I’m new to this site because I really want to get into Irish music. I love the silver flute, and I haven’t bought a wooden irish flute yet. I have pretty small hands, so I was considering the Ergonomic Standard by Casey Burns or the Small-Handed Flute by same.
I have been looking for an irish flute teacher in my town (San Antonio, TX) and cannot find one. Does anyone have any ideas on how to find one? And along the same lines, will it make a huge difference if I take lessons on the silver flute with a classical instructor and then practice the irish flute on my own? In other words, should I do one or the other? Or is it okay to do both?
First, I can put in a very good word for Casey’s ergonomic flutes. I have the large-hole standard in mopane, and I really love everything about it.
Can’t help with a teacher referral, and I also don’t play silver flute.
My personal take on the style question is that you can do whatever you please, and don’t need to answer to anyone but yourself. Sure, if you immerse yourself in only Irish music on the wooden flute you’ll evolve in a different direction than if you keep your hand in at classical on the silver flute. If most of your attention stays with classical repertoire and technique, then you probably won’t sound authentically Irish-trad. Maybe that’s OK — only you can decide.
I mix ITM, blues, oldtime, pop and whatever else I feel like playing, and I don’t feel like I’m commiting any unpardonable sins. Others are strongly in the opposing camp, though.
You can’t please 'em all. My advice is to follow your own muse.
I started playing the silver flute (I’ve been playing for 6 years now) and then started with the wooden flute (1 year ago). I have to tell that the technique and embouchure is quite different on both flutes. I’m still playing both classical and irish flutes with their respective repertoire and sometime it becomes very difficult to switch.
My advice is: if you want to start playing irish music with the wooden irish flute, don’t get yourself with the classical one. Maybe a classical teacher could start you with the flute if you don’t have any irish flutists in your area.
I live in Argentina and we don’t have any teachers here (we are more or less 5 flutist in the whole country) and I bought tutorials, books, recordings and the internet is incredibly helpful!
I know it’s different in my case, because I’d started with the classical flute and I know how to “blow” but if you’re just starting and want to play only irish music, try to get a good irish flutes and good tutorials (the Mad For Trad’s is great!). Try to go to session and the most important thing… LISTEN!! Try to get recordings… as many as possible!
Wish you luck!! Let me know if you need something!
I was able to PM dow and got some advice from him. That helped a lot.
Matt, thanks for the advice about the embouchure. I am familiar with that as I have played silver flute for a few years, and so I’ll be curious to see what changes I’ll need to make in that.
For now, I’ll play my silver flute until I can get the wooden one in a couple months. I’ll start listening to irish tunes and learning them. Over the years I’ve played mostly church songs, and my favorites are always the ones with an irish sound to them. It’ll be a lot of fun to hear them coming out of a wooden flute.
The embouchure was quite an adjustment for me–I had been taught in college (on silver flute) to roll out, cover almost none of the embouchure hole, and use a very relaxed, “open” embouchure.
While this worked well enough on silver flute, the first time I tried to play an Irish flute, this approach resulted in a sound resembling air rushing out of a punctured tire.
On wooden flute I learned to cover much more of the embouchure hole…1/3 to 1/2 of it, change the angle of the airstream so that I’m blowing more into the hole instead of across it, and use a much more muscular embouchure with a high-speed but very small jet of air.
I came to wooden flute never intending at the time to really learn the Irish style, only to play for my own amusement. I wanted to learn the powerful tone I heard in the Irish trad recordings, and I wanted to learn how they did that “diddle-dee-dee” ornament because I couldn’t figure it out just by listening to it; I had been looking at flute fingering charts for years before I came to Irish flute but I had never seen a fingering for a “diddle-dee-dee.”
From this perfectly reprehensible start, I developed over time a desire to try to learn and play in the Irish style, and to try to play with more authenticity. I am no where close to either goal but am at least closer than I once was.
You should find a teacher if you can. Also get recordings of good Irish flute music and listen to it over and over again. If there are sessions in your area, you should go and listen and see the music being played.
After I had the desire to learn, Scoiltrad helped me greatly. Unfortunately that’s a resource that’s gone now, but if you can find a local teacher that’s better still. And moving to an area where there were already established sessions also has helped greatly.
That’s my thoughts.
Good luck on your journey, and don’t forget to have fun!
Nah, I tried that, but didn’t have any silver to work with. I DID have some lead fishing weights, but they kept turning into this heavy gold colored stuff, not cocus like I was shooting for, so I threw them out.
As a foreword, I briefly introduce myself : I’m 22 and I live in Belgium. My mother language is French, so I’ll certainly make mistakes when writing in English… I’ll do my best to avoid them!! I post here because this topic fits quite well my own situation…
I play the saxophone for 16 years and the silver Boehm flute for 7 years (+ a little clarinet, bass clarinet, piano and blues harp) ; I play in several bands : a rock band, a reggae/hip-hop band, a noise/punk band, as far as these terms mean something, and I also regularly play chamber music.
Regarding my pseudo, you may guess that I’m a Frank Zappa fan…
I also love listening and playing folk tunes, especially Irish and Breton traditionnal tunes (I have a few discs, and I pick the tunes by ear). I fell in love with the sound of Irish wooden flutes, and am seriously thinking of getting one.
I found a lot of instructive informations on this forum, which is really useful for a newbie like me!
I have a question which may seem stupid, but I’m an absolute newbie concerning wooden flutes, and am not afraid of asking questions : are the “modern” Irish flutes tuned in A=440 Hz? This is important to me because the guys I play with are always tuned in 440 Hz [I tried to play the traverso, then realized that the one I had was pitched in A=415 Hz… really awful when playing with a Hammond]
Thank you for reading my post (I hope you’ll understand what I mean in spite of my not fluent english), and for your answers.
I have also played silver flute for 5-6 years before switching to a wooden flute, and like Matias, I think that i have learnt a different way to blow. I have now tried a few flutes, not a lot, but I was able to see that i found difficult to play with a Gilles Léhart, and a Stéphane Morvan flutes, though they are excellent flutes. In the other way, i enjoyed more a Sam Murray flute and now I have completely fallen in love of a Folk Flute made by Casey Burns At least, i get a beautiful and strong sound ! I think that it would be a good choice for you too
Nicole
Beautiful isn’t it?
I have heard that Joannie Madden plays a Boehm system flute. Check her out.
There are a lot of advantages to mastering a silver, chromatic concert flute. Tis not the instrument but what you do with it that voices it. Of course one flute will never sound like another (even amongst brethren flutes there are differences) but that does not mean they cannot both sound “Irish” or “Indian” or “Klezmer” or whatever you will.
Every flute harbours a Muse.
Yours sincerely,
Tala
(strictly wooden and bamboo and some plastics)
Get the Wooden Flute Obsession CDs. There are 3. Doc has them for sale (see his post, this thread). If you can’t afford all three, just get one. I like the #2 the best (so far). Track #5 is fabulous.
The fastest way to learn Irish flute is to immerse yourself in it. However, who cares? Do what you want.
I have played Bulgarian kaval (end-blown shephard’s flute) for many years and decided to start playing Irish music a few months ago. Believe me, the embouchers are very, very different. As far as I am concerned, it is a process. Be happy with whatever process you choose and you will have a great time!
Another possible path would be to start playing whistle before going to wood flute. The idea behind this is that playing an instrument that’s less like the one you’re currently playing will encourage you to get the style in your head and fingers instead of playing the wood flute just like you do the silver one. It would also be difficult to use your breath and vibrato the same on whistle, and that might be an asset when starting wood flute.
There are some first-rate whistle lessons on-line and instruments are pretty darn inexpensive.
Hi, I’ve played classical and jazz flute for over 30 years and began playing wood/Irish flute last year so this reflects my opinion thus far.
Sound: As most Irish/folk flute playing is played in lower registers, I find that I have to spread my embouchure to fill the flute and get depth in the low notes (below G). It really depends on the instrument, but I find the folk wood flutes to be very different than the silver Boehm, and each individual flute has its own characteristics.
Pitch…most current flutes are pitched at A=440 and you should absolutely have a flute with a tuning slide.
Flutes…avoid at all costs Pakistani flutes…a beginner flute will cost you upwards of $300, an intermediate above $500 and more. You’re paying for response, sound and intonation and it is worth every penny.
Style…teachers are fine, books are good, listening is critical. There is a range of exceptional flute players..buy their CDs..listen to a tune you like over and over…play it slowly first and just the basic melody notes, then faster adding the ornamentals as you can handle them. I personally learn to play one tune before moving onto the next. I find listening to eb the most important step in learning to play Irish (in fact, any) music.
Keys vs Non-Keyed…90% of the body of literature can be played without keys…and I just traded in my non-keyed for a keyed flute and am glad I did. Personal preference though.
Fun…have it…it’s music, fun to play with others, fun to play by your self…if it isn’t fun you’re doing something very wrong.
There are a lot of awfully helpful and talented folks here, and they’ll do their best to make you feel at home.
