To answer your question Liam I agree with Stuart if you want keys then get at least a six key but you can always buy a keyless that you can upgrade later on.
I find that even on a keyed flute I sometimes half hole especially if playing a sequence of ascending notes. I found that trying to half hole notes over larger intervals was really hard say high E to low F natural I never got a crisp note.. So for those tunes I use the keys but a keyless is easier to start off on.
Hope that helps
Edith.
Or, if you’re starting, it might also make sense to get a flute with just the keys you’ll use most often - Fnat, Cnat, and G#. Realistically, you’re almost never going to play Bb or Eb, unless you’re playing with horribly sadistic fiddle/box players on a regular basis, and even then, it’s easier to just keep a Bb whistle nearby. Not only are those flats almost never used (I can only think of 2 or 3 tunes where they crop up), simple system keys just aren’t conducive to fast transitions to/from these notes. At least in my opinion.
Btw, I play a Rudall & Rose original 8-keyed flute: I have never used Eb in a trad tune; the only tune with an essential Bb accidental that I’ve come across (& I play with a lot of fiddle players!) was a lot easier to play by half-holing than with the keys; and I turn the footjoint around because the Cnat & C# keys get in the way…
Deirdre
On 2002-10-18 22:50, sturob wrote:
As for how many keys, I guess I’d say that I don’t see any reason (other than monetary, which is very legitimate) to go for less than 6. Six gives you “chromatic” up both the really-useable octaves. Eight really only gives you the bottom end C/C#, and some folks find the grasshopper-style arrangement kind of cumbersome. If you want to go down to C# or C, you do need an 8-key, but you don’t need them for the higher C and C#.
I’ve heard that the extended keyed foot that you need for that low C and C# weakens the low D, and makes it really hard to do the strong D. Is that true?
Incidentally… Last weekend I was at a folk festival where I played with a group for an English Country dance. I actually managed to play a tune in the key of Bb on my Dixon keyless flute. It’s possible to play a keyless in those wayout keys. But it’s really hard. I think would have been impossible for me if it weren’t a relatively slow dance.
-Mark