My dizi is here! ^^

[Arisa]

It's lovely and beautiful and detailed and everything I wanted it to be! 
It took me around half an hour to get the sound out of it, but even now I succeed only when blowing with all the holes left open... When I try to cover up more than two holes, it sounds like blowing into a microfone during a speech (my ear huuuurt).
Am I supposed to change the shape of my mouth each time I move my fingers? Or the way I blow (strenght, angle)?
The flute consists of two parts and it has a metal (?) part in the middle, like the place where those two parts are assembled with each other. 
When I first got it out of the packaging the two parts weren't exacly touching itselves, but I pushed them a little and now they do...
Maybe I weren't supposed to do this? Or is it all up to practice? 
Thanks in advance.  

Edit: ok, another 30 min. of practice and now it's a little better! ^^" 
But still I'm sure I'm doing something wrong when I try to cover five or six holes... I can only play the second octave :< 

[edcat7]

Hi Arisa

remind us, what key dizi did you get? You have done very well, as a complete beginner to get any sound out of it so quickly. I find as more holes are covered you'll have to push the air out of your lungs from deep down, almost from your stomach. As everyone has suggested practise in front of the mirror.

To get the first octave try blowing down at an angle of 45 degrees. ps. Have you got a metronome?

[Arisa]

Thank you for the reply!
It's in C. Sorry, I don't have a metronome.
I'll try to use your advice right after coming back from school (it's 5:30 xD).
I hope I will get a grasp of it. ^^

[edcat7]

Unless you have perfect timing I find a metronome very useful. There are plenty of very good cheap ones on eBay for less than GBP £5

[Arisa]

I never used a metronome back in music school, we had separate lessons for timing and such things... But it was a looong while ago, it must've gotten bad by now :/ I can't afford one now, but I should be able to soon.

Just got back from school and tried practising for a bit... Still can't get the sound out (except for the second octave) when covering all the holes tho. Can it be because its in the key of C? I mean, would it be easier with a D dizi? Just out of curtiosity.
I tried blowing from my stomach and it doesn't help. I must be doing it wrong. ^^"

[davidmdahl]

Congratulations on your dizi, Arisa. I suggest working on getting a good tone with the right hand holes covered. The finger hole stretch on the C dizi can be a bit much for new players. Give your hands a chance to get comfortable. When covering the holes, try to cover each hole completely, without tension. If you try to cover too many holes at once too early, you will have trouble. A common bad habit from this is a very tense death grip on the flute. So, at first don't worry about trying to play with all or most holes covered, or at least until you are comfortable with a few. Then add one more hole at a time as you can do so without tension and getting a good tone. Some teachers start a flute student with only the head joint part, so they can focus on blowing, without worrying about covering holes.

Cover the first two or three holes with your left hand and try to get the C or D in the first octave. If you are only able to play in the second octave, you are probably blowing too hard. Relax your lips a bit and blow a little less hard. As you play lower notes, relax the corners of your mouth more, and make a slightly wider opening. The air stream will shift a little lower. Experiment with this and see if it helps.

I highly recommend finding a flute teacher to help you at least get started. The teacher need not necessarily play or teach the Chinese flute specifically. The mechanics of playing the dizi are very much the same as playing any side-blown (transverse) flute. Any good help you get will get you going a lot faster, and help you to avoid bad habits.

Have fun!

Best wishes,

David

[Arisa]

Thank you for the reply!
I can play the first and the second octave without a problem while covering one, two, three, four or five holes (those long, steady sounds that I always loved in a dizi <3)... The problem arises when I try to make a sound while covering all the holes - when I blow harder it gives me the second octave, and when I try to make the hole in my mouth a little wider or not to blow that strongly there's a dull sound of wind going through the flute and nothing else.
I guess I will just have to experiment with it fot a bit: mirror, wider mouth opening, blowing from the stomach. We will see! ^^

The finger stretch is ok, I have a silly gene in my joints that makes my hands very... flexible ^^"
But at the same time my fingers have problems and are kinda stiffy when I grab onto something... It was the same while playing the viola and I got shouted at a lot because of this xD I wonder if it will affect my playing.

I can't afford a lesson right now :< When I can I will search for a teacher for sure.