STL Ocarina Blog

As with many instruments it is important to build finger muscles as well as good finger dexterity. Many woodwind instrumentalists such as the flutists or oboists would advise to keep your fingers as close to the keys as possible in order to improve finger accuracy. However, in the case of the ocarina we need to get our fingers away from the holes so that we do not alter our pitch. Leaving fingers too close to an open hole can lower your pitch making you flatter. Because of this issue ocarina players need to rely even more on their ability to move fingers quickly. Playing scales is a great way to build finger strength. Another good way to do this is by trilling each note up a scale.

EXERCISE:

Start on a low C and, using your right pinky trill back and forth from C to D. Then trill back and forth from D to E (using your ring finger). Continue all the way up and down the scale. Once you can do this exercise try challenging yourself by trilling on other scale where the fingerings get trickier such as D Major.

In this episode, we would like to offer you a few tips on how to start practicing vibrato on ocarina.

Many musicians have spent countless hours studying vibrato. We hope youll find this video helpful.

If you need help, please email us. We like to hear your comments. 

Do you find it difficult to play many measures without breathing? Do you find that your pitch is often flat, especially when playing high notes? If you answered yes to either of these questions then you are more than likely breathing improperly. Try placing one hand on your stomach and breathe in. If you are breathing correctly, then your stomach (not your chest) will expand and your hand will move outward. Proper breathing technique involves completely filling up your diaphragm with air. This will help you engage your abdominal muscles which, when pushed out, can help you keep your pitch up. You will also find that you will be able to play longer before needing to take a breath.

Exercises

Air Stream- When playing our ocarinas it is necessary to be able to control your air stream. By this I mean the speed at which your air is being blown. Many ocarinas will require you to increase your air stream as you ascend up the scale. Using your fore finger and thumb, hold a tissue out about a foot in front of your mouth. Then blow like you would when playing your ocarina. See how long you can keep the tissue "floating" and see how far out you can get it to go. This exercise will enable you to SEE your air stream.

Breath building-Being able to play long phrases in music is hard at first but there are many ways to improve your breath support. One great way to do this is by using a clock and an electronic tuner. Pick any note you wish and tune it to your tuner. Then time yourself to see how long you can sustain that note (IN TUNE!) Everyday try to beat your previous time.

In this video, we like to demonstrate how to do a good warm up on your ocarina. It is a process that is frequently ignored, even by the professional musicians.

You can download the music of Eric Saties Gymnopédies here
http://blog.stlocarina.com/storage/freesheetmusic/Satie.pdf

We hope youll find this helpful. Please let us know if you have questions about ocarina playing, well be happy to share our thoughts with you.

In this video, we like to share our thoughts on how to play in tune. We hope you'll find this video helpful.