Can someone explain to me how does the flute's keys change..

Irish Flute
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  1. The notes? (do they change all the notes? , or just when you activate one of them, it “opens” a specific note without changing anything?)

  2. Does it affect the air requirement, or gripping?

  3. Talking about a 6- key flute… what are the most prevalent keys you use (except D of course) and how do they work- regarding to the notes again.

  4. Is there a through guide explaining such things, and others like- materials, designs, prices, development, on the irish flute?

Thanks!!

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A key does exactly the same as opening a fingerhole does. Think of the keys as a set of extra holes and extra fingers. The holes that the keys open are placed between the normal holes, thus achieving the semi-tones.
A keyed simple system flute works exactly like a normal one until you open a key. You might have to alter your grip slightly, but I haven’t found it to be a problem myself.
The most common keys depend entierly on what modes you usually play in. I would say Cnat is the most common, followed by Fnat.
Have a look at Terry McGee’s site. He has extensive information about everything flute related.

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On a 6 key flute, the keys will usually get you Eb, two versions of Fnat, G#, Bb and Cnat.

To be fully chromatic on a keyless flute, you really only need 4 keys (Eb, Bb, G# and one of the Fnats).

Which keys are most commonly used really depends upon the player - unlike Henke, I rarely use the Cnat on my flute - I still prefer to finger OXX OOO for Cnat.

Eric

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I thought baroque flutes were fully chromatic with one key. Am I miss understanding something?

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I thought baroque flutes were fully chromatic with one key. Am I miss understanding something?

Yeah, you’re missing three keys… :laughing:

But seriously, they are chromatic, but I had already jumped the gun and assumed we were talking larger bore classical/ITM types of flutes which need 4 keys to be chromatic.

The baroque flute is chromatic with one key (Eb) and requires some extensive flute gymnastics (lots of cross fingerings and rolling in/out and breath control) to be chromatic. Don’t get me wrong, when well played they are wonderfully chromatic - when played by me, well, there’s a reason I sold my Grenser. I like the larger bore flutes that need those extra keys to be chromatic.

Eric

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explanation of flute acoustics:
the simple version
a little more detailed

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Not sure what you mean about the “D” key, but for me as an Irish flute player here is how I’d list the keys in order of most-used to least-used:

First, by far, the long F key. Then the short F key. Third, the G# key. Next, probably a tie between the C natural and Bb keys. I personally have never used my D# key.

Other flute players may give you a different ordering, although probably all would agree that if you can only have one F key it needs to be the long one. Also, if you’re playing an old orchestral flute rather than a new wooden flute made specifically for Irish music, you may need the D# key so you can vent it to get other notes to sound in tune.

Hammy Hamilton, the well-known flute maker, wrote a book a decade or so ago called The Irish Fluteplayer’s Handbook that covers most of these topics. (Prices change, so you’d probably be best off getting a handle on those by monitoring sites like Chiff and Fipple and eBay rather than from a book.) Unfortunately, Hammy’s book is now out of print, but his website ( www.hamiltonflutes.com ) reports that a reprint is now in the works. Keep posted! Meanwhile, Brad Hurley’s flute site is a great resource and pointer to information: www.firescribble.net/flute .

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Thanks !!!