Chiff and Fipple Forums

I was watching a video of Kevin Henry this morning and am wondering about an element of his playing. He seems to plant the third finger of his right hand (B3) on the flute every time the B1 and B2 are raised rather than keeping the pinky finger planted throughout [or only lifting the pinky when playing E or D as I had one instructor tell me I should do]. Is this commonly done? Do some of you use this as a means of holding/balancing the flute when the rest of the bottom hand is off the instrument? I'd never noticed anyone else doing this and none of the instructors/workshop leaders I've come across ever suggested or advocated this.

Thanks for any input.

Best wishes.

Steve

You did watch last night's Sé mo Laoch on Kevin Henry, did you?

FWIW, I don't think putting down that finger the way he does is unusual, I certainly would, whatever that means.

Mr.Gumby wrote:You did watch last night's Sé mo Laoch on Kevin Henry, did you?

FWIW, I don't think putting down that finger the way he does is unusual, I certainly would, whatever that means.

Yep, I watched the TG4 player presentation this am, which got me started on this finger thing. I guess I was wondering how much, if any, this changed the intonation (assuming his resting B3 is closing the hole).

Best wishes.

Steve

I'm sure I've seen it before, and was not uncommon. Doubtful it affects any (well, most) flutes, as the sounding length for the pitch is to the 1st open hole. Probably pretty well vented before B3 could have any effect.

That using R3 to balance the flute thing is pretty common. If teaching a beginner I would advise against it, but as long as you only do it on L hand notes it doesn't have any major deleterious effects on sound. I don't think it is optimal for fingering fluency through both hands and if you support the flute well otherwise neither R3 nor R4 are necessary as part of your support system. It would also be a hindrance to using the Eb key as it ought to be used, but if you don't use it or haven't got one, ho hum.

I have only seen the trailer for the Kevin Henry programme. As ever with him, I find myself distinctly put off and not especially enthused to watch the whole thing. From what I recall of videos seen in the past, his playing hasn't deteriorated with age!

Appreciate the comments thus far. It has been brought to my attention that Shannon Heaton also uses this 3rd finger down technique. And around 3:30 of the video, she's playing a tune where she jumps from this technique to venting the Eb key with the same finger. Interesting 3rd finger dance there.

Apologies if this something of interest only to me but your thoughts on the topic are also of interest.

Best wishes.

Steve

I'd certainly contact Sean Gavin, of NicGavisky, about anything to do with Kevin Henry.

All the best,
Bob

On a similar note, many years ago I was watching Matt Molloy play a reel (hare in the heather (?)) and noticed he kept both R1 and R2 fingers down when playing the "B" note. the passage of notes was something like : E3B EBEB E3B AF#DB.
he would bounce between the "E" and "B" by only lifting 2 fingers of upper hand (along with lifting the bottom finger to play "E"). quite interesting economy of movement.

A clip of him from the 80s: https://youtu.be/1j9so8GrHLY?t=11m11s

Any other clips from his younger years? He has an interesting style, would love to hear any recordings or clips from back in the day.

Also, what flute do you think he's playing in the clip? Interesting ivory-style bands. I'm guessing it's a newer replica, since he's in the retail section; perhaps trying out a maker's new model?

bigsciota wrote:A clip of him from the 80s: https://youtu.be/1j9so8GrHLY?t=11m11s

Any other clips from his younger years? He has an interesting style, would love to hear any recordings or clips from back in the day.

Also, what flute do you think he's playing in the clip? Interesting ivory-style bands. I'm guessing it's a newer replica, since he's in the retail section; perhaps trying out a maker's new model?

could be a sweetheart flute (given the bands, 3 pieces, no tuning slide)

lively playing, great pulse in the breathing