To play the Flute, you blow air into the opening of the mouthpiece (similar to blowing into a soda bottle to make a sound). Since there is nothing attached, there is no resistance when playing the flute, which means it requires a lot of air (similar to Tuba). To make the proper embouchure, you want to put your lips together and make a small opening in your lips that air will come out of. Then, when blowing into the instrument, you want to think of a "pooh-pooh" approach. A popular metaphor to think about embouchure to imagine you were spitting out grains out rice, one at a time. 

Since everybody has different sized lips, placement can vary from person to person, so experimenting with just the head joint and rotating it to find where the sound "catches" is an easier way to find where the lip placement should be.

Hand position is very important. Your left hand is closest to your face and wraps underhanded and the right hand is at the end as the thumb is on the body of the instrument and the fingers rest on the keys (see picture for reference).

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Jeanne Baxtresser has had positions as the Principal Flutist at 3 major orchestras, Montreal Symphony, Toronto Symphony, and her current 15 year tenure at the New York Philharmonic. She made her debut with the Minnesota Orchestra at age 15 and went on to study at the Julliard School. She has received many awards for her contributions and musical skills and is a highly sought after teacher, as her students have gone on to occupy Principal positions and Sectional positions in major orchestras across the US, Canada, Europe, and Asia.

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