It seems lots of people lately are interested in how braces (or Invisalign) affects your flute playing!

Playing the flute with braces (or invisalign!)

It's a great question because braces definitely do affect your playing, but it's not all doom and gloom. Not at all!

So I made you a video explaining the strategic approach to quickly getting your flute playing back to normal after getting braces.

Jane xx

Playing the flute with braces (or invisalign!)

In this video, I'm going to show you how to play the flute with braces. If you can already play the flute and you're getting braces, I'm going to show you more specifically the secret to being able to recover your flute playing when you get braces.

Faster flute progress through learning proper technique

My name is Jane. I live in Sydney, in Australia. I'm a flute teacher, which you probably guessed. I've had about 50 students over the last 25 years of flute teaching that have gotten braces. It's about two a year, and I've taken them through this process starting before they get braces.

That means that nearly every single one has gotten them playing back to either a 100 % of what it was before braces or 90%. Now, regardless of whether you're getting braces or not, stick around to the end of this video, and I'm going to show you how to instantly improve your tone on the flute.

I've got a free little mini-course that you can register for. It's really good. It really works.

And I love teaching people like you, the tiny techniques that instantly improve, their flute playing in this case tone, I'll tell you more about it at the end of this video.

Invisalign is a good option for flute playing

So this strategy is in two parts. The first part, if you have the option of getting Invisalign, so you can see it, there you go- Invisalign or whatever brand sells clear aligners like this, totally do it because you can't really play with it very well.

But as flute players, it's great when you can just take it out and play it as normal, then put it back in. I've got these as an adult about five years ago because my teeth were a little bit sort of sticky outie but they're good. Now I'm going to give you a little demo of how you sound with and without these.

So obviously without is how I normally sound. Now, if I put these in, this is actually quite hilarious, cause it makes me sound instantly terrible.

So that's the simple solution. If you're an adult and you're actually in the position to get the clear aligners instead of actual braces, totally do it. As an instrumentalist, it's the best thing you could do for yourself.

Now, part two of this strategy of being able to play with braces is if you're in a position where you can't get the clear aligners, whatever reason.

Let's say your child is not recommended or they're more expensive or they're not in your area or for whatever reason if you can't get yourself these clear aligners instead of actual metal braces.

So this approach that I take all of my students through when they say they're going to get braces is so effective and it's effective, not so much because of the actual physical technique that I teach them even though that is part of it. It's more like the psychological approach.

And it means that people don't get frustrated because they know what to expect.

Braces will effect your flute playing 

So here's what to expect. If you're getting actual braces, you won't be able to play for the first few days. It will be sore.

You have a really fluffy sound, but here's where you don't need to worry. This is normal and your task for the next two or three weeks of having braces is to play a little bit every day, just straight notes, just plain notes and try and improve your sound just a little bit each day and try and improve your control with how you play a little bit every day.

So expect that when you get braces, you're not going to be able to play, but don't panic. So this is the psychological strategy. Seriously, don't panic, it's normal and you can overcome it.

Adjusting your flute embouchure to be able to play with braces

Now, all of those 50 or so students of mine that got braces in the last 25 years, one of them, his name was Andrew. It actually improved his playing like permanently improved his playing.

This is not normal. It does not improve your playing out of those 50 or so one of the students.

It was actually so hard for them that they decided to give up the flute and come back to it in a year or two when they got rid of their braces. But for the remaining 48 or so of them, all of them got their playing back to at least 90% of how they played before braces.

And if you can get it back to that level, that 90% level, by taking yourself through this two or three-week strategy of just improving a little bit of your sound every single day, it changes your expectations. And you realize that you can actually get there little by little, over two or three weeks.

And this happened to all of the remainder of the, you know, the 48 or so students.

It happened to all of them. You will get your playing back to 90% at least. And don't forget braces are temporary. When they come off, you'll go right back to normal.

Sometimes it takes a day or two to adjust once you get your braces off, but trust me, you will be fine after you get braces off. And if you take yourself through this little strategic approach to getting used to braces, you will be fine as well when you get braces.

Instantly improve your flute tone

Now, regardless of whether you're getting braces or not, if you want to instantly improve your tone, I have some tips for you and they are free and you can register right here, www.flute.school/free.

It's a three-day mini-course that shows you how to instantly improve your tone. Now, this is not for just, if you get braces, this is for everyone.

Good luck. If you're getting braces, I'll see you in the mini-course or I'll just see you next week. See you then.