Help! I received the present of a lifetime. Its a hand-carved plains indian cedar 6-holed flute. I want very much to learn how to play properly and to preserve this beautiful instrument. Can anyone point me in the right direction for preservatives, fingering and sheet music. Please reply directly if possible. my email is mshumer@iname.com
THANKS IN ADVANCE TO ALL!
Hello!!!
Lucky, Lucky you!! I learned to play the Native American flute before getting into whistles. The NA flute is very much a "heart” instrument. Meaning that there is no real “correct” way to play it as there is in the “classical” world…however, I can recommend a few sites:
http://www.nativeflute.com/
The Oregon Flute Store. They sell flutes from different makers, and books, and videos. Very nice people, if you have questions they are a great place to start.
http://worldflutes.org/
The International Native American Flute Association
Another great place to look for information.
Best way to learn to play is to lisson to NA music. My favorate flute players are Mary Youngblood, and Kevin Locke. However, the most famous person is R. Carlos Nakai. There are many others each with a different sound and style. The NA flute is played very similar to the whistle, however, the “feel” or “mood” of the sound is very different. Also, I have found that the NA flute allows more cross fingerings then whistles, however, playing a fast song is easer on whistles than many NA flutes. NA flutes are great instruments, let me know if you run into any problems or have more questions.
Sage
On 2002-12-23 13:22, msav8r99 wrote:
Help! I received the present of a lifetime. Its a hand-carved plains indian cedar 6-holed flute. I want very much to learn how to play properly and to preserve this beautiful instrument. Can anyone point me in the right direction for preservatives, fingering and sheet music. Please reply directly if possible. my email is > mshumer@iname.com
THANKS IN ADVANCE TO ALL!
Cedar is one of the least-difficult woods to keep in shape. It isn’t attacked by insects, water doesn’t damage it, nor does exposure to weather, othere than causing some graying. I’d simply suggest an occasional wipe-down with tung oil, used very sparingly, to keep the natural look, and to prevent cracking. Of course, swab it dry after use, and store in a place where the atmosphere doesn’t get totally dry. And keep it away from heat, too.
Lucky you, to get such a nice thing! 
serpent
Some furniture builders recommend lemon oil instead of tung oil.
Lemon oil works great on rosewood fretboards…
John
American Indian Flutes usually have F# as the bell note. Some of them are 5 holes flutes.
I like lemon oil, too. The reason I suggest tung oil is that it’s got a somewhat longer life. Really, you use so little that it probably makes no difference which. Go for whatever smells best to you!
Cheers,
serp
On most 6 hole flutes I’ve tried, you actually play them 5 holed most of the time. Keep the third hole from the top closed. Other than that, remove fingers one at a time from bottom to top to play a pentatonic scale. The extra hole is used mainly for articulating notes. It can also be used to play some different scales, but I don’t know much about that. Beautiful flutes, and fun to play