JackJ wrote:...most ITM players seem to go for at least some keys, in my very limited awareness.
An old ITM chestnut: The primary virtue of keys is that they keep your flute from rolling off the table. Given that you can get by without keys for most of the Irish repertory, there's actually some truth in that. If you intend to play in a variety of nonstandard keys, or want to be able to field the more chromatic tunes when the fiddlers are in force, they'll serve you well enough. Keys are probably going to be more immediately useful in Scottish Trad. You
can play chromatically without keys, but it's a lot of half-holing and not all the results will be optimal. Done at speed would take some mad skillz, but there are people who do it. It's not for me, though.
In general, I would recommend the ITM-directed beginner start with keyless until your level of commitment is clear. Then the decision arises as to how many you want; I prefer fully keyed on general principle. Have I used all my keys? Yes, except for the Bb due to my grip; in retrospect I would now get a double touch for that one. I sure crossfingered that note often enough. Have I used the keys often? Not so much in session playing, but having them did inspire me to take up tunes that would require their use, which is an added bonus in performance playing. Would I get keys again? Without question, but that's me; I like gear, and I like the options keys offer.
Jack wrote:...as a whistle player, all that hardware looks to be in the way.
It's really not. A full array of keys does add some weight, though, so the keyed flute's physical balance is important.
Apologies for the hijack.
FWIW, finding a good terminological substitute for "Irish Flute" promises to be an uphill battle these days, not that one shouldn't still try. Today I happened to be searching for Galway fluteplaying; first, I can tell you
that was a fool's errand because no matter how I couched and refined the keywords, the results were - you guessed it - invariably all about Sir James. One might have foreseen that. Whatever I entered, beyond three pages I had neither the time nor the energy to see how many more it would take to finally get what I was looking for. Anyway, in the course of my struggles to break thru the the wall that is James Galway, what should I see but a seemingly vagrant Wikipedia entry for "Irish Flute" ... and I thought of this thread.
"If you take music out of this world, you will have nothing but a ball of fire." - Tribal musician