I want to try to play an Irish flute, but I don’t know where to start.
Do I want keyed or unkeyed?
What sort of material should I want, rosewood, bamboo, polymer, or whatever?
Ease of learning to play, because I live in a rural area, and there will be no tutor. I don’t even know anyone in my area that owns such an instrument.
An instrument of good enough quality for a beginner, but not too pricey.
The availability of instruction books and music for the flute.
I’ve noticed that they come in different keys, which key is preferable?
Can someone be kind enough to help me with this? Thanks
Do you want to play Irish traditional music on it? If so, keys are nice, but definately not necessary. For Irish music, you will want a flute in D. There are many options available for flutes. It really depends on how much you are willing to spend. There are a lot of websites with music and tutorial information. There are also many books, but the only one I’ve really ever used is Grey Larson’s The Ultimate Guide to Irish Flute and Tin Whistle (The title’s something to that effect, but I don’t have the book with me now). Also, just browse around here for a while. My best advice, give us more information on what you want to do and do some research on your own.
I’m pretty new to all of this myself, but I’ll give it a shot.
Keyless. The vast majority of Irish Traditional Music (ITM) can be played on a keyless flute. Later, as your skills improve, and if you decide that you need the keys, you can get a flute with keys.
I’d recommend a flute by Doug TIpple, http://home.earthlink.net/~life2all/dougswebspace. They’re made of PVC and are very well made. Not expensive, and a very good place to start. I’d sell you mine, but I’m keeping it . A lot of people have started with his flutes. Again, later, if you like you can move to a wooden flute.
Ease of learning… Well the fingering system is pretty simple, so that shouldn’t give you much trouble. Embouchure control is a long term project… Not hard, but maybe challenging would be a better term.
Again, look at the Tipple. I think they’re about $55 or$60.
Several good tutors out there, depending on whether you already read music, there are a couple of ways to go. Grey Larsen has a veritable tome (470-odd pages) that covers a lot of stuff for flute and tinwhistle both. One thing you should keep in mind… While there are many transcriptions out there of tunes, you really have to listen to the music until you hum it in your sleep to get a good handle on how rhythms, ornamentation, articulation, and phrasing work in ITM. Again, not hard, necessarily, but an on-going process and at times a challenge. My teacher gave me the following instruction at our first lesson together: “I can’t stress this enough. to really get a handle on Irish music you have to Listen, listen, listen, listen, listen, listen and listen. Then, after you’ve done all of that, you really, REALLY have to Listen.” His instruction is subtle, but effective, .
To play Irish music with others, as well as playing with CD’s, you really need to get one in D. If you’re only going to be playing by yourself, then it’s not as important.
There, you have it, from one relative newbie to another. Welcome to the weird and wacky world of Irish flute. Stick around, do searches on the forum, ask questions, read alot, and have fun with it.
if it’s of good enough quality for a beginner but not too pricey
there are good beginners flutes by Casey Burns (the folk flute)
in mopane and by Ralph Sweet in rosewood. African blackwood
is probably better but it’s more expensive. Both of these
are easy enough to play. Check websites.
Key of D. The Grey Larsen book is helpful, as mentioned above.
There’s lots of info here if you do searches. You may find
that you can get instructions at Irish festivals, there
are workshops. Sometimes it’s worth travelling to
a teacher. Lots of lessons aren’t needed, though.
One or two at the beginnng to help you hold the flute.
Again the Larsen book is a good way to start.
might be 'cause I was on the B…or…C computer while the local web master updated the foal watch pages!
might be that one of the girls took out a section of perimeter fencing!
might be that the 1st foal is here. Irish Drought on a half Irish thoroughbred.
might have been that the 3rd question always scares me!
As an alternative to buying a Burns Folk Flute (I think there is a waiting list…?), I’d definitely suggest an M+E. It’s polymer, so it’s nearly impossible to break, and you can leave it assembled all the time (makes for great impromptu practicing). And when you feel like you need keys, you can add them extremely cheaply. All together, a great value.
Am I a good guesser or what? I’m going to look at your baby now, but I’m very afraid … sounds like you just foaled out my dream horse. Congratulations! And sorry about the fence. Hopefully just a panel?
6 posts, 20+ year old, along the street, 4 rail…needed to be replaced anyhow. I’ll just patch it with T posts, no climb and run a wire until we can run Centaur.
I have a Hammy Practice Flute as my first flute, and I think this was the right choice for me as a first flute. Economical, sounds good and feels good, no great $dammage done if I don’t stick with it in the long run. Worth a look into…
Grab Michaels M&E quick which is up for sale before anyone else does. There is no way in hell you will ever get off to a better start than with an M&E flute. I believe he’s asking $300-something, which is a great price for a wonderful instrument like that.
dear nancy: your circumstances couldn’t be more similar to mine although i’m 2 years ahead of you. buy some cheap whistles, then you can practice in your car and where and when you have the time. buy a cheap flute too. the fingering is the 99.9% the same as a keyless flute so what you learn will transfer. i made my own pvc flute but if you or someone you love doesn’t have access to a drill press, i recommend a doug tipple. pvc flutes are almost indestructible. i keep my pvc flute in the car and practice any time i’m waiting. when you get good you may want to try some other flutes. when i decided to learn, i bought a hall crystal flute and though i love it, i worry i’m going to chip or break it right after the one year warranty is up. good luck. please tell us how the progress is going.
I’m not so sure about the Tipple for an absolute beginner unless cheapness overrides all other considerations. It is easy to play alright, but because it is not conical the finger spacing is not typical of most “Irish” flutes. I don’t know if this would be a factor in the beginning or not as I had lots of years of tooting before I got my Tipple, but the difference was dramatic and I sure did notice it.
Yes and no on the finger spacing of the Tipple. My first Irish flute was one of Doug’s early one-piece flutes. It was a bit of a stretch, but I could play it with standard grip on both hands. I then moved to a rosewood Sweet. The holes were closer together, especially on the right hand, and standard grip was easy. I subsequently indulged myself in one of his improved three-piece tunable flutes. The right hand spacing was much wider and I had to shift to a piper’s grip on the lower hand. This came in handy when I bought my keyed Williams flute, which is much more comfortable played with a piper’s grip on the right hand as well – partly its a matter of spacing, but more about easy access to the C, C# and D# keys and also getting around the short F nat key.
I started with a Tipple 3-piece and loved it (still love it). It is a great beginner flute. But, the fingering is a bit of a stretch if you have small hands. Doug can help you with that though.
Also, for tutors - you might check out the MadforTrad computer tutorials. I have one for whistle and flute, and I found (especially the whistle one) extremely helpful when I was starting out. I live in the middle of nowhere too, and had I not had the tutorial, I would still be playing London Bridge or something . . . poorly!
Best of luck to you. It’s just SSSOOOOO much fun, once you get rollin’!
. A lot of people have started with his flutes. Again, later, if you like you can move to a wooden flute.
I’m going to look at your baby now, but I’m very afraid … sounds like you just foaled out my dream horse. Congratulations! And sorry about the fence. Hopefully just a panel?
Yeah! Sure!