fingerings for a six-hole

Rae · Post by **Rae** » Thu Aug 07, 2003 9:12 pm

Does anyone know where I can find a fingering chart for a six-hole flute? It's a cheap fife pitched in Bb if that makes any difference. Also, is it okay to put some/all finger down on the right hand on the open tone (A in this case) to help with the tuning? Does anyone else resort to this? And lastly, how many holes do Irish flutes usually have? I know that might sound like a kind of weird question, but when I was reading up on fifes, I learned that they usually have six, eight, or ten holes, with six being perhaps the most common. After I read that, I didn’t want to make any more assumptions on the number of holes a flute is supposed to have.

FSnockhart · Post by **FSnockhart** » Fri Aug 08, 2003 12:37 pm

Hi Rae,

Most Irish trad flutes have 6 holes. (8-key flutes have 8 holes, to extend the range down 2 half tones). The vast majority of people choose flutes pitched in D, which easily play most traditional Irish music without the player having to worry too much about sharps and flats. My first flute was in A, my second in Eb, and it was a very frustrating long time until I got one in D that "played well with others."

Basic flute fingering is the same as whistle fingering. This link (to the main Chiff & Fipple Website) is a good set of fingering charts.

http://www.chiffandfipple.com/whistlekeys.html

Yes, it is ok to put extra fingers down on the lower 3 keys for tone (or just for stability). I started with a similar fingering chart and learned it rigidly (this is an A, this is a C natural) and am now working (with a tacher) hard to loosen up my style, for example leaving my right 4th finger on the bottom hole unless it directly interferes with the tone of the note I'm playing.

Enjoy!

herbivore12 · Post by **herbivore12** » Fri Aug 08, 2003 1:05 pm

Rae:

Terry McGee's website has a lot of good information on Irish flute, including fingering charts:

http://www.mcgee-flutes.com/

and the following sites, by Brad Hurley and Rob Greenway, also have very good info for the beginner:

http://www.firescribble.net/flute/

http://www.geocities.com/feadanach/

A couple quick points: most conical bore "Irish" flutes will have six open finger holes. For most traditional Irish music, tht's all you need. However, you can add keys to get easier access to accidentals and to make the instrument chromatic; most keyed Irish flutes have from 3 to 8 keys, though you can have fewer or more.

I'm a bit confused by FSnockhart's statement that an 8-keyed flute has eight holes; I'd say it has 14 holes, six open holes to be covered with the fingers, and eight holes worked by depressing keys. (Well, fifteen, if you count the embouchure hole!)

All of that being said, fifes are usually played in the second and third octaves, and I think there are some wacky cross-fingerings required that differ between the octaves. I don't know if fifers stabilize their instruments by covering the lower holes when playing at the top of the octave -- a fifer'll have to tell you about that.

Most Irish music is played on flutes pitched in D, and played in the first two octaves on that instrument. If you're interested in playing with others, you might look around for a decent conical D flute in polymer if you're on a budget: a Dixon polymer can be had for under $200, and M&E and Seery make them for rather more. If money is more available, a good wooden flute from a reputable maker would be a good choice, keyed or unkeyed. I'm personally playing a McGee Ruddall Perfected, unkeyed, and it serves me well, though I can see I'll be wanting keys eventually because of the damned fiddlers and their F-naturals.

Hope this helps,

Aaron

FSnockhart · Post by **FSnockhart** » Fri Aug 08, 2003 1:08 pm

I'm a bit confused by FSnockhart's statement that an 8-keyed flute has eight holes; I'd say it has 14 holes, six open holes to be covered with the fingers, and eight holes worked by depressing keys. (Well, fifteen, if you count the embouchure hole!)

Duh. I never said I could count! I stand corrected (and mathematically inept).

Rae · Post by **Rae** » Fri Aug 08, 2003 7:47 pm

thanks!

madfifer9 · Post by **madfifer9** » Sun Aug 10, 2003 6:39 pm

Hi, Rae,

Fife and six hole flute fingerings are not all the same. Fifes are more like a six hole piccolo, and the fingerings in the third octave are totally different. The fife is very rarely played in the lowest octave because it is usually not very well in tune down there, and it can't be heard on the battlefield that low. It is supposed to sound shrill and piercing. So, if it sounds like a flute, you are playing an octave too low. A lot of flutists turned fifer do this (I know I did).

BTW, there are also modern type fifes with more than six holes.

Linda S.
madfifer9

Rae · Post by **Rae** » Tue Aug 12, 2003 11:38 am

hmm... how easy is it to switch from one instrument to another, if they both have six holes but they need different fingerings? Is that just too confusing, or do people do it regularly?

madfifer9 · Post by **madfifer9** » Tue Aug 12, 2003 11:50 pm

I go from fife to whistle on a daily basis. Sometimes several times a day. I think I don't get them confused because fife is transverse and whistle is end blown.

Plus they sound so different.

madfifer9