Fife

Irish Flute
21

There are two important things not yet mentioned here. The fife must be capable of high b. I learned fife on a Ferrary. It was a wonderful instrument and played a high b easily, as long as the instrument was properly tuned. Many years ago I posted (ok, so it’s been a while) some information about how cork placement and embouchure affected the tone. This also has an incredible impact on the ability to hit the higher register notes.

When I purchased my Model F, I pulled it out of the packaging and played all the way up to the fourth d’. Though I loved the Ferrary, this was only achieved with a force of will. The Model F was just simply built to play the highest register notes (and all the others as well - can you tell I love the instrument?).

I also have some inexpensive Cooperman maple fifes. They play very nicely in the lower registers, however, the highest notes are hard to hit. The plastic Coopermans play nicely in the higher register.

I have a keyed fife made by a flute player that just does not have clear high register notes (this was a second he sent as a favor, so I will not mention the brand. He does make wonderful flutes.)

I have found that cork placement makes a big difference. My Model F, Cooperman and Ferrary all played nicely with the cork just shy of the hole. It takes some tweaking, but it is worth it.

Rather than just blowing harder, don’t block the hole with your lip and learn to blow sharper. I do not know a better way to describe it. I pull back the corners of my mouth and adjust to avoid widening my lips. It takes less breath and produces a loud clean tone.

I thought of a third thing as well. If the fife is wooden, soak it in oil. I have seen many people recommend different kinds of vegetable and seed oils, but I have always used mineral oil. It won’t rot, won’t smell and you can find a large bottle at the pharmacy that will last forever. Just wipe off all of the excess oil. This made the difference when I was first learning fife. The stock fife I used had not been oiled in years and was very dry. Oiling it gave me my first clear high b’ experience.

22

A tabor pipe is designed to be playable one-handed.

23

I have played the flfe in a rather novice fashion for the last couple of years. I was told by the author of the tutorial I use that one needs to spit into the blowhole. One I started doing that my playing improve quite a bit. You have to practice playing each note and holding it for a long time. These are called church tones. With a fife you have to practice, practice, and more practice. The man who wrote the tutorial I use is Ed Boyle. His book is very good. These are just general suggestions. Ed’s web site is beafifer.com

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Most of the serious, non-tongue-in-cheek suggestions posted earlier are quite good.
Fingering is not your issue, it is purely embouchure, most likely, and possibly the fife. The oil-soaking is definitely a good idea. I bathe my fifes regularly in Almond oil (which you can get from a health food store - recommend a brand infused with vitamin E as well to cut down on the rancidity which develops over time with the oil).
I can get the d4 out of any respectable fife, and the b3 is definitely required for the standard repertoire.
Keep trying, and keep playing. You’ll p**s off your cats and your neighbors, but eventually you’ll get it.
It’s not about blowing harder - it is about blowing “tighter”. I think someone earlier said “sharper”. I tell my students to emulate trying to spit a grain of uncooked rice. Imagine doing that, and shape your lips and tongue thusly.
Hope that helps.