I did a search but nothing quite matched what I was looking for, and the closest match was six years dead.
Anyhow, I’ve just started to get a bit more serious about flute playing, and I was wondering if anyone could point me to a list of the different regional styles of flute playing, their characteristics and prominent players? I’m starting to find my way around the flute, but right now I’m just drifting with no goal in sight, so I thought I’d listen to as much varied styles of playing as possible to help find myself as a flute player, see what type of playing really excites me the most. That speaks most directly to me, if you will.
Are you quite sure about that, Denny? The remembering bit?
Could be that flippantly frequenting the nether regions of too many worm-cans has… taken its toll?
Hey, fancy meeting you here!
I think the Wooden Flute Obsession CDs are great for seeing what type of playing really excites you. If you don’t have any of those, I would recommend picking one or two up.
The site already mentioned by Kevin is a good place to start if you are interested in regional styles. This may also help, though it is broader than flute: http://www.rocheviolins.com/html/traditional_irish_music.html
That page also has a link to some videos about regional styles (also broader than flute).
I am no expert and so I cannot vouch for the information on the site. But I thought it might be helpful to you in any event.
I don’t actually hold much stock in the idea that there are ‘regional’ styles. I think there are styles established by a very small number of people, that sometimes get associated with the areas they come from. Conal (who may be along any minute) is from Cork, isn’t he?
Yes, no doubt I may be totally wrong in placing O’Grada in “Northern Ireland”, but his style does similar to Harry’s. I’m mostly exposing my thoughts on the subject to be either confirmed or corrected. I’d really like to know. In the article sighted above, the author puts Harry in the “Sligo” style category, but he’s not from Sligo, so I have no idea what’s what. Perhaps this categorizing thing by regional style is fruitless and futile.
I just googled ‘open and closed piping style’. Didn’t get much but this bit from Nial Keegan could be useful to you. http://www.inbhear.ie/volume-1/n-keegan/v1-i1-n-keegan-menu.html
I have to say trying to explain styles works with with words alone doesn’t work well for me. There are some sound tracks though which help a lot.
Something that helps a lot is to gather recordings of different players playing the same tune and listen to them in close succession. Hear the different phrasing, variations, tone attack, speed, note lengths etc. I’d recommend doing this solely with flute and maybe whistle players. Then, maybe, separately with players of other instruments. Solo (or close to) recordings are easier to discern styles with generally. I’d say regional styles tend to be most apparent on fiddle so include this.
I play solely in the tradition of Kanawha County. I am the lead authority of this particular style. We’re not interested in sharing our playing staying with people who are not willing to commit to the whole Kanawha County experience. You may try to imitate the style but you can not be the style.
