As I find myself increasingly broadening my repertoire (and style) beyond traditional Irish tunes, saying I’m an ‘Irish flute player’ seems a bit narrow. A) I’m not Irish. B) My flute is not Irish. C) I’m not only playing Irish music.
This seems to be a particular problem for flute players–if I just say ‘I play flute,’ people assume classical music, which isn’t the case; whereas fiddle players conjure an image just by saying ‘fiddle’, instead of ‘violin’. (Caoimhin O’Raghallaigh calls himself a ‘traditional and contemporary fiddle player’, which covers the bases pretty well.)
There seem to be increasingly more players performing a broad repertoire on the wooden flute (like Sylvain Barou, Mike McGoldrick, Brian Finnegan, Chris Norman, Nicholas Williams, etc.). Is there a genre/term for this type of player? Celtic flutist? Folk flutist? Wooden flute player? Fiddle-fluter?
As someone who’s previously referred to the ‘overbearing Irishness’ of C&F, that’s all music to my ears!
Is there a genre/term for this type of player? Celtic flutist? Folk flutist? Wooden flute player? Fiddle-fluter?
Folk or trad. flute player probably come closest for me despite sometimes still playing Bach, Gluck, Mozart etc. Wooden flute player somehow seems as awkward as Irish (so what if you’ve got Delrin, Ebonite or indeed a wooden Boehm?) and Celtic flutist just sounds, well, incredibly naff! But do we really need labels at all?
But that’s an interesting question actually. When people ask me I usually take a deep breath for extensive explanations, then I just say “I play the flute” and leave it at that. I like the terms folk / trad flute though.
Mostly this happens on the street. I’m busking, someone comes up and says: ‘What’s that?’ Pointing to the instrument. I say "It’s an Irish flute. It’s for jigs, reels, and hornpipes, but I play a lot of American fiddle tunes out here.’ One lady thought it was a very big side blown recorder.
I play in a harp and flute duet, and we get asked about the instruments constantly. I usually say I play the concert flute of the 19th century, the flute that was played in orchestras before the invention of the silver flute (I play an 8 key).
I play Irish traditional on my flute , but also venture into other types of music. I always refer to my flute as a “wooden flute”. I think that best describes what it is…
I play a flute (poorly), but only in comparing it to the fife (less poorly). The notes are different and I think you need a base instrument. For me the fife is that base of understanding.
I try at times to play the penny whistle, fipples are in general, nasty things to me. I cannot play them well. I’ll never call myself a whistle player.
But that doesn’t cover it, I play fife music. Look at civil war music and you realize there is so so much Irish influence in it. You play it to a certain beat and it is civil war music, another way it is ITM, or bluegrass.
My advice is know yourself. Have an anchor you can gauge yourself from.
Know your client, it doesn’t matter if it is a black-wood flute or an oboe. They liked the music. Call yourself a musician.
You show up at a session, know their volume, rhythm, beat and tuning. It seems to me you save the different definitions for people that make music.
I’ve always referred to myself as a ‘flute player’ and a ‘fife player’.
The straightforward response answers the question.
It also leaves the door for the whole debate, if the person asking is sufficiently interested to have it, about what the flute is, and why it’s made of wood rather than metal, etc.
I’d certainly never refer to it as an Irish flute - I’m English, the flute was made in Scotland, and I play English, French and Scandinavian music on it; I play the occasional bit of Irish in sessions, but I’m nowhere near being an ITM expert or enthusiast. I’d also be reluctant to define the instrument by the music played on the instrument, as that’s limiting it …
“I’d certainly never refer to it as an Irish flute - I’m English, the flute was made in Scotland, and I play English, French and Scandinavian music on it; I play the occasional bit of Irish in sessions, but I’m nowhere near being an ITM expert or enthusiast. I’d also be reluctant to define the instrument by the music played on the instrument, as that’s limiting it …” sfmans.
Agree, it’s just a flute. I just say I play Irish traditional music on the flute and pipes. It’s never been a problem.
When asked about my instrument I basically just say, “This is the flute as it was shortly before the modern metal one was invented. It has a different sound, doesn’t it.” Of course it’s not all that simple, but it gets the job done to the average Western listener’s satisfaction. If they want more info, they’ll ask.
I tell people I play the wooden flute. If they feign (or show actual) interest, I tell them I play the baroque flute and Irish flute, then regale them with the history of the flute until they wish they’d never feigned interest.
