The traditional dizi flute has 6 finger holes. For the basic tones, only 7 arrangements of fingers are of interest: All holes closed. Lowest hole open. Lowest two holes open. Lowest three holes open. Lowest four. Lowest five ... The last one is all six holes open, but that pitch plays badly out of tune, quite sharp. We'll fix it later. Remember, closed holes must be well closed, not just partially covered. Open ones must be truly unobstructed by your fingers.
The key of the flute, its natural scale's root, is in the middle of these seven tones. For most dizi flutes, that pitch is D or C. The note name is often painted or carved on the flute next to the hole that must open for that pitch to sound. You can check the key note's accuracy against a piano or a cheap electronic tuner. The note name doesn't matter if we think about the scale in solfege. From lowest to highest, the 7 basic tones on a dizi are So La Ti Do Re Mi Fa. We can write the same thing using numbers: 5 6 7 1 2 3 4. It may seem funny that 1 and 2 are higher than 5 and 6, but later we'll find out how to play 5, 6 and more that are higher still. For basic tones, those seven pitches form a whole scale, with the lowest sounding tone not the root, but the fifth.
Let's fix the too-sharp Fa. Sharpness is not its only problem. When you open all six finger holes, how do you prevent the flute from falling out of your open hand? The answer is, open the highest finger hole (nearest to the blowing and di mou holes), and cover the next two holes down. Now the highest finger hole is open, the flute is held by your left thumb, middle and ring fingers, and the Fa is pulled down to the correct pitch.
You might have noticed the fingering charts from Lesson One show the right middle finger hole closed on all pitches, except Ti (7) where it must be open. This is not intended to alter the intonation, but serves for convenience of holding the flute.
In China, some flute music is published in a form called jian pu notation. Jian pu uses numbers to represent the diatonic scale tones we already know from solfege. Do = 1, Re = 2, and so on up to Ti = 7. Jian pu uses a convention that a dot above the number means higher octave, and a dot below means lower. The octave change happens at 1 (Do), not between Fa and So where the octave break actually occurs on a flute. Sorry, I don't have a way to write the numbers with dots above and below. For more octaves, add more dots! Jian pu time counting is marked by underlines and dashes. So a non-underlined note lasts one count (western "quarter note"). Underlined is a half count ("eighth note"), and double underlined is a quarter count ("sixteenth"). Again, I don't have a way to write the underlines. For half and whole notes, put dashes after the note number. So for four counts, a whole bar, of Do in jian pu write:
| 1 - - - |
Before you try to play the upper octave, make the basic notes strong and consistent. Practice Mi Re Do, Mi Re Do. It's the first part of Three Blind Mice, but hold the Do for six long counts. Make the note pure. You can use a little vibrato if you know how, so the tone sounds pretty, but don't over do it. Then play Re Do Ti, Re Do Ti. The same thing a pitch down. Is the Ti just as strong as Do? Go down again Do Ti La Do Ti La. Then Ti La So Ti La So. Here's the whole exercise in jian pu (without dots):
| 3 2 1 - | 1 - - - | 3 2 1 - | 1 - - - | | 2 1 7 - | 7 - - - | 2 1 7 - | 7 - - - | | 1 7 6 - | 6 - - - | 1 7 6 - | 6 - - - | | 7 6 5 - | 5 - - - | 7 6 5 - | 5 - - - |
To Do: I'll render this exercise in western staff notation (i.e., wuxian pu) real soon and post it alongside this. Promise! --Dick
When you can play all seven basic tones so they are strong and steady, you should find that you can play the upper octave tones (except Fa, ever the problem child) with the same fingerings. Start with the low So. Play it as loud and pure as you can. If you quickly lift just your left index finger off its hole while playing, the upper So should pop out immediately. See if you can make the same effect without moving your fingers, just by moving the direction of the airstream up slightly. Practice controlling the switch from low to high and from high to low. Then try the same thing for La. And you are on your way to dizi mastery!
Contents of this page Copyright © 2004 Dick Valentine