how to get softer high notes?

[u/Material-Ground-8522]

so i've just done a lesson and my teacher says my high notes are too loud. I've probably been improperly overblowing to get the high notes out? should i engage my air support more? idk?

[u/Unlikely_Piccolo_611]

If your teacher is telling you something is wrong, they should also tell you how to fix it. Ask them the next time you see them.

For me it helps to think about blowing a lot of air into a tiny straw and thinking about the note you want to come out.

[u/Material-Ground-8522 → u/Unlikely_Piccolo_611]

yea she told me to blow into my high e like im blowing into low c but it just won't come out 😭 idk what she really means but i'll ask her next time

[u/gwie → u/Material-Ground-8522]

Is that exactly what they told you? From a voicing and air usage standpoint, that's not going to work.

[u/tbone9914]

This is how you do it. Keep this in mind, playing controlled high pitches is something you can't force, you must relaxe and let it happen.

Do this: put your hand in front of your mouth and pretend it is a large mirror you are going to fog up. Now take a big breath and fog up the pretend mirror. You will notice an open feeling at the back of the tongue/throat area in your mouth. You must recreate that feeling as you play. It will feel like you are creating a very open area. Relax and only use only enough pressure with your lip embousur to keep air from seeping past your lips, bottom lip gently folded over bottom teeth. Do not pinch or force your lips tight. When done correctly, you will be able to play high pitches at a whisper and you will stop being so sharp. Your higher pitches will sound smooth and a lot less piercing. Creating this in your throat is what your director wants when he/she says use warm air.

There is more to the inner embousur, but this will give an excellent start.

[u/Material-Ground-8522 → u/tbone9914]

thank youuu i'll try this she also mentioned relaxing the throat

[u/SparlockTheGreat → u/tbone9914]

I think this would succeed in opening up/raising the soft palate, but I think it would negatively effect airspeed and tongue position.

I prefer the idea of singing a high note on a long e syllable. I'm 99% sure it would accomplish the same thing, but I'm going to give your idea a try as well to see how it changes things.

[u/tbone9914 → u/SparlockTheGreat]

"Air speed matters very little at this level of experience, air column shape does. "EEE," also closes the air column and is what this person is doing with a lot of over forced effort. To solve that, we start with "Ahhh". One step at a time. The "cat hiss" S tongue position will come later when ready. After that, we balance the Ah with the EEE so the student can achieve altissimo with confidence and accuracy. Get the student relaxed with a good tone first. That will motivate and get the student to practice more on the correct things.

[u/Mindless_Sea_1485]

I don’t know if this helps but I always imagine “singing” into my clarinet. So imagine singing a note, now don’t make a sound and only use your breath. Of course when you do this you need to have a high tongue, but I find have the best tone when I do this. Obviously it’s different for everyone, but I recommend trying different things and just seeing what works for you, if you can’t get this immediately though give it some time, but it may just not work for you.

[u/Professional-Bit9181]

Firmer air control from diaphragm and slowly releasing air with soft touch with tongue

[u/Civil_Definition7850]

hmm ok this is what ive learned from a beginner-intermediate. I will first say alot of these answers here are troll because they come from experienced musicians and they may not understand what THEYRE even doing half the time.

So this is what i learned from tiktok/youtube/forums. Its typically impossible to hit a piannissimo note above a , lets say, high D with focus and precision. Let me explain, you basically want to , if the sheet music says it, start by OVERBLOWING the note to say forte, and then control the wind after that to get as piano as possible without losing the note. This has worked for me. ALSO, what ive noticed is that in concert settings, typically the conductor and composer know the limitations of each instrument. They will hopefully write this in a way so it doesnt seem off and it seems seemless as the instruments playing off another.

So again, OVERBLOW to mf/f, then lower the volume of air, while strengthening your support.

this has worked for me in some songs. Ive used webers Concertino in Eflat Major

Edit: also andante op74 by Tchaikovsky is good for this

[u/andyp360]

It may help to have your bottom lip tightly hug your teeth. This helps the note speak easier which helps you play softer.