Hello, I am looking to learn the flute. However, I am at a loss at direction. I do not even know what the music I want to play is called. I am guessing its a type of Celtic or folk, but I do not know. I like slow, deep, resonating, enchanting flute music. Meditative almost. I found a few links that had clips to something similair to what I want to play. I know I do not want to do jigs, and anything speedy or complex like that.
Any direction on music out there I can check out that is along the same path would be so appreciated you dont even know! (Have had real problems finding any music anywhere like, all I find is irish jigs and orchestra’s)
I think I want a 6 simple system wooden flute? One thats a little longer then normal? Oh, and.. I have seen some flutes with holes that are straight down the shaft and others that are crooked. At first I thought, “well maybe the guy who made it was drunk”, but then it clicked in my head that it must be that way to make it easier for fingering? Which do you think it better for a newbie, and does the hole placement make a big difference? Oh, and on the same note, I saw the (blowhole?) on some flutes closer the top of the flute, and others that had a inch difference, does that make a difference in sound?
Here are some flutes I have found that I am looking at, any opinions or advice about the makers would be awesome!
Anyways, thats about the jist of my situation. Anything you guys can tell me would be a godsend. I feel very lost in a flute ocean with no rock to stand on.
The sort of music you’re referring to is a type of tune common in the Irish tradition along with jigs and reels. It’s called slow-airs, that’s what I identified the samples as after about 5 seconds of listening to them, may or may not have been Irish in origin.
The flutes you’ve been looking at are bamboo flutes. Not the standard type used for Irish music, but I guess they might serve your purpose. I have very little experience with those though.
It’s a little difficult to answer your question, because most people who come here are interested in playing the full spectrum and are looking for a nice wooden flute to cover their demands. I’m not sure you need, or should get one to do the stuff you want to do. A Hall Crystal flute might be fine for all I know.
The sort of flutes we’re discussing, and it’s the same sort of flute you’re likely to hear in all those clips, are conical, wooden (or polymer) simple system flutes with or without keys. Have a look in the sticky picture thread here on this board to see what they might look like. Now, those are generally quite expensive and have waiting lists and all that sort of stuff. It also depends on what you intend to do with the flute, are you planning to just have one and play by yourself for your own pleasure, or are you intending to play in groups or to audiences? If it’s the first option, you might do good on a cheapie bamboo, otherwise you’re likely to need something a bit more fancy.
You might want to consider a low whistle if slow airs are what you like most. Nothing sounds more beautiful than a slow air on a low D whistle in my opinion. Might be easier to learn to play, too. They’re the same size as a flute and the same octave but they just have something about them that makes slow airs sound so plaintive.
I will very politlely disagree with Diane, only because a whistle has a different sound than a flute of the same pitch. True, they are easier to play, but I don’t think that’s the point.
Any of those instruments would be fine for a first exploration. If you haven’t played a wind instrument before, you might consider an instrument pitched in F or G. Alhough the pitch is a little high, the fingering will be less a challange than a low D flute. Most the folks around here end up with a bunch of instruments, so don’t consider your first one your last one.
As for what to play, what do you like to listen to? While I like the quick tunes, I usually play them on my stringed instruments and play Irish and Anglo-American folk songs, hymns, pop songs, and anything else that comes to mind when I pick up a flute.
You might want to try a search on the forum for these makers (or just for bamboo flutes, if you’d like to cast a wider net). Here’s a thread on the Miller flutes that Doc Jones offers:
I like Henke’s advice. A bamboo flute by a good maker is a pretty inexpensive way to get started, especially if slow, rich tones are what you’re after. I started with a bamboo instrument, and I still find it very rewarding to play, even if my interest in Irish music led to a wooden instrument fairly soon.
I’ve not tried, but have heard good things about Jeff Whittier’s bansuri (a web search will turn up sources easily). Give a listen to some bansuri recordings if you’d like to hear some truly amazing sounds from a bamboo instrument.
I’d also second the suggestion that you consider starting with a higher pitched flute for ease of fingering.
I can relate to that, as I started flute mainly interested in shakuhachi music and slow, meditative stuff- and still am, though I’m slowly trying to get the hang of some of the Irish traditioanl sounding stuff as well.
If you’re on a budget, the plastic ‘Tipple flute’ is very well respected for Irish stuff and I see no reason why it shouldn’t also be excellent for meditative pieces too.
I’ve recently got a Dixon three piece polymer, which is more expensive than the Tipple, but less expensive than most other conical bore options. It’sa nice flute with a good solid hefty feel and sounds nice- works well for meditative stuff.
I’ve also got a low D whistle- they are easier in some ways, but harder in others- for example the finger stretch is way more tricky than a flute, unless you learn the ‘pipers grip’ method.
Also, when it comes to true meditative stuff, the flute has much more of a connection than a low D- playing a flute meditatively, the sound truly does come from the diaphragm/hara, in a way that the low D whistle doesn’t really seem to compare to.
Playing a flute with long, slow notes, focusing on the expression of each note, as opposed to focusing on the melody as a whole, does have definite physiological and mental effects and, hopefully, spiritual ones too.
I’m not sure that they’d be so obvious with a low D whistle- though I’m open to arguments to the contrary.
Yeah, bamboo. Not terribly expensive and fits the
music you wish to play.
But know that it will take awhile and some work
to get the embouchure up to speed, also if you have
small hands a D bamboo flute may be a challenge.
If you want to produce tones right away, a low
whistle is a good idea. I think Diane is right
that these sound lovely with slow music.
But if it were me, I
would play a bamboo flute.
You may wish to use ‘piper’s grip.’ A search
on this is likely to give you the info you need.
You might see if anything on my audio files page fits your fancy. http://dougsflutes.googlepages.com/audiofiles
They are examples of what you can sound like playing my pvc Irish flute. I echo what others have said. The type of music that you are interested in can be played quite well on a number of different melody instruments, including low whistles and simple-system flutes in bamboo, polymer, or wood. My advice is to choose an instrument and get started. No doubt in a short while you will be thinking about another instrument, as well, and then your flute/whistle acquistion addiction will have started.
Thanks for the input so far. You guys have given me much to think on about my instrument buying. Oh and yes, this is for personal enjoyment.
As for the music, so I like slow-air type of music? So does anyone know where I can find cd’s of slow, Resonance.. eh, slow-air type of music. Or musicians who are known for it. I just want to explore whats out there and find songs I like so I can try to learn them.
Oh, doug, I liked Gian Marco’s, Arianna’s tower and absolutely loved the slowair by Steffen Gabrie. Going to have to try to find a way to get sheet music for that. Any songs anyone knows that are along these lines would be awesome!
Just out of curiousity, does anyone know the name of the song from that mp3 posting I put up from erik the flutemakers page?
As for the fingering, I tried using a yardstick and marked it based off of this websites measurements. Do these measurements look right to you?
Oh, I thought of a couple other questions. In a nut shell, whats the difference between conical and cyndrical bores? I mean, I understand what the technicals are in difference, what I dont understand is how it changes the sound of the music. Is one darker then the other, one higher pitch, one more resonate? That kinda difference.
Also, I constantly see stuff like pratten and Rudall and Rose… what are these? What do they mean?
conical is like a cone… the wooden flutes you see are conical. cylindrical are like the plastic and bamboo flute. for playing purposes there is not much difference. the kicker is for the makers! when you get into it nitty gritty, there is a difference in playability, tunability and in finger spacing.
rudall and rose were a manufacturer in the 1800’s who made flutes, generally with smaller holes and a sweeter sound. pratten was a pattented design, made to compete with silver flutes, which has bigger holes and a louder sound. in theory, the pratten will resonate with stronger overtones and the rudalls will have more possible tone colors. in practice, it’s more like whatever floats your boat.
i know you did not ask, but in regard to sheet music, it might sound scary, but try some of the airs without sheet music! there will be so much more available for you to learn. you were blessed with an ear, and it can serve you well, if you only have some patience and enthusiasm. you can always pick up a piece of music after you’ve given up on it by ear, and you will never be the worse off for having tried and gotten only so far. i would recommend practicing christmas songs, which really helped me bridge the gap between what i heard in my head and i tapped with my fingers.
A little late to the question but figured I’d give my 2 cents. Erik the Flutemaker is a really good maker, I have several of his however his D flutes are a bit of a stretch to finger and require quite a bit of wind to hit the first register D. I think that would be very discouraging to a beginner. You are better off with a C from him (or any other reputable maker) to learn fingering and get used to the wind requirements.
I think a lot of us also started with whistles as they are easy to finger, cheap to get and really aid in the transition to a simple system flute as the fingering of the tunes is very similar. Once you know a tune on the whistle, it’s fairly easy to transition it to the flute. That means when you do get a flute, you can focus on learning the differences (weight, position, and of course how to blow) rather than having to learn everything at once.
That said, there are some people will make the argument that once you learn to whistle, it actually distracts you from playing the flute because it is so much fun that you get delayed from picking up the flute
So basically, if you want to get started fairly inexpensively get a whistle or a bamboo C flute and a good song book (Bill Ochs Clark Tinwhistle Book is one of the best for whistle and the songs work for flute as well) and start playing. Save up for a wooden flute from one of the better makers in the meantime and just have fun.
I went from various whistles to a Olwell Bamboo C flute to a Dixon 3pc Polymer to a Casey Burns Boxwood Rudall, while picking up various other bamboo flutes along the way. It can get expensive over time but doesn’t have to start that way…
