Hello all, I was browsing on the sweetheart website today and was drawn to a Bb fife. The M-2 model was advertized as having a larger bore in order to sound the first register better than most fifes.
I was hoping to tap this board’s vast storehouse of knowledge to find out… Is the claim of a strong first register for real? do any of you out there have any experience with these? Also, I was wondering if the M-1 or M-2 (Bb’s I believe) models have that typically difficult embouchure requirement of most fifes or are these a bit easier.
I’ve played the M2 only briefly, thought it was fine but don’t really know much.
I have the A, G and C fifes and like them very much. I think Sweetheart
really has these down very well and I expect the Bb is no exception.
Not hard to play embouchure wise. FWIW.
If you scroll down this page you will find
‘Video: Sweetheart Rosewood Flute in A’,
which may give you an idea of what
the Sweetheart A is like.
Sweetheart makes the old style fifes in two versions, a “military” version with a smaller bore, which favors the upper registers because the militaries of way back when needed to be heard at long distances and over loud noises, and another version with a larger bore, which favors the lower registers and is therefore friendlier for playing tunes.
Thanks for the responses. I’v had Bb keyed whistles that were a nice balance between low sounding but yet easy to finger. I thought that a Bb Flute/fife might be similar and a nice way to learn embouchure and holding posture for the ‘sideways’ world without risking hand problems (which I’ve had).
I thought also that early American folk songs might sound kinda nice on a folk fife and be somewhat period correct, but I’ve got a lot more research to do on that subject.
One other concern I might have is if the smaller flutes such as fifes are held in the same fashion as the larger flutes regarding hand/finger position. It would not be desireable to practice holding the fifes one way then having to re-learn another entire holding position for D keyed flutes.
I wish I had more experience with the Bb M2, but nobody here seems to.
I think these are likely to be as good as everything else,
but I don’t know it.
I really like the A, which enables you to play in D,
both helpful keys. The G flute enables you to play
in C. I can personally testify that these are very good.
My favorite is the A.
Rosewood and cherry wood are my favorites for these.
I tried the M2 at the Sweetheart factory, in fact.
Ralph tells me that rosewood sounds as good
as blackwood, maybe different under the ear
but the same to listeners.
The only reservation I have is that the Bb fifes are spin offs
from military instruments and it’s possible that even
the M2 is not as good for plain old tunes as the
A flute. But you can call these folks up and talk
to them about it.
If it were me I would go for a rosewood or cherrywood A.
I think you would find it just fine–unless you are
wanting to play in a fife and drum corps.
Well, I’m playing all flutes with classical grip. Obviously the higher pitched flutes
are easier but getting started on them will help with the lower flutes, odds are,
though of course that will involve new challenges–but probably not
a different grip, fundamentally.
One point occurs to me: embouchure is usually more demanding the higher
pitched the flute. Most new people find lower pitched flutes easier to sound,
if harder to hold. So our friend might wish to go with the lowest pitched
flute he is comfortable holding.
Another thought is that Billy Miller bamboo flutes in Bb, A and G are
less expensive, easy to play, light and good. They are an interesting
option.
Also finger stretch on the A flute is easier than finger stretch on
an A whistle. The sideways position, while it has its own challenges initially,
does cover the holes naturally and easily. One needn’t much worry
about hand problems on A or G flutes.
But it will take awhile to develop embouchure and learn to hold the flute,
wherever one starts.
Thanks all, I was not aware that something about the way a flute is held as opposed to a whistle makes the holes easier to reach on a key by key basis. I just sold a G whistle that, while I could play without the “piper’s grip” was pushing the limits of finger stretching for me and in fact sometimes caused my wrists to ache. If I am understanding Jim correctly, a G flute such as a sweetheart would be a bit easier to finger than a whistle.
Unless you have very small hands, an A flute or a G flute shouldn’t give you any difficulty with holding it or with fingering it, no matter what way you could hold it or finger it. The only real drawback to those flutes is that much of ITM is played on D flutes, and it takes a talented embouchure to play an A flute in the key of D.
Well, no more talented than it takes to play the A flute or the G flute, really.
But, yes, that will take time and patience, no doubt.
And learning to hold them will take time too,
but we can help with that. Also there are books like
Grey Larsen’s book.
I have both the A and the G and I like the A better, though the G
is good. But that may be me or the particular flutes I have.
I do feel these instruments are under valued.
They are terrific instruments for ITM. They sound
great, they aren’t expensive, they’re entirely
made of wood… Keys like A and D are useful
in ITM. I often play the A flute when people I’m
with are playing in D. Sounds good.
The trouble could be in getting a full two octaves in the key of D on an A flute, which requires pushing the A flute halfway through its third register, which might not be such an easy task for a beginner.
On the plus side, however, an A flute or a G flute is otherwise about as friendly of a place to begin as I could think of, being easy all around.
I have the Bb Cloos model. If I actually knew how to play a fife I might know how to play it in the proper octaves. As it is, I do not know how to play a fife so I play it like a flute. It seems easy enough to hit the low octave. What I find difficult is that being all one piece, I can’t rotate the embouchure to a position more comfortable for me.
