Now that I am finally getting down to learn to use MORE keys (and new tunes).
I came across king of the fairies and love the tune but how for fluteplayer’s sake, does one play a B below D?? or doesn’t one? then what?
of course I did search before I asked but no answers…
I always take it up to the next octave. You can also omit it entirely, I suppose.
Pat
Simply put, one doesn’t. You either put it up one octave as Pat said, or play another note that also fits, depending on what chord you’re playing it over, so if the B is played over G chord, the you would want to play either a D or a G, repending on what’s going on in the melody. If it’s over a Bm chord, you would play either the D or F#, over an Em you’d play the E or the G. For example. Or you could, I suppose (never seen it done on flute) play the low C with the C-key, and try to cover half of the hole at the end of the flute (say, by pushing the flute against the person sitting next to you, to get it down to a B. I’ve seen it done with a saxophone, but I wouldn’t recommend trying it with the flute!
so far, thats exactly what I have been doing …but was just wondering…
Playing the note an octave higher isn’t necessarily a bad thing; it depends partly on the tune, and partly on your own tastes for it. The practice of substituting the higher octave out of limitational necessity - or even just because you feel like it - is sometimes called “folding”.
Here’s an example. The reel Tommy Coen’s (also known as Cottage in the Grove/Glen) has its first downbeat typically on low B. There are other lower-than-D notes to deal with as well in the A section. What’s a trad fluter to do? Fold, substitute, or eliminate altogether and use that gap to take a breath, all as a happy result indicates. Check out the vid in the link below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFeKXaFYJo0
This is pretty close to the way I learned the tune off of the Music at Matt Molloy’s CD. I think it works very well as is if you have to solo it, but it’s not as you would usually hear from a fiddle or banjo, say. Other tunes don’t necessarily work as well folded, but it depends on who’s talking. I love the reel Maudabawn Chapel dearly, but I don’t like it folded-style on flute; too confused-sounding for me, but other fluters like it very much that way. It’s one of those tunes that make me regret I never took up fiddle. The main thing is to try folding and see if you find it acceptable in the greater context of the tune; if you like the result, go for it. I say pick and choose to suit yourself, and don’t worry too much about matching a particular version note-for-note if it goes outside of your instrument’s range so long as what you do works and is easy on the ear. Remember that the tune can be your playground.
I have a Boehm flute with a low B foot and can get a reedy trad tone on it. Could use the Boehm with B foot for slower tunes and “off keys” which is what I do for G minor/dorian, D minor/dorian, F major.
Off topic a bit but,
I recently saw pics of a Reviol B foot on the yahoo flute makers list I think.
I don’t think I 've ever seen a flute from a modern maker lower than C.
Then of course there’s Jem’s Rudall with a Bb I believe.
I’ve only ever played a german flute with B foot and it wasn’t playing well,
would love to muck about with that Rudall.
The reel Tommy Coen’s (also known as Cottage in the Grove/Glen) has its first downbeat typically on low B. There are other lower-than-D notes to deal with as well in the A section. What’s a trad fluter to do?
I know you brought it up for the sake of having an example but in fairness, not a lot of people would play that tune in that key. The low B comes up in the other version as well though.
That’s the only key I’ve ever known it to be played in, myself. Might be a regional thing. What key do you usually know it to be played in? I might like the change. 
The first version I found was in Bb.
http://www.flutetunes.com/tunes/king-of-the-fairies.pdf
Interesting. But we were talking about the reel Tommy Coen’s, not the set dance King of the Fairies. Which, BTW, we also typically play in Em in the Twin Cities.
Oops, not familiar with the tune, wasn’t checking my search results as well as I should have and was not following the flow of the thread.
On second thought, I have no idea what I was thinking…
hah! stealin’ my moves, are ya!
so, you all are accusing each other of hyacking each others thread while you all actually hyacked MINE.
it WAS about the dance set king of the fairies…THERE!! (the hornpipe).
that is what the original question was about …since it had low B’s… 
now go and play nice!
If you feel more ambitious you can go to Bb (Courtesy of Rick Wilson’s Historic Flute site)
H
Save your hot air for blowing down your flute
Holmes Mooney & Wood play; The Laird Of McNabb - http://www.box.net/shared/5tx0jxtd7cbbgjfsjkp0 (Holmes McNaughton D Blackwood eight key).
http://youtu.be/zrNs33H7uxY Cuig Emag reel - How Sweet The Name of Peggy..
http://www.box.com/s/fvvfmefsrommgx7084zg B min Jig D 8 Key
yes, next year maybe.
Oops. I even double-checked first to make sure I hadn’t missed something prior on King of the Fairies before I posted. I still missed it somehow. Apologies to I.D.10-t, too.
ah never mind 
we all know we all do it sometimes no harm done and questions answered, thats what counts…
play on!
That’s the only key I’ve ever known it to be played in, myself. Might be a regional thing. What key do you usually know it to be played in? I might like the change
EABG A2 etc (it doesn’t actually have a low B in it, I mistook the repeat which usually goes BAGE DEGA as having a low B but on second thought it’s a first octave one).
Anyway, the tune is a variant of Down the Broom and usually comes in the same key. Pipers have it pretty much that way and the fiddleplayers as well. Martin Rochford though, although staunchly sticking to the Felix Doran version on the pipes, showed me how he played the tune in three different keys on the fiddle. Martin Hayes follows the Rochford’s ‘standard key’ version on his recording of it.
The Cottage in the Grove name was used for De Dannan’s recording. There’s a tune under that name in O’Neill’s Waifs and Strays that is quite different and I don’t think as really a version of this but I can see why, when looking for a name, one would make a connection.
Why, so it is! I never made the connection before; I’m not sure any of us had, which is somewhat odd; my friends and I like to ferret this stuff out because it’s good craic as well as good ear training, and there are enough of us who aren’t usually thrown off by differences in key. Thanks for that. Now I can point it out, too.
Still and all, I suspect that locally Down the Broom and Jackie Coen’s will otherwise continue to be considered “different tunes” if for no other reason than the variances, keys, and feel (the first gets the fire, the second gets a horsey trot) by which we usually play them hereabouts.