Would it be counter-productive for me to try and learn about the flute with him at home(something I want to do anyway, I even play his…), while his teacher may be teaching him in a totally different manner as a professional who works with kids?
I don’t want to confuse him, or accidentally do something and have him mimic me in class, do you know what I mean? He’s learning disabled, and needs special help in all of his classes, but this will be a 50 student band, and I’m afraid he’ll fall behind the other children.
So far, me and him have sat down and become baffled by the keys of the flute. It’s so complicated-looking! His music book has a fingering chart, but it is really bizarre how each note(ascending, descending), is sounded by pressing keys in an entirely different pattern.(As opposed to a recorder, I guess, which is just covering the holes, one by one, in a common sense kind of way)
Should I wait for him to come home with lessons and practice the way his teacher instructs him? I really just don’t want to mess this up for him, but I want to help him, too. I have very limited experience with the violin and the fife, I can read treble notes, if extremely slowly(like decoding them, line by line).
It would be great if you could learn at the same time, either on your own or using the same materials as him.
Playing a keyed instrument is, at least at first, mostly about motor skills. I’ve played flute for 30 years, and sax for 15, but if you put a sax on a table in front of me, I would have a hard time telling you what many of the keys were for, or what hand operated them. I don’t even recognize some of the keys by sight.
Instead, it’s all tactile. Flutes are designed to make sense to your hands, not your eyes. You learn one note at a time. Fingering charts are really only useful as reminders when you’ve learned a new note and can’t quite remember it. If you think your brother will always have a hard time using a fingering chart, or learning some of the other aspects of musicianship like reading music, it would be really helpful for you to be able to help him. Go ahead and learn the flute on your own, or with the materials he brings home, and you can act as his reference for the things he finds hard to learn.
By the way, this forum is mostly about playing Irish traditional music. Some other folks on the forum might be able to provide references to sites where you could get better answers about modern band/orchestra flutes.
I helped my nephew with special needs learn to play the harmonica while he was visiting us. He was quite pleased with his accomplishment and it was a very special bonding moment for both of us. He never bothered telling his parents so when I visited them (we live a distance away) and I asked if he wanted to play some duets, they were spellbound.
You didn’t mention what your brother’s skill level was but if he’s 9 years old in a class of 50+ kids, I’m guessing the instructor is hoping to get the group of them to play Three Blind Mice without the audience bleeding from the ears. I’m also guessing embouchure will be the biggest obstacle and if you play fife, I think you know a bit about that. Encouraging and enjoying your brother’s achievements, making sure he practices and enjoys practice may be the biggest help that you can give him.
I taught myself how to play flute and the rest of my musical lessons have been most informal. I bought a book on how to play the flute and I found it a complete waste for me. I would think they would teach songs that have just a few notes to start and build up a person’s repertoire of notes. That’s how piano books work. I ended up just working from a fingering chart, reading up on how flutes works, reading stuff here, and asking a friend who plays the flute. I would make sure he follows what the teacher is teaching him but there is nothing wrong in my opinion with showing him a few things on the side. One of the boys that my wife babysat has learned how to play Ironman on every musical instrument she showed him and then he was done with that instrument. He’s a teenager now. Teaching your brother how to play the notes from Jaws or some other song might be fun.
Once you’ve had some direction, I think you’ll find the process much easier than it looks now. As mentioned above, the fingering is mostly tactile, and the brilliance of flute design is in how ergonomic it is - the fngers will naturally fall where they should once you know where that is.
Regarding fingering, the first two octaves, which is where most of the playing gets done, are fingered almost exactly the same. Such is not the case on a clarinet (for example). And to do a C major scale, each key moves consecutively, even though the fingering chart makes it look otherwise. That is because the fingering chart is including all the sharps and flats. I hate fingering charts because they are so complicated looking. You and your brother will lean a few notes at a time and will master those before learning more. You will play tunes that only use the notes you’ve learned. You will learn to read music the same way. Simple tunes, simple structure, one step at a time.
One thing I love about flute is that I think it is easier for a novice to get a good tone early on then with brass or reed instruments. Since octaves are controlled by your breath, staying in the octave you want will be a bit of a challenge, but once you leap that hurdle, the rest gets much, much easier.
So take heart and enjoy the instrument together. Even though this site is mainly for wooden simple-system (no keys) flute players, there are plenty around here who can be of help whenever you need it. It’s a nice community of supportive folks.
I do know this is a forum centered around Irish traditional music, but whenever I’ve asked a question here, I’ve gotten such thorough, deep, and even sometimes personal answers from people who seem to have a great deal of experience and passion about the instrument I ask about, and that is muchly appreciated, you’ve no idea.
I have to say I’ve had more fun on my little brother’s flute than HE has. I’m learning along with him, he brings home these little cards with the 4 or 5 notes he’s learning printed on a staff line and a sort of ‘hole marking’ system shown at the bottom for the keys needed to be depressed to make the tone.