newbie advice and questions

Irish Flute
1

HI,

I finally dared to step across the whistle forum and thought ask my question here where it seemed to be more appropiate.
I am a whistle player since last summer and taking lessons since shortly, but I have always loved the sound of the flutes.
Last saturday I was at someones home in germany who plays both instruments and he played the flutes for me…I was in love with the sound…

Despite having fibromyalgia I am here taking a deep breath and ask you if there are ways to learn to play (keyless) flute.
I wonder if it would be not physically too hard.
And also what kind of keyless flute would you recommend.
I have heard an olwell …dream on
Is it really harder to learn to play flute than it is on whistle.
Should I first get used to play with backpressure on whistles and then reconsider the flute?

These questions boggle my mind and I hope you will help me a bit on the way.
berti

2

Berti,

As a beginner myself (barely a month now) I can whole-heartedly recommend one of these:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3720383709&category=10183

It’s a superb student instrument, although my feeling is it’s far more than that, and at the price, it can’t be beat. I’d love to hear a ‘real’ player on one of these, I’m sure it’d make an excellent ‘session’ flute. It’s practically indestructible, and you don’t have to worry about maintenance or spending a fortune on a wooden flute, especially if you later decide that flute isn’t for you.

Is it harder to play the flute than the whistle? For me, definitely. It’s taken me four weeks to get to the point where I can get into the second octave reliably enough to be able to play tunes. Worth the effort and perseverance though!

There’s no real backpressure with the flute. You have to create your own with your embouchure. It’s apparently quite usual for us beginners to get dizzy in the beginning (hyperventilation)…I know I did until I got the hang of it, and until my embouchure started to improve and become ‘reliable’, but you do use more air on flute than on whistle (or at least I do at the moment). It gets easier as you progress (thank gawd).

The fingering on a keyless flute is the same as on the whistle, so any tunes you learn on the whistle you can play on the flute. I find it’s easier to learn the tunes on a whistle, and then learn 'em on the flute later.

Perhaps the best bit of advice I can give is this: Don’t buy an “Acoustica” student flute! I did, 6 months ago. Still can’t get much of a note out of the bl&^dy thing. Thanks to that particular tool of the devil, I took up whistling (a cunning plan of mine: learn the tunes on the whistle, then all I’d have to do is learn to make the flute ‘work’ because I’d already know the tune…yeah right). It was only after buying a bamboo flute from http://www.bamboozle.org.uk that I finally realised it was the Acoustica that was the problem, not me. Thanks to that Acoustica POS I’ve effectively “lost” 6 months of practice time. If only I’d bought the Calmont back then… the Calmont really is an ‘easy blow’ (compared to the bamboo flutes, the Westport, and the M&E I now have).

I think if you can manage a Low D whistle comfortably, you should be able to manage a D flute. Hopefully your friend allowed you to hold one of his, so you could get an idea of how it feels in your hands? And with any luck, he’ll also be able to help out as a teacher, something I don’t have.

Hope this helps…

3

I’m with Gary here, unless you’re absolutely sure you want to stick with the flute, or just have loads of spare cash, a Calmont, Al Mount (board member here) or Doug Tipple flute is a very good starting point.

If you do want to spend more, the three piece conical Tony Dixon, Ralph Sweet maple, or Casey Burnes folk flute would be great (casey’s has offset holes which are suitable for small hands, the Dixon has an easy reach with small holes, too).

It is harder to play flute, but mainly it’s getting the embouchure down like Gary said. I, too, spent some time being dizzy, but it’s worth it.

Good luck, and let us know what you do!

Eric

4

If you’re concerned about being physically able to play, it’s tempting recommend one of the very inexpensive flutes – the Calmont mentioned by Gary, an Alan Mount, or an Olwell bamboo. OTOH, these are all cylindrical flutes, which have a more difficult reach, so they’re harder on the hands. The easiest physically would be an all-wood flute made from one of the less-dense flute timbers such as boxwood or mopane The Casey Burns folk flute has gotten some good reviews, is all-wood, and inexpensive with a short wait. I’m sure there are others that would fit, too.

I hve heard an olwell …dream on
Is it really harder to learn to play flute than it is on whistle.
Should I first get used to play with backpressure on whistles and then reconsider the flute?

I’m a novice with about a year under my belt. It’s definitely more difficult to play the flute than the whistle, but also much more rewarding. Yes, the fingerings are all the same as on the whistle, but that’s only the tip of the iceberg. Forming the airstream is quite a challenge; this is the key to getting a good, full sound out of the flute as well as not needing to breathe every two notes and passing out.

In return, you get an instrument that’s much more versatile than the whistle. Since you make the airstream, you have control over the volume as well as the texture of the sound, giving the possibility of much more emotional playing. Of course, that means that to a great extent, you have that much more phrasing to learn, even in tunes you’ve learned quite well on the whistle.

I will add that I’ve made much more progress on the flute in the year I’ve been playing than I’d thought possible, and much more than I did in any year of whistling.

5

Well I don’t know how much pain you have but go for it. If you like the sound of the simple system flute then that’s enough motivation. Why not get one of the plastic models to start with, a Seery or Dixon for ex. and see how you get on. As someone mentioned the fingering is the same as on the whistle, you’ll have to practice getting your embouchure together, but everyone has to do that. To practice a little every day, 15-30 minutes is better than two hours once a week. Listen to solo recordings of Irish trad players, soak it in and you’ll soon be flying. I’m not sure, but I think maybe a plastic flute would weigh less that a wood one if that’s any help. Welcome to the club

6

The casey burns folk flute is a good place to
start and it has the advantage that you can
sell it later, if you choose, and recover all/most of your money.

7

My Dixon 3-piece actually weighs as much as my non-blackwood flutes with slides. I found this kind of surprising, too. The lightest conical-bore flutes I have are boxwood without slides.

8

Both flute and whistle can be very satisfying instruments to play. When you’re new to both, it’s sometimes easier to work out new things on the whistle because you don’t have to worry about embouchure like you do on the flute.

I don’t know what “fibromyalgia” is, but if it’s a breathing problem of some kind, you should know that the flute takes a lot of air. For a while, it will feel like you’re out of breath all the time. As time passes, it does get better.

Not knowing your budget, it’s hard to recommend particular flutes. I have the cheapest model that Mark Hoza makes and am extremely happy with it. www.woodenflutemaker.com

9

Hi, and if you decide to try the flute, welcome on-board.
If you are going to check out different flutes soon, I can warmly recomend M&E Flutes by Michael Cronnolly http://homepage.tinet.ie/~mandeflutes/ .
Be sure to also search for info on the board about those flutes, probably 95% of everyone that has tried those flutes loves them. I have one, am extremely happy with it and customer service is top notch.

Cheers

10

Hello Berti… good advice from all to start with an inexpensive flute such as a Calmont or Tipple… you can see how it goes without too much investment. As far as the fibromyalgia, you won’t know unless you try if the flute is a problem based on your symptom level. If you take it easy initially, no more than 10-15 mins at a time, you won’t do yourself any harm and I’ll bet you’ll do fine - Tod