I got a cheap souvenier quena a few years ago, and I couldn’t play it much then, so it was stuck in the closet. After playing simple system flutes for a few months now, I dug it out and was pleasantly surprised that with a little work in finding the right embouchure, I can play it fairly well now.
The question is about the lowest note with all the tone holes and the thumb hole closed. The note is approximately an e, and the next note up with just the lowest hole open, the note is a g. When I play the same interval an octave up by opening the thumb hole, I get an f’ with all tone holes closed, and g’ with the bottom hole open. So basically, the lowest note is a half step low for some reason.
Anyone have much experience with quenas? Is this common with quenas, or do I just have a bad one? I do have a better one on order that I bought on eBay, but I’m just not sure I understand what would cause this.
BTW, playing quena seems to be very good training for playing the 2nd octave on my simple system D flute.
most quena flutes are keyed in G major but ive heard that some are
in the key of F…it sounds like yours should be in F, if the first note is
approx an E i’m wondering if its actually a very flat F.
sounds like you might have a poorly tuned instrument…this can be a
common problem with the ‘touristy’ quena flutes.
It’s hard to say without having it in my hands, but my guess is that lowest hole is a tuning hole, meant to stay open. The lowest “real” note should be a G. Standard size quenas are in G(-ish).
Thanks. I’m pretty sure the lowest hole is meant to be used in playing. It has six hole like al the quenas I’ve seen online. It’s about an inch longer than the standard G quena, so it makes sense that the low note should be an F. It must just have bad tuning like Ash mentioned. What a surprise that an instrument from a street vendor would have bad tuning!
One thing that seems sort of strange to me is the hole at the bottom end. The outside diameter of the quena is a little over one inch, and the bottom hole is about 5/16 of an inch. The strange thing is that this hole is significantly off-center. The outside edge of the hole is almost in the center of the quena’s diameter. Would that cause the lowest note to be flat?
I’ve seen Quenas with a small hole in the node septum and with just an open end.
Try the scale from G (should have a minor third) and if its reasonably in tune enlarge the vent hole until it reaches F.
Tape over the top of Sharp holes to Flatten, and enlarge Flat hole on the upper side to Sharpen.
