I’ve seen this mentioned a few times so I thought I’d bring it up for discussion. Some people are taking up unkeyed low Bb flutes, such as doug tipple’s, and playing with fingers 1, 2, and 4 rather than 1, 2, and 3. I have a Woodsong Bamboo Flute in low C that I bought years ago in Virginia and I occasionally attempt to play it because it has a really beautiful tone and really comes alive in my hands. However, it is extremely hard to finger the thing. Not only is it just bigger than a D flute, but the spacing between the last two holes is enormous.
So, I have attempted to play it piper-style using my 4th finger. I try to sortof hold it between the right hand thumb and 3rd finger, but this makes the use of my other fingers sluggish and awkward.
So, for those of you playing these enormous instruments, how do you do it?
Erik “The Flutemaker” Sampson of Rennaissance Festival fame makes his bamboo flutes (in D and C) with a spread at RH3 considerably larger than any I’d had on a wood flute. I asked him why he did it this way and he picked up his flute and said it wasn’t a problem for him. He has long fingers, so I figured it was easier for him. As he played it, I saw he used his RH pinkey to cover Hole 6, and put his ring finger onto the large space between Hole 5 & 6 as the anchor. Aha, I thought. That explains it.
It’s an interesting way of holding the flute. I probably can’t retrain my hands to do it, but for newbies, it might be a useful alternative. Downside: If you ever get keys, the foot joint would be virtually useless to you.
Speaking of cross-minded thinking: Anyone ever notice how Seamus Egan plays the flute right-handed (his left hand on top, right hand bottom, pointing to the right of his body), but plays the low whistle the other way around (right hand on top, left on bottom). Now THAT’S talent!
I hold it with the RH ring finger, but … (grabbing my flute to check this for sure)…
Okay. I do support it with my RH thumb and ring finger, but I don’t apply much pressure at all. Most of the pressure seems to be between my left thumb and lower lip.
In general I try to let my ring finger float, but the fewer fingers I have on the flute, the more I want to hold on to it, so maybe I do end up gripping too hard. I’ll have to pay more attention to this next time I try playing it.
After I wrote that I realized I should have added a caveat: I’m not all that fast a player regardless of which fingers I’m using, so I may not be the best source if speed is the issue!
I’m pretty new to playing, so I’m not particularly fast either except for one two or three tunes. The C flute would be nice for the occasional Dm and Gdorian tunes, but I anticipate playing it mostly for slower stuff, if at all really.
