Pre-Newbie questions - Fife v. Flute?

Irish Flute
1

I’ll be brief:

What are the differences between a fife (as in 18th-19th c. American fifes) and a keyless Irish flute?

Is it possible to learn to play a fife/flute without a teacher?

I recently started playing around w/ pennywhistles. Yesterday I pulled out a flute (?) that I bought years ago at an antique/junque shop. Don’t know why I bought it - it was just a couple of bucks, it’s apparently made of black plastic or composition, straight cylinder, with a circular embochure hole - but I can actually make it make a sound. Surprised the cr*p out of me.

Anyway, there seems to be an abundance of simple fifes on e-bay and I was wondering if I might be able to actually learn to play one on my own, or if such a project is unlikely to bear fruit.

Thanks

Roger

2

I’ll be just as brief:

Get “The Fifer’s Delight” by Ralph Sweet (Sweetheart Flute Company)

Best basic little tutor (and songbook) around…you can get more advanced stuff later (although this could keep you busy for a long time)

3

Fife is smaller and higher pitched than flute.
Fife is by rights cylindrical bore, but conical ones also exist. Keyless Irish flute is by rights conical bore, but cylindrical ones also exist.
Fife is played mostly on the third and second octaves. Keyless Irish flute is played mostly on the first and second octaves.

Couple more fife sites for you:

http://www.beafifer.com/
http://www.fyfer-restorations.com/

Fifes are popular with Civil War reenactors.

4

Thanks for taking the time to help. I’ll probably order Sweet’s book this weekend.

R.