Hello!
I just joined this site and need feed back about buy an Irish Flute.
I’ve played a concert Flute in the past for fun, but very interested in an Irish flute.
Key or no Keys, that’s my questions?
I’ve been looking at the M and E keyless and6 key from the same Irish flute maker in the non wood for starting to learn.
Any suggestions are welcome!
You can play about 90% of the tunes you’d find in your average Irish session without keys. Many fine players (Seamus Tansey for example) are perfectly happy without them. For your first simple-system flute for Irish music, you could do much worse than the keyless M&E in polymer. That was my first flute and I am still very fond of it. Doug Tipple, Garry Somers, David Copley, and Desi Seery also make non-wood, relatively inexpensive flutes that have received a good amount of praise. (Heck, you can even get a Casey Burns “Folk Flute” made of wood that is apparently very nice… not played one personally though).
But back to the original question: do you need keys to get the most out of Irish Traditional Music, especially when just starting out? Not at all.
For many years I played a vintage 8-key flute and at some time or other used all the keys including the low C and C#.
However I’ve also spent time playing keyless flutes and been fine.
Thing is, traditional Irish fluteplayers got by for many years, and still get by, playing keyless flutes. Back in the 70s when I first started playing, when there weren’t nearly as many people making Irish-specific flutes as there are now, many of the old guys I saw played vintage flutes which had started out as 8-key orchestral flutes. Many of these had all the keys removed, were wrapped in electrical tape, or had the key-holes filled with putty, or what have you. Or, the keys might still be in place but be held down with electrical tape or rubber bands.
Like uilleann pipers, the old fluteplayers would play versions of tunes which avoided the notes they couldn’t play. It was also common to partially open the F# hole to get an F natural.
But on the other hand you had traditional Irish fluteplayers like Paddy Carty playing a fully mechanized flute and using it to play fiddle/box tunes in D minor, G minor, and so forth.
So there’s a spectrum in the tradition ranging from simply not playing tunes that aren’t friendly to the six open holes, to playing flute-specific versions, to using keys to play chromatically.
There’s no loss in getting a keyed flute from the get-go. They don’t have any downside, unless of course they leak! So if money isn’t a huge issue you might as well get the keyed flute. For sure you’ll encounter tunes that are easier to play with keys.
Keyssss 
There are lot’s of threads on this topic.
If you come from the Boehm flute, you may be interested in trying some of the stuff you used to play on the wooden flute, they will have a new feel to them. Of course to achieve this you will need keys, and also you will need to learn how to use them. It’s more difficult than on the modern system, but in my opinion it’s well worth it. Many nice and interesting Irish tunes will need keys. Of course you could always start with a keyless flute and later on upgrade when you can afford it.
I often have antique keyed flutes for sale for less than a grand. I have one ready that is similar to this one: http://forums.chiffandfipple.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=101406&start=0
Hello and welcome Jannet. You could try out both polymer and wooden keyless flutes, and see if you have a preference before you make your purchase. Some people do, and it would be better to find out before the event rather than later. I have several M & E keyless flutes in rosewood, blackwood and one ebonite, and they all represent good value for money as starter instruments, and play equally well. Personally, I just prefer the feel of a wooden flute in my hands opposed to that of a polymer one, but that’s just me. From what I remember, Michael Cronnolly used to offer a retrofit service, where he would fit keys to his keyless flutes at a later date at the customer’s request. Maybe one option open to you would be to initially buy a keyless flute, and have post mounted keys retrofitted at a later date if you wished by a flute maker offering this service. One thing I would say about the keyed option is that it broadens your playing field considerably, also allowing you to play other styles of music, and your existing repertoire.
Keys aren’t necessary but are nice to have. That’s the conundrum.
You’ll be quite busy learning to play a keyless flute. One day you
may want keys. One strategy is to start keyless, then, when you start
getting up to speed, buy one with keys–maybe of wood. By then your
tastes may have changed so that you would get a better/different keyed
flute than you would have at the get go.
Welcome! A few considerations that might help you decide:
–Are you interested in learning a new fingering system? The only keyed notes that will be the same as your Boehm flute are Eb and G#. The rest are quite a departure (although they use the same ‘subtractive’ logic as the Eb and G#–in other words, finger a note with the open holes and press a key to subtract a half step).
–What kind of music do you want to play? As mentioned above, there are thousands of Irish tunes you can learn on the keyless flute. And you’ll be working on a new embouchure and learning finger articulations (aka ornaments–cuts, taps, rolls), so there’s plenty to keep you busy for a long time.
–How much money do you want to spend? Good (new) keyed flutes run about $2000-$3000. You can get an excellent keyless flute for less than half that. (Since you’re looking at the M&E, I’d also recommend looking at delrin flutes by Copley and Forbes.) And here’s a good place to get a flute: http://www.irishflutestore.com/irish-flutes
I’ve been thinking about this a lot. I really feel at this point that F natural and G# would be only keys I’d actually use. I never personally run across tunes that require a Bb or Eb. Maybe because my regular session typically only ventures into D minor and A major tunes when we’re not doing the “standard” keys. Tony Millyard is the only maker I’ve run across so far that offers a 2-keyed flute.
I’d think most makers would do one if you asked, but I wouldn’t buy one…
To the OP, I’d say go for at least the four that give you full chromaticism (Eb, F, G#, Bb). If the flute comes with six, take six, and, if you fancy eight, get eight, but be aware that the low C# and C keys can add a lot to the price and the old-style articulated ones feel quite different to modern Boehm ones. A six-keyed M and E sounds like a cost-effective route into keyed simple flutes, so probably a good choice for someone coming from Boehm flute.
Unless you’re made of money, start with a keyless if you’re playing ITM. If you want a wooden flute to do everything your Boehm flute did, you might want keys. 1, 4, 6 or 8 keys are the usual choices, with each becoming progressively more chromatic and more expensive. Keys are a luxury not a necessity in trad irish music.
Oh, my! I’m thinking no keys.
Anyone have a McGee keyless flute?
Thanks for all your help, everyone!
I believe one is listed online at The Irish Flute Store.
And here’s a McGee Grey Larsen Preferred: http://www.ebay.com/itm/181953573958
I have a keyless McGee Grey Larsen Preferred (GLP) and like it very much. Very nice for small handed folks. Terry makes nice flutes. I think keyless is the most prudent way to go starting off from changing over from silver flute. If you buy a good quality instrument, it should hold its value should you decide to trade up and spring for a flute with more keys later. Playing the keyless for a while will also acquaint you with various tunes and which “keys” you feel you miss the most (or not).