Why not extend your palette with harmonics and overtones? Part 1

By Dean Stallard

Why should you be practicing harmonics and overtones, when should you start and what are they?

The answer to the first question is that if your range has extended above D2 you are already actively practicing harmonics and overtones as you learn to fine tune your embouchure to whichever register you are playing in.

The use of harmonics and overtones is central to elementary flute playing at the most basic level. This should answer the second question as to when one should introduce work on harmonics and overtones; at the very beginning!

The point is to consciously gain fine control of this element, to help improve your standard playing and at the same to perhaps extend your palette of available timbres and fingering choices.

So what are harmonics and overtones? The simple answer to this is that they are the same thing. Two words used synonymously, sometimes confusingly, to describe the acoustic phenomenen of the harmonic series. Good, now we’ve got that out of the way I choose from now on to talk only about “harmonics”, saving ink, paper and my limited typing skillsJ

A full explanation of the harmonic series is well beyond the scope of this article as it would take a whole book to go fully into the subject. In fact many have written books on the subject and the Internet is full of resources explaining this phenomenen in depth. One very useful source on the harmonic series and how it relates directly to the flute is Trevor Wye`s “Practice Book for the Flute- Volume 4 Intonation”(published by Novello). I remember Trevor writing somewhere that this is the practice book that has sold least copies. A strange situation that so many work on the books for Tone and Technique but fail to equip themselves with the knowledge to apply their hard work musically. I encourage you all to rectify this situation and buy a copy of this book. For the rest of this article I will assume that you now own (or will shortly do so) a copy of Practice Book 4- Intonation or have done a search on the Internet on “harmonic+series+flute”. While you’re at it you can order a copy of Practice Book 1- Tone, as I will be using some examples from this in Part 2.

(Some days pass, the dutiful readers study as directed………..)

So as we now hopefully are aware, any note played will set up sympathetic vibrations at set intervals from the original note. This is the harmonic series and the original note and each sympathetic vibration is a harmonic. Which harmonics are present and in what degree will decide the timbre of the note and to a large degree is how we can instantly tell which instrument we are listening to. It should be noted that any object set in vibration will set up a harmonic series but that musical instruments have been developed to exploit the series to give them resonance and clarity and richness of tone which brings us on to;

Cork position- the correct or incorrect positioning of the cork in your head joint will affect the relationship of the harmonics to each other. Moving the cork affects higher notes more than low notes and this is why for example moving the cork too far in will effectively stretch your octaves making the high notes too sharp. This can be compensated for in the embouchure but what you can`t compensate for is that each harmonic has become sharper and sharper as you move up through the harmonic series. This can drastically affect not only the tuning but the resonance and timbre of the flute. Remember we are talking about sympathetic vibrations, if conditions are unsympathetic they just won`t be there leaving you with a dull tone. Of course moving the cork the other way will have the opposite effect on tuning but the same unhappy result on your tone. So stop fiddling with that “screw thingy” on top of the head-joint and use your cleaning rod to check your cork position often!

So, when thinking about flute resonance and timbre all harmonics are of interest. For our purpose right now the most interesting harmonics are the original note (the 1^st harmonic or fundamental), the 2^nd harmonic (an octave above), the 3^rd harmonic ( a 12^th above) and the 4^th harmonic (2 octaves above the original note). These harmonics are of special interest to us because our standard fingering series on the flute are based on these overtones (look, a synonym!).

As you work your way up through the range on the flute you will be employing fingerings (sometimes modified) based on harmonics of the 1^st register (C1-C#2). Your ability to set your embouchure to the harmonic in question will decide how succesful the actual fingering employed is and will therefore have a direct impact on the quality and tuning of the note.

Fingerings from C1 to C#2 are all fundamentals. From D2 to C#3 we are employing the 2^nd harmonics of the notes C1 to C#2. A change in embouchure is needed to secure these notes. I explain this change to my pupils as going from “ah” to “oo”. The lips advance, shortening the air reed (the distance from the lips to the outer edge of the embouchure hole on the flute) and at the same time the lip aperture becomes smaller, accelerating the air stream. All this favours the second harmonic and helps secure the note. From this we can deduce a rule (remembering of course that rules, especially in music, always have exceptions!); to advance from one harmonic to the next above the air reed must be shortened and the air stream must be accelerated. All we are doing is making conditions favourable for a higher frequency to resonate more strongly. It`s that simple and no amount of elbow flapping or standing on tippy toes is going to get it done!! All you need to do is change the distance between your lips and the blowing edge and the lip opening in relation to how much air you are using.

Pure genious eh? Unfortunately I can`t take credit for this as the concept is as old as the transverse flute itself, Quantz for example writes about it in his treatise from 1750.

It should be noted that D2 and Eb2 are modified (vented) by lifting the index finger. This effectively places them in no-mans land between the 1^st and 2^nd registers. These notes can be succesfully played with a basic 1^st or 2^nd register embouchure depending on the timbre desired for the specific context.

What you should understand from all of this is that unless you can control this embouchure change from the fundamental to the 2^nd harmonic independantly of air volume (i.e. blowing like billy-ho to hit the 2^nd register!) your playing will be unstable and in many cases ugly and painful for those around you. This change is a basic foundation of flute playing and you can`t hope to satisfactorily control notes of the 3^rd and 4^th registers unless you have good control between the 1^st and 2^nd.

Work on gracefully playing up to the next octave from the notes C1-C#2 without straining. Think “ah-oo” moving your lips forwards until the 2^nd harmonic sounds sweetly and cleanly. Use a mirror to see what is happening. If you experience difficulty try using “pu” instead of “oo” as this can help focus your lips and gives a little shot of air that might help. Once you experience some success with “pu” try to go back to “oo” and do the same.

One point to remember is that if you are playing the fundamental with a good rich sound then the 2^nd harmonic will already be sounding strongly. All you are doing is changing conditions to favour the 2^nd harmonic. Make sure your head joint is rolled out enough to give a good rich sound without weakening the fundamental.

Another interesting point is that if the 2^nd harmonic is played with a good rich sound then the 3^rd harmonic will also sound strongly. The human ear will usually recognise this combination and get the impression that the fundamental is still sounding. If you want to add “depth” to your sound in the 2^nd register, rather than thinking more about notes lower than the one you are playing, centre the note more to get a good rich 2^nd and 3^rd harmonic (remember that the note you are playing is the 2^nd harmonic).

Play simple phrases and tunes that lie below C#2 and then repeat them up an octave, concentrating all the time on the change needed in the embouchure. This should be a part of your daily routine.

Note that I wrote “daily”. Regular practice is the key to success. If you manage to do nothing more than 10 minutes warm-up on some days incorporating changing from the 1^st to the 2^nd registers you can be sure in the knowledge that your teacher will cringe a little less at your next lessonJ

Right then, that should give you enough to work with for a couple of months. Next time in part 2 we`ll take a look at the 3<sup>rd</sup> and 4<sup>th</sup> harmonics and now that the background information is out of the way I`ll have more space to give you exercises.