Everything your want to know about:

Sing & Play

Have fun with extended techniques! Using them also gives you better flute control!

Sing & Play in short:

Using singing and playing we combine flute playing and the voice. It is possible to sing and play homophonic or polyphonic.

Notation

Various notations are used to indicate singing and playing. Sometimes one line and two different note heads are used.

Here is an example of a note head with a different shape to indicate the singing part.

The regularly shaped note head indicates the notes to be played on the flute.

Sometimes two lines are used, one for the flute part and one for the singing part.

Piccolo - alto flute - bass flute

This technique can be used on all flutes.

Composer information

This technique is easy to achieve when the singing and playing part are the same. It becomes more difficult if the singing part and the voice part are separate parts.

This technique is possible on any note. Be aware of the possibilities of the voice of the flute players. Usually the performer can change the octave when necessary.

Flute players

Studying singing and playing on the flute is useful for:
– Improving quality of the sound
– Improving aural skills
– Stimulate abdominal support
– Awareness of tension in the throat
– Focus embouchure with less or more air

Examples

Here you can listen to a short example of singing and playing. I’m playing Zoom Tube by Ian Clark.

 

This Flute Colors arrangement starts with the melody, then a second part is sung while the melody is played, and finally the melody is played and sung in a round.