Extended Techniques for the Flute
The many wonderful, creative, and colourful sounds and textures available to us on the flute beyond 'standard' styles and techniques are known as extended techniques. Some people believe that extended techniques are just 'bells and whistles’; whilst they are sonically captivating, many of these techniques also serve as great tools to improve your overall playing technique. Read on to learn more about a selection of these techniques and where we can find them in the flute repertoire!
Common Extended Techniques
One of the most common extended techniques is harmonics. These are performed by fingering one note and changing the air speed to produce different sounds or partials above that note. Harmonics are commonly used to develop tone, and can be found in the technique books of many flute pedagogues such as Trevor Wye and Philippe Bernold. They can also be found in works such as Doppler's Fantaisie pastorale hongroise, Op.26 (4:43) and Stockhausen's In Freundschaft.
Other common techniques include singing and playing, found in works by Ian Clarke as well as Australian composer Andrew Ford's solo flute work Once upon a time there were two brothers..., and flutter tonguing, as in Sancan's Sonatine. Flutter tonguing is achieved either by rolling your tongue like a Spanish 'r' or in the throat like a German 'r.' Both singing and playing and flutter tonguing can be used to maximise resonance and airflow respectively.
Other Extended Techniques
New music has championed a variety of creative extended techniques, seen in the works and performances of people such as Ian Clarke, Robert Dick, Claire Chase, and Australia's own Eliza Shephard and Lina Andonovska.
Multiphonics occur when several notes are produced at the same time, generally by using an alternative fingering. These fingerings are often notated in the score as in Ian Clarke's The Great Train Race (0:52).
Whistle tones are produced by using a very focused, slow airstream and can be found in Heinz Holliger's (t)air(e). Both multiphonics and whistle tones are excellent for developing breath support and embouchure control.
Undertones can be thought of as the inverse of harmonics; they are produced by fingering one note and underblowing the airspeed required for that note to sound. This can be a useful technique if you or a student has a tendency to overblow or overplay, particularly in the top register. This technique is one of many Australian flutist Eliza Shephard incorporates into her course, 'The Extended Flute.'
Greg Pattillo brought the fascinating world of the beatbox flute to everyone's attention in the early 2000s with his take on pop culture favourites such as the Super Mario Bros Theme and Inspector Gadget and classical favourites such as Peter and the Wolf. Both Patillo and Tilmann Dehnhard have published method books on the topic.
There are many other extended techniques including timbral trills, tongue rams, Aeolian sounds, key clicks, pitch bending, and jet whistles. As long as flutists are creative, the list will only continue to grow!