The quena is a flute with a haunting, etherial voice. Its tones evoke the songs of the high Andes, their vistas and ancient cultures. It is an end-blown flute native to Bolivia and Peru. Today's quena masters use a variety of breathing techniques learned by their ancestors, some suited to play while walking the high mountain trails, some for musical interludes while working rocky fields in the valleys and still others for the mystical moonlight.
Emotion
A master of the ancient music, calling himself "Erik the Flutemaker" in his YouTube videos, says the people of the Altiplano, the high plateaus of the rugged Andes Mountains, use the quena to express the tragedies and joys of their people. "They cry with these," Flutemaker says. Your strategy for playing the quena must begin in your heart. Flutemaker advises you to listen to quena music until it enters your deepest places. Only then can your breathing bring it out in your playing. Naturally, learning the basic physical plan of the instrument is a first practical step. Become familiar with the feel of the carved wood or animal bone, approximately 12-inch long flute in your hands and on your lower lip. Accustom yourself to the position of the seven holes played with both hands.
Circular Breathing
A peculiarity of traditional quena playing is that it sometimes seems to go on forever. It sounds as if the person playing the flute never takes a breath, producing an endless flow of tones. The quena breathing technique for this style of playing is called circular breathing. Flutemaker and many other master musicians teach this breathing technique in a variety of ways. You can learn the same basic strategy from traditional and modern woodwind players of many kinds from cultures around the world. Andean quena musicians are joined by oriental chakuhachi and Near Eastern pan pipe players. Circular breathing relies on two sources of air, your lungs and your mouth. After exhausting your lung's air to play notes, you use your tongue to block the back of your throat so you can refill your lungs with air drawn only through your nose. Simultaneously, your cheeks and tongue contract to puff out air stored in your mouth. Charles Kenton's YouTube chakuhachi video, and Howcast.com's YouTube soda straw demonstration prove pictures are better than a thousand words to describe this musical strategy.
Embouchure
The way you use your lips and facial muscles, your embouchure, to make notes on a quena flute is an important part of quena breathing technique. Flutemaker advises a relaxed lower lip, not tense or drawn tight in a pucker with your upper lip. A limp lower lip allows you to make the best use of your tongue in a "spitting water melon seeds" movement. The best strategy for holding your quena to let your lips and tongue work this way is to touch your lower lip without pressing it. A flute that compresses your lip compromises your embouchure. Soft, continuous exhalation with the right embouchure will allow you to make your quena sing and cry like the masters of the Altiplano.
