip Healy and John Harvey here again shooting straight from the lip this time. This tip is inspired by a question sent to me by Bill Goelz.

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Don't Let The Bottom Fall Off

admin — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 20:41:31 -0700

A Quick Fix for Cork Wrapped Tenons

Most Irish flute players use flutes that often have cork wrapped tenons. If you find that you're losing power on your low notes, it may because the tenons are too loose. This causes the flute to leak and you lose response as a result.

For a quick fix:

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Pick Your Partner

admin — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 21:07:45 -0700

Choosing the Right Wooden Flute for You

For the second time, here is a question submitted by Bill Goelz. To paraphrase, is it better to stick with one flute or play a mix of several flutes? For the sake of full disclosure, I will say that one of the flutes that Bill plays is a Skip Healy flute, not that that would influence my opinion or anything...heh, heh, heh.

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D# or Eb? It's Enharmonic!

admin — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 20:42:35 -0700

How (and Why) To Use the D# Key on your Wooden Flute

A lot of people wonder about the Eb (or D#) key at the end of their flute and whether they should use it or not. I think everyone should make an attempt to learn how to use this key. To me, it almost always improves the intonation and tone color of the Eb note (or D#) of every flute I've heard played. Irish pipers use this technique of passing through the Eb (or D#) to get to low Ds, and it really freaks them out when you do it along with them on the flute!

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