I’ve read a lot of the posts on this forum and on the Session about simple system flutes for beginners. I’m a beginner with flutes, and play mostly for fun. I purchased a Doug Tipple Flute made of PVC which is really a nice flute, but my fingers have a hard time reaching across the holes, despite having fairly large hands. I have trouble transitioning to the second octave as well.
I am drawn to wooden flutes for aesthetics and rich sound and am planning to purchase a wood flute from one from these manufacturers:
-Fred Rose in the UK. He has a rosewood flute in D for sale, one of his older models. I’m about ready to purchase, but haven’t found many reviews. Will I have trouble selling it if I need to? Has anyone tried one of his flutes? I know he is well regarded for his craftsmanship, and I can say he is really pleasant to deal with. I’m in Memphis, TN, USA, for what it’s worth. I’ve read his flutes are lightweight, and play easily.
-Casey Burns Folk Flutes. http://www.caseyburnsflutes.com/ff.php $450.
-Sweetheart Maple flute. http://www.sweetheartflute.com/irishflutes.html $350.
-Brent Santin flute, a flute maker in Canada he has one in blackwood for $450.
Budget ~$500. Also, I mostly will be playing traditional hymns and such, not necessarily Irish music, so I wonder if the key of D is the way to go. Would another key make more sense or be more versatile? I have a bamboo bansuri flute in G and can play a lot of hymns with it.
I’m not familiar with Santin flutes, but have owned each of the other three.
Both Burns and Rose make flutes that are very easy to play and easy on the hands. The Sweetheart is a little more difficult to play and has somewhat larger holes than either of the other two. OTOH, they’re REALLY light and have a brighter sound, while Casey’s and Fred’s flutes are a little mellower.
For your requirements, I think you’ll be pleased with either a Rose or Burns.
If you’re having trouble with the reaches on a D flute, going to C will be worse. Any keyless flute will give you two keys easily, and a third with some half holing. On a D flute that’s D,G & A; In C it’s C, F & G. Whatever you buy, you’re going to be doing some transposing. You can flip through your church’s hymnal to see which keys predominate, but I suspect it’ll be a wash. Apart from this, which is more useful depends largely on what instruments you want to play with, and the skill of the other musicians.
If you learn(ed) to play using notation, the advantage to playing a D flute is that the nomenclature at least matches the note you’re making, and you’ll only need to transpose tunes written in alien keys. With a C flute you’ll be transposing everything. If you learn by ear, of course, neither applies.
I’ve owned 2 Sweets and a Burns, and either maker would do what you want just fine.
Either the Copley or the Burns will take you a long way. If you buy something more expensive later, you can sell them or keep them for a second flute. They are both solid, quality instruments. If you have small hands, Burns also makes a version with closer hole placement.
Both Burns and Rose make flutes that are very easy to play and easy on the hands.
Good to hear you like both of these.
I wear a men’s XL glove, and can reach a long way across piano keys, but I find I’m straining a bit on the Tipple flute in my right hand, just to reach the last tone hole- not sure why really. Mr. Tipple has more info on tone hole spacing here: http://tippleflutes.com/flute-finger-hole-comparison/
I have been playing by ear until now, though I would like to learn to read music. When I visit my parents, my Dad and I will run through a hymnal, he plays a silver concert flute, much better than I. He reads the music to play, and I try to follow by ear.
Doug Tipple makes lovely instruments. I have an F Tipple, and the reach is a challenge for me. I have no problems with my other flutes. I suspect that is because Tipples have a cylindrical bore. Most Irish flutes have a conical bore, which affects the tuning and hole spacing. There are a few makers with a more challenging spacing. I don’t consider Burns or Copely among them. I find both very user friendly.
This. My church hymnal is all over the place, though C and D often do okay for me, maybe add a B-flat and that does pretty well. (Our music director’s tendency to enjoy starting down a key and then only going to the written key for the final verse, necessitating an actual whistle switch, is a bit more difficult, though!)
The stretch won’t be quite as painful with a conical-bore flute; they’re slightly more efficient than a cylindrical bore in the same key.
And frankly, with XL hands and a wooden flute, I think that you’re feeling unfamiliarity rather than incapacity or real discomfort. I think that persistence, perhaps attention to technique, and muscle memory will get you there faster than you suspect, and once your hands know what to do you’ll never have to think of it again. People with quite modest sized hands can make a D flute happen.
The bottom note is your weakest finger and the one that gets the least exercise during ordinary play. All the fingers above get used whenever you play a D (and so on for each higher note), but the D finger only gets used when you play D. Thus, weakness or lack of practice will show up here first and last longest. Long after your other fingers have sorted what’s required, your D finger will still need rehearsal. My suggestion is to keep at it. It’ll stop being a problem soon.
Unless you get lingering soreness. That could be repetitive strain and should not be ignored.
From the catalog page, there’s no musical reason not to buy the ringless delrin flute for $360. Rings protect a wooden flute from cracking, but on a delrin flute rings are cosmetic. Delrin is a plastic that can be turned on a lathe like wood.
Thanks Simon for you more recent comments. I’ve purchased one of Fred Rose’s flutes as of today. I’ll try to remember to report on it when I receive it. His website prices aren’t current- FYI. http://www.fredrose.co.uk
I shouldn’t even reply since I’m a ridiculously rank newbie, but I’ve got large hands for a woman and am on a Tipple D with no problems. I’ve managed to work out how to hold my hands on my own, though. For me the trick to being able to manage the reach on the low tone holes was to not try to cover them with my fingertips but with the flat space between the knuckles in the center of the finger. Once I let myself do that, suddenly I wasn’t killing myself and straining my hand. You don’t have to plug the hole with the tip of your finger; you just have to cover it up with any part of your finger.
I ended up doing the same thing with the other hand as well; this would be your left and my right since I’m playing lefty. Instead of doing the “rest the flute on the base of the index finger” thing, I tried a hold that I saw a dizi player on YouTube using, and it’s working like a charm. I have ZERO hand strain and can reach everything without any issues. I think this is called a piper grip or a whistle grip, where you use the flat parts of your fingers between the knuckles to cover the tone holes and not the fingertips.