Well, it’s been 5 years since I’ve been here but I finally saved up enough money to purchase a Burns Folk Flute; so I’m back.
I did a search for “beginning flute books” and found some really old threads on the topic and I was wondering if there was any new info or suggestions. But more importantly I’m hoping someone can help clarify the pro/cons on the Grey Larsen “The Essential Guide to Irish Flute and tin Whistle”? Also, a lot of the old threads said things like “check out McCormack, Hamilton, <author’s last name> book” but never listed the actual book title making further research a bit difficult.
Here’s some back ground about me. I’ve played Classical and/or Celtic Finger-style guitar for 30 years, so I read music fluently. About 15 years ago I was teaching myself the Boehm flute, but because of lack of practice time I haven’t played much since then. In short, I don’t need to worry about the music (notation) so much as learning the instrument. Suggestions for a book(s) based on that.
Not sure if I am the one to give advice. But, it seems to me that you will need to work on getting tone from the flute. That means working on emb IMHO. I am sure that lots of others will weigh in. You should find lots of info about emb and holding the flute and getting tone. Not sure a teacher is for you. But, a teacher might help you get past learning the instrument.
All the books that I have or looked at approach the flute from the old way. That is by listening. Several have sections on how to hold and make the emb. Larsen’s and others do. But, I bet that you can find other places for that. Look at McGee’s site on tone and what Nicholson said about it. It is on his web site.
I know others will surely have better words of wisdom than me. I have a teacher. That has helped me. I am learning the old school of listening and rote learning.
This is what I was referring to in my original post. A couple of last names given but not enough info to get the info hiding under the references.
So who is McGee? Where is his site? Who’s this Nicholson person and where can I find what he said about this mysterious McGee?
Please don’t take my tone as snarky, but please DO remember to someone just getting into this dropping last names is a lot like talking code in a foreign language.
Google: McGee flute. Google: Nicholson flute. Google is your friend. The Chiffboard is your friend. But even friends expect you to do some of the work yourself.
This is what I was referring to in my original post. A couple of last names given but not enough info to get the info hiding under the references.
So who is McGee? Where is his site? Who’s this Nicholson person and where can I find what he said about this mysterious McGee?
Please don’t take my tone as snarky, but please DO remember to someone just getting into this dropping last names is a lot like talking code in a foreign language.
You, in particular, would really appreciate Grey Larsen’s approach in The Essential Guide to Irish Flute and Tin Whistle. He tries to teach you every detail of technique. For instance, his chapter on “cuts” (single grace notes that involve quickly flicking a finger up an down) demonstrates not just the basic technique, but how it changes when using it in the middle of a note, on ascending notes, on descending notes, and on notes that ascend or descend by larger intervals. I’ve learned to play several instruments from books, but I’ve never seen an author try to hard to remove all ambiguity from his instructions. Some people find his approach not just exhaustive, but exhausting. I think you’ll appreciate it. Larsen’s book is less successful when it discusses aspects of style, including phrasing and breathing. He tries very hard to nail these down, and spends about a hundred pages analyzing great performances, but this section is very demanding on the reader.
