Whistl~ Ton~ Warmup
By Laura Lentz
I began experimenting playing whis-
tle tones (also called whisper or
flageolet tones) in my warmup
recently. I had been going through a
period where I was pushing too much
to find the sound, and wanted to find a
different way to explore sound produc-
tion. The spark of inspiration occurred
while I was re-reading the warmup sec-
tion in Thomas Nyfenger's book Music
and the Flute. This sentence caught my
eye, "The whistle tone is important as
a warmup for the embouchure, because
the eye is incapable of evaluating accu-
rately the hole size or angle of air on
such minute levels of variation ... so we
turn to the (whistle) tone, which
requires relaxation as well as the prop-
er angle of air."
I was intrigued. In the past I had
experimented with whistle tones as an
extended technique, but had never
used them on a regular basis in a
warmup routine. As I began playing
these lovely, quiet, high tones, I felt
more relaxed and my use of air was
much more productive - just as
Nyfenger had said. I was curious to dis-
cover more whistle tone exercises for
use in my own warmups, as well as with
students. What follows are some tips
and exercises I have found or written.
Helen Blackburn, flute professor at
West Texas A&M, provides simple
and clear instructions about how to
produce whistle tones.
• Drop the jaw (stretch the chin
away from the nose - far!)
• Roll out- FAR!
• No pressure with the left hand.
• Release upper lip away from teeth.
Use your "beak" to aim the air.
• Feel the air travel on the inside
wet part of your aperture.
• If you hear air, you are blowing too
hard.
• If you are having a hard time find-
ing the whistle tone, try fingering
the 3rd octave note, but play as if
you are playing a note 3 octaves
lower- ppppp- just fogging up the
embouchure plate.
• It may also help to try to whistle
and/or sing the note you are aim-
ing for.
24 FLUTE TALK I DECEMBER 2013
f!!5.:9l-~
• Have patience. This is the zen
part - if you are trying the right
way, you are getting the full bene-
fits.
• You will improve every day. The
harder you work, the fewer results
you will see. Let go and surrender.
• Stop if you get frustrated.
Blackburn mentions whistling or
singing the note. This helps because
the tongue is placed in a good position
for producing whistle tones, and the
loudness of whistle tones increases
with a correct tongue placement. You
can also experiment with vowels to
further assist in the shape of the mouth
and throat. Wil Offermans, flutist and
composer, suggests vowels like
"ee/cheese" and "i/ship" for higher
whistle tones that use a relatively small
mouth cavity and vowels like
"aw/awful" and "ah/father" for lower
whistle tones that use a wider mouth
cavity.
John Krell writes in Kincaidiana that
William Kincaid had his students play
whistle tones as long tones, sustaining
them for up to ten seconds or more. I
took this idea and combined it with
the first exercise in Marcel Moyse's De
La Sonorite. Play the following exercise
all in whistle tones, holding the first
note under the fermata for one full
breath. Play these without tongue at
first, adding a light tongue when com-
fortable.
{.\ ;1;;
~1 - E 1fff
b{~t'~ {.\
~ f' r 1_ f f ff1
(' bb'
~- r 1 ftt 1_
;1;-; b{.\
~H t 1- E E I u
Another good beginning exercise is
Peter-Lukas Graf's "Ding Dong" exer-
cise, originally found in his book
Check-up, and adapted by Helen
Blackburn. I expanded the idea of
using familiar melodies as whistle tone
exercises. This exercise is to be played
all in whistle tones.
~
~f~t
~''~i
~t
-----------
t ~ f ~~ ~ t ~
One could also practice alternating
playing a whistle tone and then a nor-
mally blown note. Sustain a whistle
tone (pianissimo) and then play the
normally blown note with the same
embouchure and angle of air (using
regular fingerings for both) and
increase the air pressure. Robert Dick,
American flutist and composer,
explains the goal is to reduce the
amount of lip motion between the
whisper tone and regularly blown
notes, to a minimum. He adds, "A
b{.\ good way to think of the difference
1. t between the whisper tones and nor-
mally blown notes is that in the nor-
mally played high notes, the air plays a
~ role in supporting the lip opening,
while in the whisper tones, the same
opening must be made and held open
by the lips without any help from the
{.\ air stream."
r I developed the following exercise to
explore this idea. Play the first note as
a whistle tone, pianissimo, the second
b~ as a regular tone, fortissimo, using regu-
II
lar fingerings for both. Play without
tongue, breathe as needed. (See top of
following page.)
 To sum up, as part ot a daily warmup
~~
<>: <>: ~f':
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~ ~t t diet, practicing whistle tones gives
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IE 4l flutists the opportunity to slow down
the process of tone production and
~£}: explore the "minute levels of varia-
~e: e: ~<>: f':
t: ~ E ~ tion" that Nyfenger wrote about. In
~~~-'::_~
~-- --~ ~ ~ addition to an improved understand-
ing of what the embouchure is doing,
b<>: ~ there is an increased sense of relax-
E ~
i2 ~ <>: f: e: b~ 2:

~ i= ation and wonderful lessons in

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±tz=I J: ± patience. I highly encourage everyone
to use whistle tones in their practice
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f': and in teaching. t·
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Resources
"H.B.'s Super-Duper Zen Yoga Warm

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f'-
Up," by Helen Blackburn. http://www.
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. --++-------==£
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.=d depts.ttu.edu/music/flutestudio/downloads/
~ ResourceLinks/H.B. %2 7sSuper- Duper Zen

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YogaWarmUp. pdf
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=Ji --_ . _-;;_ -=+ -==-~~~~-
:-: f {2 f "Some Basics of Extended Techniques" by
--=~~- ~~ Helen Blesdoe. http://www.helenbledsoe.
com/ETWorkshop. pdf
Tone Development through Extended
Techniques by Robert Dick
To challenge yourself even more, (Patience: It took me a long time to Music and the Flute by Thomas Nyfenger
you could practice very low whistle get to Low C!) It may help to think For the ContemjJorary Flutist by Wil
tones as Helen Bledsoe suggests. She about having a "tall embouchure" Offermans
writes, "Work on controlling a slow
air stream by practicing very low
(very open in the middle). It may also
help to think of having a cushion of
Kincaidiana by John Krell
Music and the Flute by Thomas Nyfenger
I
whistle tones. Your embouchure has
to be very steady because there is lit-
air behind your lips (i.e., your lips are
not too flat against your teeth) and to Laura Lentz is a flutist and studio
II
tle air behind it to support it. relax your jaw." teacher based in Rochester, New York. I
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DECEMBER 2013 /FLUTE TALK 25