List
If I’m playing at home or at a session, I’ll usually play 3 or so tunes on the Flute and then back over to the Whistle…ad nauseum… what are you all doing?
I think at times it might be good to leave off one or the other for a week and then go back…
or maybe Flute in the morning and Whistle at night?
Mr. F
[ This Message was edited by: Mr. Fandango on 2002-12-19 17:08 ]
If you’re trying to learn the flute, put the whistle away. It’s too easy to find the flute difficult and pick up the whistle, in which case you never learn the flute.
What I did was practice the flute exclusively at home for over a year before bringing it to a session. Then at a session I could play only the flute.
This may sound extreme, but I dabbled at the flute while playing the whistle for years, and never really learned the flute. I’m a much better flute player now than I ever was when I was trying to play both at the same time.
Tim
Tim:
I’m beyond the beginner stage, 35+ years on the Flute and maybe 10 on the Whistle.
It would be a tought though to put down one instrument for awhile and focus on the other.
on another note:
I’m assuming the vast majority of Flute people on this list also play Whistle, but I’m guessing the reverse is not true over on the Whistle forum.
A poll on that would be interesting, haven’t looked on the archives, maybe it’s been done
Mr. F
This is similar to the thread we had a few days ago about band flutes helping/hurting regular flute embouchures. My feeling is the same – if you play whistle as an equal instrument, you’ve got to practice them both (flute and whistle). I don’t much care to be a great whistle player – I play them occasionally, and I play them okay, because I play the flute, but whistles just hurt my ears and do little for my flute playing. So all my practice time is on the flute (and a few other instruments, but that’s another story…). Bouncing back and forth should keep your chops up on both, if you’re not shortchanging them both by doing that. Since you’ve been playing both for quite awhile – assuming you’re happy with your playing in general – then I’m sure whatever you’re doing works fine. For a newer player, I agree with Tim – stick to flute.
Gordon, Tim & List:
the more I think about it the dilema, if you want to call it that is just having a choice of a great Flute to play as well as several great Whistles.
While playing the Flute, I’ll be thinking of my copeland whistle and then will pick it up.
The fingerings the same so that a plus, but to add to the mix I also play in a Fife & Drum Corp and the fingerings a little different. Gordon, one thing is sure after I picked up the wood Flute 6 years ago there was no going back to the Band Flute I had played for years!
Mr F
[ This Message was edited by: Mr. Fandango on 2002-12-19 17:17 ]
Mr. F:
What corps do you play with? I play with the Civil War Troopers.
Funny thing is, I’ve pretty much put the flute aside the last 8 months or so to focus on my fife playing. I had to stop drumming because of an injury and wanted to keep playing with the corps through the summer. Prior to this, I played decent enough fife, and knew enough tunes to take a few breaks from drumming during jam sessions.
With the drum and the flute set aside, my fifing has improved exponentially. It’s just a question of time.
If you want to play both well, you’ll have to devote as much time to each as you would to it if it was your only instrument. I don’t know about you, but I rarely have 3 or 4 hours a day to practice. I’m lucky if I get an hour and a half in. So if I continue to try to play 4 instruments, I won’t be progressing much.
Just one more opinion.
Going off on a slight tangent,this thread reminded me of something that Fintan Vallely mentions in his book’Timber;the flute tutor’ to whit"If you are learning the whistle via this book the main difference is in the blowing.It is easier blowing the whistle…If you intend playing the flute eventually though,get on to it as quickly as possible as the relative simplicity of the whistle-whilst musically acceptable and satisfying-may well lull you out of the urge to tackle the flute,something that you will regret in a couple of years". I unreservedly confess that i do not practice my flute anywhere near as much as i should,tending to play the whistle in the odd times between doing other things(like spending too much time on the 'net for instance).This is more than a bit lazy when you consider that i own a polymer flute which can be left assembled and doesn’t require oiling. Maybe i need to set myself an early New year’s resolution re a structured practice regime!I imagine that this will take some extra will power when the Copeland low D whistle that i’ve very recently ordered arrives!
Jim:
small world! I play with the Guilford Courthouse F&D out of Greensboro,NC. I play Fife with them and like you Ive played Drums as well…but in a pipe Band. I actually started out playing Flute in school. Our Fife and drum Corp plays just 18th century stuff, although when I attend a muster in the Northeast I really enjoy the Ancient style. I also play Fife at Reenactments and also pennywhistle and 1 key Flute… again pretty much popular 18th century stuff out of all the old historic manuscripts.
I play Irish music as well, but at heart consider myself a fifer and if you asked me if I’d rather play Essence of tampa and Crown point or Father kellys, its gonna be the F&D stuff I pick first! Jim are you guys just CW or do you do ancient stuff as well? we have a super CW group down here… the 26th NC regt… Dave Rotan and Billy Bynum are the chief Fifers, superb musicians.
Ben
[ This Message was edited by: Mr. Fandango on 2002-12-19 19:43 ]
Kevin:
some good points… When I get lazy or am just plan tired I tend to play only the whistle and also my Sweetheart F flute which is very easy to play and requires very little air… Kevin good luck with your Low D copeland, would you give us your impressions when it arrives?
Ben (aka Fandango)
[ This Message was edited by: Mr. Fandango on 2002-12-19 19:45 ]
Will do Ben.According to the Copeland website,orders are taking between 1-3 months,so maybe i should take this time to concentrate on my Tony Dixon polymer flute! regards.
Well, as someone who’s just starting both whistle and flute I can tell you what I’m doing. I’nm not sure if it’s the best way but it seems to be working for me.
I usually practice flute first starting with “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” three times. This warms up the flute and uses the whole lower register. It also gets me warmed up and ready to do something else. After this I usually do “Dawning of the Day” twice since it has the whole lower register as well, then whatever else I am working on for the week. Lately it’s been X-mas stuff. Figure about 20 - 30 minutes to a session. Then I switch to whistle and do almost the same thing but I usually do more songs and use different whistles. Maybe 30 - 40 minutes.
Every once in a while I miss a day but on the whole I’m pretty consistant. Works pretty well for me.
I tell ya, Jim, when you do get your Olwell, Healy or whatever, ya better play a jig, reel or hornpipe, or yer flute’s gonna be mighty disappointed! 
hey, give me some time. I’ve only been playing for 3 months. My next whistle class starts Jan 21st and runs 8 weeks then I start one-on-one classes for flute. I’ll get there eventually!
Mr. F:
The CW Troopers are an ancient corps. When the corps was founded in 1982, most of us came from two local RW ancient corps that had recently disbanded. We play everything from pre-colonial to contemporary (but ancient-style) compositions. Our fife arrangements involve some complex harmonies that definitely wouldn’t have been played by 18th or 19th century fifers. We use McDonagh fifes, which also are an anachronism.
Our major influence is the long tradition of Hudson Valley and western Connecticut ancient fife and drum, though we do have a couple of former eastern CT folks.
Jim and Ben - I don’t recognize either of your names on the fife&drum list. Do either of you post there and use another name? fifedrum@fifedrum.org is the list address and http://www.fifedrum.org and then there’s the Company http://CompanyofFifeandDrum.org/. If you already go there maybe someone else on line would like to check it out.
BillG
Bill:
Jim Macabaggie would be my handle on the fifeanddrum.com message board. I didn’t know fifedrum.org had one. I’ll have to check it out.
Jim
I love all these fife and drum conversations–now that is one funky-ass subculture, if you ask me. One can figure out how people get into Irish music, but pre-colonial or ancient military music? I love it. You guys are totally nuts–and I say that in the good sense. Way out there.
Do you guys wear uniforms and the whole get-up when you play? Living out the whole colonial military psychodrama? Gotta love that part of it too. I can image the guy in the front is supposed to have a white headband, stained with ketchup, as if a battle wound?
Perhaps if I was from the US East Coast, this would be more mainstream or whatever. So who knows? I have some friends on the west coast who are very serious about re-enacting mideaval jousting, swordsmanship, and kingship rituals–society of creative anachronism, they call it–…chainmail and all.
On 2002-12-22 08:30, gcollins wrote:
I love all these fife and drum conversations–now that is one funky-ass subculture, if you ask me. One can figure out how people get into Irish music, but pre-colonial or ancient military music? I love it. You guys are totally nuts–and I say that in the good sense. Way out there.
While not in the fife and drum “subculture” (though it intrigues me), I have to ask why it is more likely one can get into Irish music than historical music? I am neither Irish, nor from Ireland, yet the music is contagious, and over the past years I have made an almost complete change-over in my listening and playing behavior.
Part of the intrigue I feel toward early American fife music is on par with this. Another is that Americans come from diverse and complicated backgrounds, and having a history at all is intriguing. The music shares many similarities to “Celtic” music, including many tunes themselves of both Irish and Scottish origin (and other nations), and it is no odder, really, than getting into baroque music or any other early period.
As for the costumes, I’m sure there are differing rationales and feelings about these “regiments”, but, again, they place the music in its time period. Irishmen and women I know who play trad music are generally less romantic about it than the non-Irish – I enjoy playing out on a field or on a mountainside more than in a pub with a soccer game on in the background, because to me, it grounds the music in its actual past. I only wish it were common to dress like characters in “Gangs of New York” (coming to a theater near you – well, maybe not in China) when I visit a session in town.
Not odd at all, really..
Well, you’ve opened up a whole can of worms. Here in New York, especially the city and the Hudson Valley, and in Connecticut, fife and drum usually means ancient fife and drum. This is different from re-enactment. Re-enactors can be darn near religious in their pursuit of historical accuracy. Ancients settle for conveying the spirit of historical America. Thus it isn’t unusual in the ancient community to see kids in polyester knee pants and tricorn hats playing Civil War or even more contemporary music.
My group dresses in Civil War uniforms, but not perfect historical recreations. We wear modern shoes, socks and underwear (well, I do anyway, I haven’t checked everyone elses drawers), and our shirts and pants are washable. We keep our uniforms clean. We play colonial, RW, War of 1812, CW, IRTrad and contemporary music.
Re-enactors do the whole psychodrama thing - camping in period tents, eating only historically correct food, etc. I’ll have a pizza delivered to the muster field, drink coffee out of cardboard containers and be the first guy back to the hotel pool after the musical performances are over.
By the way, my fife teacher plays in a Spirit of '76 group, which is a live re-creation of the famous painting you referred to. And yes, he wears the red-stained white rag “wound 'pon his noble brow” for every performance!
I almost forgot to say how I got into ancient music. When I was a kid, I lived a mile or so from a really good fifer, and used to hear him practicing. My parents (who were teachers) had a habit of taking us on yearly family vacations to historic places like Gettysburgh, Philadelphia, Fort Ticonderoga, etc.
It just seemed normal for me to join the local fife and drum corps when it started up. A couple of friends of mine joined with me. I just enjoyed the hell out of it - the music, the events and the camaraderie. Got first rate instruction for free, too!
That was 30 years ago and I’m still at it.