I have a strong desire to play the Irish flute ever since hearing this played in a lot of contemporary Christian music that I like to listen to. I can plan organ but have never played a flute. I need suggestions and recommendations: 1. What flute should I buy, 2. What key should it be in?, 3. What should I know starting out? Like where should I go to get started in lessons and stuff like that? Thanks for your help!
Wow, that is like asking which car is the best car!!! Watch the sparks fly.
As far as the key of the flute for Irish Trad Music you will want one in D. I just bought my wife a flute from Casey Burns ( caseyburnsflutes.com ), his new Folk Flute. It cost $250. There are flutes that cost less, there are flutest that cost more, WAY more. For a flute in wood (mopane) it will be hard to beat, really. Others will have their opinions I am sure. Casey, and I am sure others do to, will work with you to make sure the hole spacing fits your hand. The best thing is there is at the most a wait of a couple of weeks to a month for his instruments.
I do not know much about the man-made material flutes so I will leave that to others to explain.
Now, there is the matter of keys. If you intend to play music in keys other than D, G or A and some associated minor keys, you may need or want your flute outfitted with keys. That will most likely run the cost of your flute up substantially. For Casey’s flutes the basic flute is $450 and then the keys are on top of that.
Read through as many of the posts here that discuss flute features. Talk to the people that actually make them. If there is someone in your area you can talk to and try them that is perfect. Good luck in your search and research.
How much are you willing to spend?
There are several affordable beginner flutes on the market (run a search on “beginner flute” for comments). The most important difference is probably that the instruments at the lowest end (less than $100) of the price range, mostly made of pvc, bamboo or metal, are cylindrical, whereas the wooden flutes used in the irish tradition have a conical bore, so they have a different sound.
I am only a beginner myself, but I have both a Hammy practice flute (cylindrical, aluminum) and a german 19th-century flute (conical, blackwood). The Hammy was a great help in learning the very basics of embouchure and breathing, and finding out that I am able to learn this instrument at all. Other musicians who don’t play the flute (and don’t intend to learn it) have favourably commented how easy it is to play and improvise a bit, so it’s not just me.
However, it is very different from the wooden flute, both in sound and feel. I restrain myself and will only comment on the limitations of the practice flute when I really know what I’m talking about (expect a detailed report in 4-5 years).
It boils down to the question what you really want:
- The real thing as soon as possible? Get a keyless wooden flute in D from one of the makers frequently discussed here. Keyless because the waiting is much shorter. If you’re playing much in keys not common in (irish) traditional music, you will probably want a keyed flute quite soon.
- Just checking if you really want to learn the flute, making sure it’s more than a transient whim? Get a cheap practice flute, as I did, but expect that you’ll want to move on and spend more rather soon.
In addition to that, there are conical flutes available that are less expensive and are recommended to beginners very frequently on this board. I don’t have any experience with them, so I’m only summarizing what I read here myself:
- Casey Burns beginner / folk flute, ~$250
- Dixon 3-piece, polymer ~$250 (he used to make them in maple, rosewood and ebony as well, but rumours are he doesn’t anymore). NOT the Dixon 2-piece, that’s a cylindrical PVC flute
- Seery (Delrin?)
- M&E polymer
Use the search function of the board, there have been lengthy discussions and reviews on all of them.
Edited to add:
- This is only my advice, others may have a better one.
- If you have any chance to try out a flute before you buy, or get advice from a living, breathing flute player showing you the first steps, by all means do!
- Do not buy on ebay unless you can afford to lose the money.
- Do not buy the pakistani flutes on ebay (real Irish wooden flute for less than $300) even if you can afford to lose the money. Send it to me instead.
(The money, not the flute.)
hope that helps,
Sonja
Welcome to the board!
Will you please check your Private Messages?
You will find the thing to click at the top
of the board on the right. Best, Jim
I want to thank you all for the suggestions, I am beginning to see that this is a decision that isn’t to be made quickly but very carefully. Thanks again!!!
There are other C&F folk from Kentucky. One, Cathy Wilde I believe, takes lessons from the excellent flute player and teacher, John Skelton. Mr. Skelton plays flute with the folk group, The House Band. He has a couple tune books out called A Few Tunes and A Few More Tunes. He also has an album out with fellow flute player, Kieran O’Hare, called Double Barrelled. Click on the blue text for more info.
John Skelton is but one of many excellent flute players out there. I simply mentioned him because he teaches all over the country and is currently located close to you (when he’s not off at a workshop).
I don’t know what you’ve heard on the Christian CDs you mentioned. I’ll venture to guess that it isn’t what most Irish flute players play (but I could be wrong). While doing all of your flute research listening to a variety of flute playing is best recommended. The Wooden Flute Obsession, Volume1 is a great 2-CD set with a variety of flute players and different styles. You may also wish to get a pennywhistle to get into the swing of things. That’s a big topic of its own so I’ll leave it that.
Being an organist you probably have an excellent handle on music theory. You’ll just need to learn the technical aspects of your instrument and get used to the idiom of Irish traditional music.
There’s a lot to learn and a lot of folk here aren’t too far removed from the beginning stages where you now find yourself.
Best of luck!
Aaron
Yeah, I’d say definately get in touch with John Skelton and see if you’re within reasonable driving distance. I recently got to sit in on a few of his classes in Ohio and I would certainly be taking lessons from him if I lived in his area - he’s a fantastic player, good teacher, and great (and funny) guy.
Loren
And he’ll be here in St. Louis teaching flute
at the Tional. Heh, heh, heh!
John will also teach at Wind On The Bay again this year.
You may also want to consider Skip Healy’s double CD and tunebook tutorial “Have Ye This One?”.
We’re getting pretty good reviews (the newest being Brad Hurley’s very kind words, which are posted on the page).
Cheers,
John
Hello Fellow Kentuckian,
I’ve been playing Irish flute for a couple of years. I’ve bought 2, a bamboo flute from Steve Cox of tallgrasswinds.com, and the R&R model of polymer flute from Michael Cronnolly. Both are in the key of D which is the standard key. Both flutes and customer service were good. I received both flutes in less than a month after ordering them. The polymer flute is similar in construction and sound to a wooden flute. Two good instruction books are Timber the Flute Tutor and Grey Larsen’s The Essential Guide to Irish Flute and Tin Whistle which I’ve just received. As was stated, John Skelton, would be an excellent tutor. He lives in Woodford County. I have met him but haven’t taken private lessons from him. I did sit in on flute/whistle workshops he taught at the Cincinnati Celtic Festival and he was very good, very funny.