I want to learn to play with the Irish/Celtic style, but I’m not sure how to start. I have a good quality Boehm-system flute and am borrowing a fife (I’ll soon get a different one, but it will again not be mine and I have no idea about the specifications). Should I start learning on one of these? If yes, which one? If I need another flute (which I’m not eager about… not that I don’t love flutes! I’m just not made out of money), what should I look for? Also, where can I learn? I don’t think I can get a teacher. I do have the Clarke’s Tin Whistle book and several books with Celtic songs in them, but they all don’t talk much about transversal flute style. Has anyone tried the Complete Irish Flute ( http://www.melbay.com/contents.asp?ProductID=96332BCD&Heading=Flute+and+Fife&category=F06%2C+F08%2C+M04%2C+C01&catID=&head1=&head2=&sub=&sub1=&author=&contpage=96332f.html&mode=browse&q=&r=&s=&next= )? Sorry that this post rambles some… I didn’t know how else to explain the situation.
Check out http://www.scoiltrad.com. Nothing beats a live teacher, especially when the teacher is the great Conal O’Grada.
g
As someone who still on the lower end of the curve skill wise here are my thoughts…
Listen to the music style you want to play, a lot. Listen to it in the background and listen to it with a good set of headphones looping over parts that are complicated. Develop an ear for the music. This can take a lifetime.
Meet other folks. This site helps but there’s nothing better that getting together with folks and playing. Find a local session and introduce yourself and/or start attending workshops and take classes.
Play every day. You won’t get better if you don’t play.
Find a teacher. I couldn’t find one in my area, you say it’s unlikely you will either, but do what you can.
Books. Never used the one you mention since it’s for Boehm style flutes but it may work for you. Fintan Valley’s book Timber</a](http://www.thewhistleshop.com/catalog/tutorials/flute/timber/timber.html">Timber</a)> is a good one. Hammy Hamilton wrote a great book that is alas out of print, I’m still hoping for another run. Grey Larsen has what sounds to be a great book coming out this fall I believe.
Remote classes. Right now I’m taking the flute classes by Conal O’Grada at Scoiltrad</a](http://www.scoiltrad.com/">Scoiltrad</a)>. Great stuff and well worth the money. The only thing better would to be in the room with him for lessons, but us folks out of the main areas of Irish music take what we can get. The flute tutorial from Mad](http://www.madfortrad.com/%22%3EMad) for Trad is good too.
The wooden flute mailing list is a good list to subscribe to. click here.
And monitor this board.
Good luck.
Eddie
Rae - where are you at? There might be a slow session hidden in your area where you can go and learn tunes and the local style. Check over at www.thesession.org where they have a list of sessions worldwide.
Also, every tip above is a good one. Especially, play lots and listen to tons of good flute/whistle music.
Eric
I can’t emphasize exposing yourself to the music enough. Listen to a ton of it will help, and start trying to learn the tunes you want to play by ear, from good exponents of the genre. Especially when you’re a beginner to Irish music, learning Irish tunes off paper will not help you get away from that classical sound.
Also more specific to flute, you might like to reduce the aperture formed in your embouchure as Irish flute players tend to favour a embouchure that produces a high speed, narrow, focused stream of air. You could also try to experiment with tonguing less, and using glottals more often, as glottaling is a articulation/accenting/emphasis technique Irish flute players (with some notable exceptions) tend to favour.
Also if I were you I would probably choose playing the fife over the boehm. The main reason being that you’re probably very used to playing classical music on the boehm. Switching instruments might aid you in consciously realising that you are playing a different genre and hence allow less of the other genre’s influence to diffuse over. Moreover the small aperture in a fife embouchure is probably closer to a typical Irish fluter’s embouchure. It will also allow you get get used to a simple system instrument, and learning the ornamentation methods on one. Save up enough cash to buy a good wooden flute while you’re working with the fife. Do a quick search and you’ll come up with quite a good list of reputable makers.
If it is indeed the same book, I recently had a look at the MelBay Complete Irish Flute book. As I remember it is focussed mostly at the Boehm flute. If you are new to irish music and have been playing other styles of music on the Böhm before, then I strongly advise to learn your Irish tunes on another instrument. Your habits will be too hard to break (like, you don’t ask a guy who has been driving a Porsche Carrera for years to suddenly become a model motorist driving the same car - it’s the car that does the driving 
)
There are loads of good comments and advices above already.
The fife would be an option - but have you considered the whistle? It will give you the same fingering of the simple system flute (for the time when you are so hooked that you’ll rob a bank to get your flute like I did) and there are lots of good tutorials out there.
In the end the flute is a very different instrument, but it will give you a start on getting a feel for the music, it’s rhythms and accents.
all the best,
Jeroen
Another thought, go through the archives of this site. Many, many great nuggets of helpful hints to be found, including suggestions on great CDs to buy.
Right now the woodenflute email list archives are offline, but if and when they come back up I suggest going through them too.
That’ll keep you busy!
Eddie
Thank you everyone for replying! I’m going to see how much of this I can actually do :d I did find a session listed in my city at that website, but I’m not sure if it’s current and it didn’t list the times. When I make that phone call to find that out, is there anything else I should ask? Also, is there anything I should bring to my first session? and exactly what IS a session anyway? I have a rough picture from reading posts and all, but still don’t really know what to expect. Also, quite a few of you said that it would be much easier playing Irish music on a flute where I didn’t already have Classical habits. Now, that makes sense, but I have a question involving that. I would like to eventually be able to play in this style on my Boehm flute – not necessarily as my main Irish instrument, but I think it would add color to my music once I get more serious about writing/performing my own music if I know both styles on that instrument. So how long should I wait/how good should I be before I attempt to play Irish music on that flute? Also, it there any place/book where I can find out the precise differences between Irish and Classical music? I want to know what I’m looking for, what information I can transfer, and what habits I need to avoid/relearn. Also, what are “glottals”? I’ve seen the term a lot on Irish flute sites, but don’t know exactly what it is – much less how to do it. One last question (for now): I know I need to practice to get better, but am afraid that if I practice now I’m just going to learn bad habits because, well, I’m a newcomer to this type of music and fairly clueless. What types of things could I work on that would teach me good habits?
Its a good idea for you just to go and listen and find out for yourself what a session is. Sessions are different in different places. And no amount of discribing will really give you more than a rough picture.
Probably a good idea too if you don’t bring anything but your ears for now. Maybe bring a recording device. As a beginner I find that its better to approach the session in a respectful albeit relaxed manner, especially when you don’t know anyone running the session. You can record the tunes that they play and learn the tunes off them with the recording device. Remember to ask permission to record when possible, most times people won’t refuse you.
You could always translate what you know on about the style on a simple system instrument like a whistle, to the boehm. I don’t think learning a simple system instrument is detrimental to your playing of the boehm either.
As for “knowing both styles”, you might find its actually takes a bit more time and effort than you’d expect. The apparent simplicity of Irish music belies many details and intricacies that makes the music what it is. It’s definitely more advantageous to take a humble approach to getting to know/play it, even if you’ve played other genres of music previously. Also depends on what you mean by “know” the music.
Well its a bit hard to say here, plus I’m not aware of any resources that state explicitly the differences. Any takers, fellow C&Fers? It may be best for you to listen intently to good Irish musicians and try to identify the differences as best you can.
Its like a pulse of air using the diaphragm. Something like saying “uh” but without the vocalisation.
Well, firstly listen to tons of Irish music played by good players. Finding a teacher or an Irish musician peer will be very helpful in the anti-bad-habits department. You could also get some online lessons from Scoiltrad. The madfortrad tutorial for flute may be good for you too (see www.madfortrad.com)
Also check out:
http://www.rogermillington.com/siamsa/brosteve/
Thats a very good tin-whistle/Irish music resource. Much of what is mentioned on the side applies to Irish flute too. Also deals with various ornamentation techniques.
Eldarion wrote:
Probably a good idea too if you don’t bring anything but your ears for now.
My first few sessions, I had good luck with bringing my flute and sitting with it on my lap the whole session, but demurring when anyone asked me to start a tune, saying I was really just starting out. Other folks I’ve seen have brought tape recorders and run them for many weeks before they brought their instruments and actually played a tune. (I would assume tapers would ask first; I always have). Either way, I felt it sort of legitimized me as a musician (or at least a potential musician) rather than just a listener (which there were in droves). I don’t always start conversations with strangers easily, and I had a lot more success talking with other flute players about the flute when I looked like a flute player.
Though if you’re thinking about bringing a boehm flute (or a banjo or a hammered dulcimer or a recorder, or the spoons, or…), that might be a different story. Some traddier-than-thou folks are very quick to judge people who aren’t playing “authentic” instruments.
If you’re going to a new session, whether or not you choose to bring an instrument, it is generally a good idea just to listen for the first few weeks to get a feel for the group – how tolerant they are if you make mistakes while playing, how do they feel about non-trad instruments, how friendly are they. Even if the session is overwhelming (my first sessions were at Nanny O’Brien’s in DC where the real local musicians hang out, and I didn’t play a tune there for quite a while), there’s a lot to be gained from listening, recording, and talking with folks.
Good luck!
thank you
I don’t know if a fife is a good idea… I don’t know how many keys fifes come in, but I don’t think they’re commonly in D. You’ll need one in D to play Celtic music.
You have a point there - traditional ones are made in Bb, though there are ones in other keys - and chromatic ones, for that matter.