Standing Through Centuries: Flute Playing Posture from the 18th Century until today

Mischa Marx

Contents

Introduction

What is described as a good posture?

Flute playing movements and posture over centuries

Foot position

Flute posture now

Bibliography

Posture is a highly individual and dynamic aspect of human physiology. Posture can be simply defined as the way in which we hold our bodies while standing, sitting, or lying down. It is about how your body adapts and interacts with different situations than a fixed ‘correct’ or ‘incorrect’ state.

In both flute playing and human behavior, posture is important—not only to prevent physical injuries, but also because it communicates valuable information nonverbally.

If you are a flutist, you can probably also remember it, your first flute teacher tells you to stand straight with your left foot forward, right foot clockwise and your head turned to the left. I was always asking myself if this is the right way for me, so now I finally decided to dive into it.

While starting my study at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague, I started watching other flute students, teachers and other instrument performers, and started thinking about my own body posture in comparison with them. I had a huge backpain always after sitting or standing in the same position for a long time. When I talked about it to my flute teacher he told me to try to stand with two foots to the same direction. A week later, I started talking about it with another flutist, instrumentalist, teachers, my own students and a physiotherapist. After research and all these talks, I found it a huge eye opener for me, I was questioning, why haven’t I thought about having another position before?

What is described as a good posture

A good posture in flute playing is one of the most important things to learn. Good posture enhances several aspects of flute playing:

Feeling free (being able to move easily), being balanced, a good tone (standing open), a better technique (fingers), bigger breathing (an open posture allows the lungs to expand more satisfactorily), showing emotions better and it just gives more comfort. The perfection of your playing is coming from posture.

Flute playing movements and posture over centuries

The position of standing while performing or practicing flute has been an important topic for over decades and is still on until today. In almost every flute book (if it’s Quantz, 18^th^ Century Boehm, 19^th^ Century or Moyse, 20^th^ Century or flutist now) it is one of the first topics that is discussed.

Traverso players in the 18^th^ century agreed on the following things:

Whether one plays standing or sitting, the body must be kept straight, the head high rather than low, turned slightly toward the left shoulder. When in a standing position, one must be firmly fixed on one’s legs, the body resting on the right hip, all without strain. One must, above all, refrain from making any body or head motions, as some do in breathing time.

When this posture is achieved, it is quite graceful and will gratify the eye no less than the sound of the instrument will delight the ear.

The traverso was often held slightly lower and closer to the body than a modern flute.

‘‘The Flute is a nobal instrument that should be played in a easy and plesant way’’

In the 19th century, Boehm’s method was getting more popular after the Boehm flute was invented. The mechanics made the flute heavier, which required a more active and stable posture. Boehm thinks that “The player should hold the flute in such a way that the body remains relaxed and the breath can flow freely.”

The music becomes more challenging as for speed, volume and virtuosity, but there are no sources indicating changes in aesthetics of physical presentation (no grimaces, open feet positions, calm and steady body)

In the 20th century, the movement while playing the flute becomes somewhat more graceful again, with no large movements unless intended expressively. 20th-century flutists learned to play with maximum efficiency: posture had to minimize physical strain. New music emerges again: expressionist and modern music. This also required new movement techniques; one had to switch quickly between techniques, dynamics, and colors. The way of standing on stage became even more important; your posture had to appear visually professional, yet also authentic and relaxed. Flutists move less theatrically than in the 19th century, but more functionally than in the 18th century.

Foot position

Frederick II (18^e^ Century)

Flute posture now

What is different are the ways in which people investigate what the best method is. Whereas in the past flutist had to read a book (often without pictures) or ask a teacher how to do it exactly, now they can easily look at an online instructional video (even before the first flute lesson) or just search for it. People are used to copy the practices of others instead of studying ourselves and thinking about the position that is best for them.

It’s about relaxation and body awareness now. Flutist now often move elegantly with the phrasing, consciously using our bodies (no automatic or theatrical movement), but it now also varies more per person. The study of posture has been influenced by disciplines such as Feldenkrais and Alexander technique, as well as sport sciences, with attention to functional aspects, such as asymmetry, injuries, hypermobility and tension.

The question ‘what is the ideal flute position?’ continues to be asked and will certainly not be answered anytime soon, or perhaps never.

Bibliography

The book: Hotteterre: Principles of The Flute, Recorder and Oboe - Scribd, https://www.scribd.com/document/499445037/Hotteterre-Principles-of-the-flute-recorder-and-oboe-parte-flauta.