Welcome to the flute

classroom!
Click on the lesson number for today to begin.
 If you press your up arrow key while you see
this symbol, you can return to the previous slide

Flute Lesson 1
Let’s begin!
Press the down arrow to continue
What you will need…

Before starting this lesson, please get your:

1. Flute with its case

2. Your music journal
3. A pencil
 Introduction to the flute:

1. Please listen to the video

(1 minute long)
2. Stop and write 2 words
that describe how the
piece sounds.
3. Then you may hit the
down arrow to continue.
Recap
Some words you may have used to describe the
performance are:

High, sad, mysterious, or fast

Objective
In this lesson, we will try to make a sound on the headjoint of the flute

Now that we’ve listened to some flute playing, let’s prepare to make our own sound.

Press the down arrow to continue

Where do we start?

Before we play the flute, we have to learn to form an embouchure.

An embouchure is the position of our mouth we use to play an

instrument, such as the flute.

On the next slide, we’ll learn how to position our mouth to play the
flute.

Press the down arrow to continue.

Embouchure = the position of our mouth

for playing an instrument
Forming an embouchure

1. Say “M&M”

2. Without shifting your mouth,

make a “P” sound as if you were
saying “pffffffff” and blow air out of
your lips.
Embouchure reference
3. … That’s it!

4. If you look in a mirror while

doing this, your lips should look
something like this:

5. Press the down arrow

 Headjoint

Let’s make some sound!

1. Open your flute case and take out the

headjoint. It looks like this:

2. This is the tone hole. This is the hole

we will blow over to make a sound.
tone hole

3. To play on the headjoint, hold the

closed end with your left hand and put
your right hand palm on the open end.

4. Press the down arrow to continue

Let’s make some sound! cont.

This is what you should look like before you

play on the headjoint:

The flutist here is placing her embouchure

right behind the tone hole,
with her bottom lip lined up with the edge of
the hole

Press the down arrow to continue

Let’s finally make a sound!

After you have formed your

embouchure and and are holding the
headjoint correctly, say “pfffff” while
pushing air out of your lips over the tone
hole.

Were you able to produce a sound?

Press the down arrow for some

troubleshooting
Troubleshooting - Air direction
You might need to aim your air downward. To practice this, put your
headjoint down and put your hand in front of your face, open palm.

Form your flute embouchure and blow air onto your palm. Using your
jaw and lips, try and aim the direction of your air upwards and
downwards. You should be able to feel the air hitting your fingertips
and then your wrist.

When playing on the headjoint, you want to imagine blowing air at Press the
your wrist, aimed down. down arrow to
After you practice blowing on your hand, try playing on the headjoint continue
again with your air aimed down.
What did you think??
You are done for this lesson!
Recall our objective for this lesson: Make sure you put your headjoint away
In this lesson, we will try to make a in your case.
sound on the headjoint of the flute Whether or not you met the objective,
Did you meet the objective? your homework before next lesson is to
practice for at least 5 more minutes on
In your journal, write whether you were the headjoint for making a sound. If you
able to make a sound or not and write 2- can already make a sound, find different
3 sentences about your experience with ways to change your sound on the
making a sound on the headjoint. headjoint and do some general
experimentation.
(What was hard? What was easy? What
was fun? What was boring?) See you in the next lesson!
 If you press your up arrow key while you see
this symbol, you can return to the previous slide

Flute Lesson 2
Let’s begin!
Press the down arrow to continue
What you will need…
Before starting this lesson, please find:

1. Flute with its case

2. Your music journal
3. A pencil
4. A steady, flat table or counter
5. Video recorder (computer is fine)
Let’s review!

1. Before we begin the lesson, let’s review how to make a

sound on the headjoint.
2. Click on the headjoint to review how to make a sound on the
headjoint.
3. If you don’t need this review, please practice on the
headjoint and make some sounds.
4. After you have practiced making a sound for 30 seconds,
you may continue.
Were you able to get a sound?
It’s okay if you are still unable to make a sound.
Practice makes better!

Objective
In this lesson, we will assemble the flute and make a short video.

First, we need to learn about the pieces of the flute.

Press the down arrow to continue

 Before we begin…

Before looking at the parts of the flute, bring all your materials to a flat, steady table
or countertop where you can place everything.

It’s important to have plenty of workspace so you don’t accidentally drop any of the
pieces of the flute. It also helps to have a chair where you can sit while you work.

Once you are comfortable at a flat, steady table or counter, you may continue.
The parts of the flute

There are three main parts of the flute.

1. The headjoint 2. The body 3. The footjoint

Press the down arrow to continue.

The flute body
The body
Since we have already held and used the
headjoint, we will begin today with the body.

Go ahead and pick up the flute body

with two hands and check it out.

After spending a little bit looking at it,

write down three things you see on the
body of the flute. After you’re finished writing, you may
press the down arrow to continue.
Let’s do the same thing with the footjoint
Now you may take the footjoint from the
The footjoint
case and look at it.

Look for things that are the same or different

from the body.

After examining the footjoint, write down

three things you notice are different or
similar about the footjoint from the body.
Press the down arrow to
continue
We will now put the flute together!

Watch the video of Mr. Quill putting the

flute together and follow along!
Now you make a video!
Take your video recorder, either a
computer or a mobile device and
open your video recording app.
● Set yourself up in a similar way
to Mr. Quill for his tutorial video.
● Make a video and read off your
notes to explain how to put the
flute together.
● Don’t just copy Mr. Quill’s video!
● You can get an adult to help you
with this, too.
Grading scheme:
You should make sure you are visible to the
viewer and that you can be heard.
Make sure to cover all of the major steps in
the process.
The video should be less than 3 minutes long.
Upload your video once it is
complete. Afterwards, push
down to continue.
After you have finished your video…

Disassemble your flute and put it away.

Your homework is to continue to practice making a sound on the headjoint.

Try to do at least five minutes of good practice before the next lesson.

After you are cleaned up, you are done for the day!
Oops!

If you pressed the up key on the previous slide, you are in the wrong spot!

It’s okay, just press the down key to return to where you were.
Review of playing the headjoint: Embouchure
Press the house to return
1. Say “M&M” to the beginning of this
2. Without shifting your mouth, lesson.

make a “P” sound as if you were

saying “pffffffff” and blow air out of
your lips.

3. … That’s it!

4. If you look in a mirror while

doing this, your lips should look
something like this:

5. Press the down arrow

Review of playing the headjoint

This is what you should look like before you

play on the headjoint:

The flutist here is placing her embouchure

right behind the tone hole,
with her bottom lip lined up with the edge of
the hole

Press the down arrow to continue

Review of playing the headjoint

After you have formed your

embouchure and and are holding the
headjoint correctly, say “pfffff” while
pushing air out of your lips over the tone
hole.

Were you able to produce a sound?

It’s okay if not. Click the home to go to

the start of this lesson.
 If you press your up arrow key while you see
this symbol, you can return to the previous slide

Flute Lesson 3
Let’s begin!
Press the down arrow to continue
What you will need…
Before starting this lesson, please find:

1. Flute with its case

2. Your music journal
3. A pencil
4. Video recorder (computer is fine)
Let’s review!

1. Before we begin the lesson, let’s review how to make a

sound on the headjoint.
2. Click on the headjoint to review how to make a sound on the
headjoint.
3. If you don’t need this review, please practice on the
headjoint and make some sounds.
4. After you have practiced making a sound for 20 seconds,
you may continue.
It’s time to play the actual flute!

Objective
In this lesson, we will learn to hold the flute and play our first note.

First, we need to learn how to hold the flute.

Press the down arrow to continue

What do we need to do to play?

There are certain things that must be done before playing the flute.

1. Assemble the flute properly

2. Hold the flute properly
3. Check posture and breathing
4. Play the flute!

Let’s start by learning how to hold the flute. Press the down arrow to continue.
 Watch Jane the flute teacher!

Watch the following video clip:

If you can’t get the video to play,

just copy and paste this link into
Google and stop the video at 3:57.

https://youtu.be/gEky3SwXuQU?t=
155

After finishing the video, press the down arrow to continue.

Review of hand position

Here are the spots your fingers should be contacting:

Press the down arrow to continue.

Posture
After you have learned how to hold the flute,
place it back down.

Check your posture by seeing if

1. your back is straight

2. you’re not leaning on the back of your
chair
3. your feet are flat on the floor
4. your head is parallel to the ground Once you’ve checked your posture, you
may press the down arrow to continue.
Before we play our first note…

The first note we will play is B-flat.

It is fingered by pressing the thumb key, the left pointer finger key, the right pointer
finger key, and the right pinkie key.

Press the down

arrow to
continue.
Put it all together!
Take your flute with the right hand position,
sit up with great posture, and hold the flute
to your face, using the same embouchure as
when we played on the headjoint.

Put your fingers in the B-flat position and

try to play a note!

After attempting for a bit, please move to

the next slide.
Time to make another video!

Get your video recorder ready and position yourself

so your hands and face can be seen on the camera.

Record yourself playing a B-flat on the flute for 1 minute.

It’s okay if it does not sound right at first, I will be looking for
things I can help fix in your video.
After you have finished your video…

Disassemble your flute and put it away.

Your homework is to practice holding the flute and comparing it to Jane the flute
teacher from the video.

Practice this at least one time before the next lesson to refresh your playing
position.

After you are cleaned up, you are done for the day!
Oops!

If you pressed the up key on the previous slide, you are in the wrong spot!

It’s okay, just press the down key to return to where you were.
Review of playing the headjoint: Embouchure
Press the house to return
1. Say “M&M” to the beginning of this
2. Without shifting your mouth, lesson.

make a “P” sound as if you were

saying “pffffffff” and blow air out of
your lips.

3. … That’s it!

4. If you look in a mirror while

doing this, your lips should look
something like this:

5. Press the down arrow

Review of playing the headjoint

This is what you should look like before you

play on the headjoint:

The flutist here is placing her embouchure

right behind the tone hole,
with her bottom lip lined up with the edge of
the hole

Press the down arrow to continue

Review of playing the headjoint

After you have formed your

embouchure and and are holding the
headjoint correctly, say “pfffff” while
pushing air out of your lips over the tone
hole.

Were you able to produce a sound?

It’s okay if not. Click the home to go to

the start of this lesson.
 If you press your up arrow key while you see
this symbol, you can return to the previous slide

Flute Lesson 4
Let’s begin!
Press the down arrow to continue
What you will need…
Before starting this lesson, please find:

1. Flute with its case

2. Your music journal
3. A pencil
4. The metronome web page
Let’s review!

1. Before we begin the lesson, you can review posture, hand

position, and how to play a B-flat.
2. Click on the Jane the flute teacher to review any of the
above concepts.
3. If you don’t need this review you may continue.
It’s time to practice the flute!

Objective
In this lesson, we will practice a long tone exercise and learn about tone.

Press the down arrow to continue

Before we play…

Let’s:

1. Assemble the flute properly

2. Check your holding position
3. Check your posture and breathing

Press the down arrow to continue.

Long tone exercise - setting up the metronome
Click on the metronome to open the
metronome web page if you haven’t done so
already.

1. set the tempo slider to 60

2. Click the plus button on the number of 1
sounds to make it 4
3. Click “stress first beat” to be turned off
4. Turn your volume up loud enough to 3
hear the metronome
2
Press down when your metronome looks like
the one on the right.
Long tone exercise - directions

You will play a B-flat for 4 beats, then rest for 4 beats

Repeat this step once Use the guide below to help

Then you will play for 4 beats and rest for 3 beats visualize the beats to play and
the beats to rest
Then you will play for 4 beats and rest for 2 beats
Once you’re done, press down
Click the play button on the metronome to begin
What did you think?

Write 2-3 sentences about what you thought of the exercise.

Was it easy? Was it hard? What made it easy or hard?

Was it boring or fun? What made it boring or fun?

Write about why you think we did this exercise.

What does it help us with?

When you’re done writing, press down to continue.

What is Tone? Please read about tone below

Tone is how clean our sound is.

Good tone is created when we support our sound with lots of air.

Also it requires consistent air.

You can tell someone’s tone by the way they play long notes

If they sound unstable and inconsistent, then they need to improve their tone.

If they sound clear and steady, then they have good tone.

When you’re done reading, press down to continue.

Let’s try the long tone exercise one more time…

We’re going to do the long tone exercise from before again.

Remember to set up your metronome again like this and follow the directions on
the next slide.

3
2
Long tone exercise - directions

You will play a B-flat for 4 beats, then rest for 4 beats

Repeat this step once Use the guide below to help

Then you will play for 4 beats and rest for 3 beats visualize the beats to play and
the beats to rest
Then you will play for 4 beats and rest for 2 beats
Once you’re done, press down
Click the play button on the metronome to begin
How did the second time go?

Write 2-3 sentences about what you thought of the exercise the second time.

Did your opinion of it change?

Was it easier or harder? Why?

Write 1-3 sentences about how you think this exercise relates to tone.

When you’re done writing, press down to continue.

All done!

You may put your instrument away

Homework:

Complete the same long tone exercise from before at least one more time on your
own before the next lesson.
Oops!

If you pressed the up key on the previous slide, you are in the wrong spot!

It’s okay, just press the down key to return to where you were.
 Watch Jane the flute teacher!

Watch the following video clip:

If you can’t get the video to play,

just copy and paste this link into
Google and stop the video at 3:57.

https://youtu.be/gEky3SwXuQU?t=
155

After finishing the video, press the down arrow to continue.

Review of hand position

Here are the spots your fingers should be contacting:

Press the down arrow to continue.

Posture
After you have learned how to hold the flute,
place it back down.

Check your posture by seeing if

1. your back is straight

2. you’re not leaning on the back of your
chair
3. your feet are flat on the floor
4. your head is parallel to the ground Once you’ve checked your posture, you
may press the down arrow to continue.
Before we play our first note…

The first note we will play is B-flat.

It is fingered by pressing the thumb key, the left pointer finger key, the right pointer
finger key, and the right pinkie key.

Press the home

to go to the
beginning of the
lesson