For various reasons, I’m contemplating switching from a keyed to a keyless flute. I like the simplicity of the keyless flute and I’d be able to free up some money for other musical endeavors. (Originally, when I switched from Boehm flute to Irish flute, I felt naked without a chromatic scale.)
Yes, a keyless flute would mean sacrificing a small portion of my repertoire, although the vast majority of what I play is keyless-friendly Irish tunes. (And a number of the tunes I play using keys can be transposed into keyless flute-friendly keys.)
But what do you think I’d be losing if I made this switch? (Is there someone out there who reads this and wants to dive into the thread in slow motion, crying out ‘Noooooooooo…’?)
Ok, I’ll bite…Nooooooo!!! You know keyless flutes will simply roll off the table at a session, and might that not hinder the acquisition and consumption of pints at said session?
But seriously, if you’re OK without keys, more power to you. You can cross finger and half hole all but that pesky Eb anyway. I would end up missing keys myself, but I do understand the simplicity argument.
You could always get one of those Baroque looking Copley one keyed flutes…won’t roll off the table and they play Eb nicely…they’re mostly keyless. LOL.
Doesn’t seem crazy at all; it really depends on the music you like to play. Plenty of good Irish flute players never (or rarely) use the keys.
I use the keys a lot in my own playing, but in sessions it’s common to go a whole night without ever touching a key unless you’re in E. Galway or E. Clare. Or Scotland I suppose.
I don’t think you are crazy to switch to a keyless. As you know, most tunes in sessions are playable on a keyless, I find it slightly easier to navigate the fingering on a keyless than some keyed flutes, so I can play some reels faster and I remember reading something about the less holes in a flute or alterations to the inside bore the more stable the tuning is (someone clever will correct me on this ). If it works for you Tintin then go for it, but consider first whether this is just a temporary phase that you are in and will you ever want to go for a keyed flute again. Some keyless flutes are very reasonably priced so you may want to consider keeping the keyed and save for a decent keyless.
I’m on the other side of the fence, learning on a keyless flute and being frustrated at some favorite tunes I can’t play without keys. There aren’t that many, and I do play mandolin so I can still play them. I’ve decided I can’t justify spending for a keyed flute that would match my current keyless one (which is fairly expensive) without being able to play better.
On the other hand… I can understand the attraction of giving up a keyed flute and going keyless. A keyless flute is so simple, and yet so expressive. It’s forcing me to learn how to get good at half-holing and bending notes. I’m actually worried about losing some of that, if I eventually buy a keyed flute. But then… those tunes I can’t play now that really NEED the keys are a pull in the other direction. So I’ll get there eventually, if I live long enough.
So this is no help as a post, I reckon. I won’t say Noooooooooo, but I can at least sympathize with the pull towards simplicity.
Although I have made keyed flutes for years I am much more a keyless player. My solution for playing in keys other than D (and G) when necessary is to come up with flutes that play in other keys.Thus my low flute combo (A, Bb, B and C) and Irish Flute combo (C, D, Eb and E). I also make flutes in F and G, which I use primarily in Galician music.
The advantage of this approach is that the native diatonic 6 hole fingering (including half holes and cross fingerings for the notes not in the specific scales) can be used.
For most traditional music this is adequate. However, getting the minor 2nd (Eb on a D flute) is best done with a key at the bottom. Many of my clients order just that with their flutes, so they have full chromatic ability.
Castle Kelly, Salvation Reel, Jenny’s Chickens, Crested Hens…it would be tragic the loss. What s it with incidentals and poultry tunes? This may require further study.
Is it harder to half-hole Eb, Fnat, G# and A# on a flute compared a whistle?
I can hit those notes as accidentals with reasonable accuracy on a (tweaked) Generation and Milligan whistles.
I’m not very fast (yet), but I’m working up Coleraine Amin on the D-whistle, which offers good practice on G# and Fnat. It will take some more practice to get up to speed, though.
It’s much easier to half-hole on a whistle…the thicker body of the flute as well as the hole sizes of some of the holes makes it much more difficult on a flute.
). If it works for you Tintin then go for it, but consider first whether this is just a temporary phase that you are in and will you ever want to go for a keyed flute again. Some keyless flutes are very reasonably priced so you may want to consider keeping the keyed and save for a decent keyless. 
