Nose Flute

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Blue piece of plastic shaped like a rounded hourglass

The nose flute is an incredible little toy instrument that can be used to make beautiful music and stunning high notes. Have you ever produced a note by blowing air across the top of a glass bottle? This is the same thing—except your mouth is the glass bottle and your nose is providing the air! The nose flute’s job is simply to direct air from your nose across the opening of your mouth. Unlike a glass bottle, your mouth opening can get bigger and smaller. That’s how you change pitch.

How to Obtain

The most common nose flute is very cheap and made of thin plastic. You can find these online in various colors, and they work just fine for beginners. Last year, I ordered a Bocarina Professional nose flute made in South Africa for just $11. It has a better shape with thicker plastic, resulting in a wider range of notes and a richer tone. Well worth the money, in my opinion! Wooden ones are also available.

How to Learn

A common habit to avoid when playing the nose flute is instinctively breathing out through your mouth in order to play it. After all, that is how you play most wind instruments! Try to make sure all of the air is going out through your nose (not your mouth), and create a tight seal so that all of that air is being diverted through the nose flute. Your lips can rest around the lower opening. From there, adjust air speed and mouth shape until you get a clear sound. Higher pitches can be attained by making the mouth opening smaller and increasing air flow. If you want to make your pitch control more precise, use only your tongue to change pitch by sliding it forward and backward. This will change the volume of the mouth opening and, therefore, the pitch.

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