How to Play Wood Flute

The flute is one of the most popular woodwind instruments because it produces a lulling sound that can make anyone relax. Hearing a wood flute feels like listening to the natural soothing sound of the wind. To learn how to play the wood flute, you want to start with a basic understanding of how it works and some musical know-how.

Things You'll Need

• Flute fingering chart
• Music sheet
• Wooden flute

Instructions

1. Learn your wood flute's key. Flutes have different keys --- standard wooden varieties are usually tuned to the C key. Learn more about your flute so it's easier for you to read music later on. Understand which notes the instrument can play.

2. Practice blowing. The flute's sound is produced by blowing air into its mouthpiece. To do this, you want to position the mouthpiece against your mouth. Blow into the instrument but don't cover the holes or depress the keys just yet.
   For the moment, practice on the open notes --- the sounds that are produced by simply blowing into the flute. After that, you can move on to covering the holes on the flute and creating key combinations. This allows you to get a feel for the different notes and sounds that you can produce.

3. Invest on a proper flute fingering chart, which is readily available in any music store. You can also download the chart from specialized web sites on the Internet. The chart shows you where you need to place your fingers as well as the keys that you depress to create a particular note. Make sure to get a flute fingering chart that comes with images so you can easily follow the instructions and master the flute.

4. There is more to playing the wood flute than blowing into the mouthpiece and covering the holes on it: you want to practice control of your breathing. For this, take a deep breath and slowly release the air as you go through the notes. Musical passages normally have breaks to let you take in a deeper breath of air.
   Beginners normally start by taking a deep breath before starting a scale. You want to practice breathing so that you can take in air that is just enough for you to be able to finish a whole passage. Each time you play, you get to improve your breathing techniques so don't hesitate to practice at your own pace.

5. Play your scales. Just as with other instruments, playing the wooden flute requires learning how to play scales. You want to practice this activity to be more familiar with your instrument. Scales also allow you to strengthen your fingers and develop your ability to read music. Books on scales are also available through music stores, the local bookstore, and in downloadable form on the Internet.