Let's talk about proper flute alignment! This is the most important thing to pay attention to when first learning the flute, as if this is not correct, if can affect many other aspects of your playing including tone, technique and it can even cause injury if you aren't careful!
Proper alignment is very easy once you know what to look for!
First, let's start with the head joint. This can be tricky to line up depending on how you look at the instrument because of the distance between the head joint and the body. Generally, we want to make sure the middle of the tone hole lines up with the middle of our keys. Keeping this lined up, keeps our flute balanced when holding it. If the head joint is too far rolled in or out, it can be more challenging to create a tone as well as balance the instrument between your hands (especially on tricky notes such as C and C#).
Once this is aligned, let's move to the foot joint. This can be changed depending on the size of your hands and the length of your fingers but generally, I've found most students are comfortable with the standard alignment. We want to line the peg of our foot joint with the middle of the keys on our body. If you have an open holed instrument, this can be easier to find as you will line it up with the center of the hole. But if not, use the circle engraving on the key to eye up the center.
Once you have both lined up, you're all set! Easy peasy!
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Happy Fluting!
