I purchased a Copley and Boegli 6 Keyed flute! I should be receiving it today!!
Any tips to help me learn to use the keys would be helpful. Ideas? Tunes to begin with? Online learning?
I also want to venture outside the ITM repertoire but not to insult anyone..
I am excited to enter that rabbit hole!
Thanks for any suggestions or references.
If you like classical music, Iād recommend some Johann Sebastian Bach flute pieces. Many of them are not very fast but very chromatic and will give you a good workout using those keys. I love basically everything Bach wrote for flute. My favourite player who recorded them all, is Emmanuel Pahud. You can find a lot on YouTube.
Mozart also wrote some music for flute but I find these to be a bit more difficult, also faster. One has to be careful though ā many classical pieces from Bach have been recorded with āperiod accurateā instruments that are not tuned to 440 Hz. I avoid those (lovely to listen to though but not useful for playing along, unless you use a software that can transpose the tune). Thatās one more reason why I like Pahud ā he used a normal concert flute in 440Hz-tuning.
Thanks Sedi,
Would you mind suggesting a couple of easy pieces to work on?
Some ideas:
(1) Try Tunes with occasional accidentals rather than all at once.
(2) To play with keys you need a relaxed, three-point hold (See Rockstro - which works for most people - not Kevin, though). Without three-point hold, you cannot play the Bb. Might as well start now rather than later, otherwise you will have to undo old habits once, twice or three times,
(3) Add one key at a time. For example, learn tunes in A major for a while (Handsome Young Maidens), then tunes in C major (Good Natured Man, Porthole of the Kelp),
(4) Learn tunes you REALLY, REALLY like. That gives you patience for something that might be boring if you just do scales.
(5) But, you do gain facility by doing scales and arpeggios. Key of E: E F# G# A B A G# F# E, E e B G# E, then start the same pattern on F#.
The key of E is surprisingly easy on simple system - once you have learned the G# key.
The key of F (Lad OāBeirnes, Eileen Curran) is slightly hard because itās the first time you have to deal with losing the left thumb hold to play the Bb key. I am a long-F person, using the short F only on the occasions where I want to play in the key of Eb.
Key of Bb (When the Tide Comes In/Brown Coffin).
Search on Youtube for Bach, flute. There is a lovely partita, recorded by several people.
Might add āpartitaā to your search.
Iām a fan of Bach too. The partita in A minor is probably his most famous piece, and for a reason. The first movement (allemande) is quite difficult but the others are more approachable (sarabande, bourrĆ©e angloise). Itās a great piece to learn when to use the short and long Fnat and to practice intervals.
Iād start with the sarabande.
Have fun 
For non-ITM music. That all depends on what you like.
I found a very nice Telemann in F.
You could try the finger twister āTico Tico no Fubaā. Here you will be learning not just keys, but how to play in the high-register up to the high gā - good luck. Not to be sarcastic, but playing in the high register will really strengthen your embouchure and make your low notes powerful.
Thanks to all of you for your suggestions.
I also like Jazz and Klezmer! That is what motivated me to be ācrazyā enough to pursue a keyed flute. By the way I purchased it from Blayne at the Irish Flute Store. He was wonderful very helpful to recommend an appropriate flute. The purchase and delivery to Canada was seamless and fast.
Often when Iām busking people ask what instrument Iām playing. I say āIrish flute.ā They say, āThat isnāt a flute! Flutes are shiny and silver andā¦ā ITM will always be the core of wooden flute repertoire, and it is worth remembering that our flutes can play just about anything, including Old Time and Blues and Rock nā Roll and middle eastern music and Klezmer and jazz and Gershwin andā¦ Iāve made a lot of money playing blues and ragtime andā¦ I think it would be good for the world if our sort of flutes began appearing more in other venues. They really sound beautiful there, often a good deal better (IMO) than silver flutes do. Also Irish flute ornamentation transfers very well.
Considering those Bach pieces - I like the following:
BWV 1034, III Andante (thatās what I am currently working on)
The first part of this piece is also very nice.
BWV 1030 is also lovely.
Or āMinuet and Badinerieā. Badinerie is a bit overplayed and faster but the Minuet is a good beginner piece.
I would suggest looking at Playford tunes and other English country dance music. Also Swedish musicāthere is a lot available online. And some Scottish music, such as the Simon Fraser collection. And Irish music has tunes in A major, D minor and G minor.
My idea is to move you into more chromatic music more gradually than jumping straight into Bach or Telemann, which can be somewhat challenging. Itās up to your taste which style you enjoy.
Check out videos by Lisa Beznosiuk. She is a big name in the historical instrument classical world. She has lots of videos, but here is one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptQJdIv2uUI&t=1s
One point she makes is that you donāt have to use the keys. Using older fingerings can also be an option.
She has a lot of valuable things to say, so I think itās worth checking out her videos over the long term.
Get a copy of the Mozart Oboe Concerto and learn it, its surprisingly easy to play
It fits well within the range of your Flute
Believe me learning Music of this type will make you a much better Player than if you only played ITM 
If your not a good sight reader learning Mozart Pieces as well as Bach will make you one
Written Music will open up your Musical World and stimulate your Mind!
In the space of a week I probably play 12 or more classical Pieces Play Pieces, as well as many Etudes and you will find its wonderful to do so
also play Pieces that have been written for Violin as well as Clarinet
I am waiting for a baroque flute, in fact. Bach wrote little for unaccompanied flute (not that one canāt play the flute part in ensemble pieces), and there is all this divine music he wrote for unaccompanied cello and for violin. I do want to find out if these (or parts of them) will transfer to flute. And of course there are all the other baroque composers. A new world.
Thanks for all the feedback. Your all so welcoming!
I find the Copley and Boegli flute quite easy to play! The keys though as expected will be kind of a struggle! I guess slow, patience and humility!
Do you think the basic Bohm Trevor Wye books would be useful?
Just one more thought - even though sight reading would be an advantage, I still learn all the classical pieces by ear just like I do with Irish tunes. I did sight read for boehm flute when younger but canāt do it anymore.
But everyone has his own preference in that regard. For me itād drain all the fun out of the whole process. But others find it way easier to read sheet music than to learn by ear.
A couple of thoughts for Bcoopmando. Trevor WyeĀ“s work is definitely slanted toward Bohm flute. His technical exercises tend toward helping one with the modern keywork and not the simple system. He also has a bias against the hard dark tones of a conic flute, which sort of defeats the point of playing a conic simple system flute. Any exercises to give you greater tonal flexibility would be more in order. Paul TaffanelĀ“s work spanned the periods from conic to cylindrical flutes. Even the videos from Sir James Galway might help since he actually started on simple system wooden flutes as a child. You also might look at a recent book, Playing Outside the Lines by Leslie Anne Harrison which addresses plying traditional music with both Modern and Simple System keyed flutes. Harrison has exercises specifically for keyed Simple System flutes.
Bob
If interested, more info regarding Ms. Harrisonās book can be found at www.leslieanneharrison.com/books She also has a blog of techniques on her web site and a tune of the week on YouTube should you wish to see how she approaches tunes and transition between conical and cylindrical instruments.
Best wishes.
Steve
Here is a link to a book of scales written for the simple-system keyed flute by Ernesto Koehler. Stick to the first two octaves and gradually add, if you wish, the notes of the third octave:
https://imslp.org/wiki/Schule_der_GelƤufigkeit%2C_Op.77_(Kƶhler%2C_Ernesto)
You should also download Rockstroās two fingering charts (the first has the most common fingerings) for the simple-system flute. I donāt have the link for it, but the entire book is available online. Search for Jem Hammondās and Terry McGeeās fingering charts as well. Note that while all 19th century keyed flutes were made with the understanding that the Eb key would be depressed (i.e. opened) for most notes, including E, most modern makers tune their flutes, unless they are copies of 19th c. instruments, so that this isnāt necessary. I have never played a keyed-flute made by Dave Copley, but you should experiment: is E in better tune with the Eb key depressed or not?
The āRockstroā hold is most definitely not necessary to play Bb. Afaik the grip is not harmful in any way, but you should know that only a minority of flute players use it (also a minority of players of the silver flute although that is not relevant). To play Bb with the normal right hand grip (thumb under the flute roughly between the first and second holes), it is sufficient to lightly touch the little finger to the Eb key (or to depress it or if it is already depressed then to leave it that way).
To give you some practice with Bb (and also F natural), Iāve uploaded to thesession.org a transcription of Steve Kujalaās tune, āThe Fretless Fluteā, as he plays it on youtube in g minor: https://thesession.org/tunes/15298#comment923227
Hereās the link to the composer playing the tune:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mBMm9ximzE
Have fun! Chet
Although I have been playing for a good few years I never really got into the keys, but I decided to do it this years, transposing slows tunes I already knew D ā E and also one in G ā F was a great way to learn and also looking for a few tunes in Dminor and Gminor slows tunes just to get the fingers working.
regards,
Pat.