i have an andes bamboo flute tuned to D. apparently it is similar to an irish flute but has an extra note at the back. so, six holes in the front and one in the back. can i play any tune written for the tin whistle (is a tin whistle the same as an “irish flute”)? also, does anyone know of a good site that has tab for this type of bamboo flute? i think the flute might be called a kena but my mouthpiece looks more like one from a recorder rather than a “notch”.
thanks,
joepyyz
You might be able to find more information online if you search by the spelling quena instead of kena. There is info available, including fingering charts and tunes to play. I just typed quena into google search and found lots of sites.
After you learn the notes on your instrument I don’t see any reason why you couldn’t play whistle tunes. If you want to play with a session, a quena may be frowned upon, depending on how traditional the group is.
I don’t consider Irish flute and tin whistle to be the same instrument–when I think Irish flute I think of a simple system transverse flute, and a tin whistle is blown through a mouthpiece. A tin whistle in d and an irish flute with no keys in d would have the same fingerings, I think. There are instruments sold with one flute body and interchangeable whistle mouthpieces and flute headjoints.
Good luck and have fun with your new instrument!
I have an instrument like that too! Though the back hole is veyr tiny, and I dont’ think it really serves much use.. I just cover it and ebar with the six. I’m not sure how the back hole is used with the kena. Maybe a C#/Cn thing? I dunno. Test it out (and so will I, when I find mine >_<) In any case, if your instrument is like mine, you can certainly play irish music on it, like the whistle. The high octave will be kinda tricky, but you can do it.
I have a Chinese bamboo flute that I play some Irish music on. But I’m not great with the embouchure so the upper register is extra tricky.