Irish Reels on a Boehm Flute

[Akiba]

Of course don't forget about Joanie Madden:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOrU5sVUyqs

switches to flute about half-way through

big tone

If you are interested in playing Irish music on a silver flute, Joanie's playing is an inspiration. However, most concert flutes have holes in the center of the key that you must carefully cover, usually with your finger tips, which isn't very easy to do playing with flat fingers. You can place plugs in these holes, tape them over, or you can purchase a flute with plateau style keys (no open holes), the same as the keys on the beginner flutes. It turns out that some top quality flutes are also made this way (Haines Flutes, for example), and these flutes, while being for ideal for Irish music, in my opinion, are often the first choice of jazz musicians. I have a Yamaha solid silver flute, circa 1975, that for years was the principal flute of a jazz musician in Los Angeles. You can also purchase Chinese models of the flute for about $100. I have one of those too. It has a black nickel finish with silver plated keys, and it is a terrific flute for the money. That clip by Joanie and Mary has inspired to get more serious with my flute practice.

Yep, that clip of Joanie inspired me too. Started working on getting her big tone by rolling in the headjoint of my silver flute. I have a new Dean Yang open-hole with low B and offset G (a really fine flute for $1100). I did plug the holes on the R1 and R2 to be lighter with doing rolls and strikes, and to make it easier to hit large interval jumps down to low D and C. I might consider doing more with the silver flute in Irish music but I hate playing tunes in the key of D on it; that F# is really unwieldy in every aspect.

[Peter Duggan]

However, most concert flutes have holes in the center of the key that you must carefully cover, usually with your finger tips, which isn't very easy to do playing with flat fingers. You can place plugs in these holes, tape them over, or you can purchase a flute with plateau style keys (no open holes), the same as the keys on the beginner flutes.

I did plug the holes on the R1 and R2 to be lighter with doing rolls and strikes, and to make it easier to hit large interval jumps down to low D and C.

Worth noting that flutes with perforated plates are tuned for the perforations, so plugging them will theoretically flatten the notes where those keys are open. (Whether or not this is detrimental in practice probably depends on the flute, the player, what they're playing and the listeners' ears.)

[Gordon]

You really can't play a Boehm with piper's grip, anyway, so the holes on a 'French' style Boehm (open-holed) are not much of an issue. The adjustment between playing a closed holed and open, back when I played a silver flute regularly, took about an hour. Mostly it's children with tiny fingertips that have issues with open holed Boehms. That said, it's arguable whether there's any real advantage to them, in spite of most intermediate-and-up flutes being open holed. Allows for a nice slur, but beyond that, not much. For ITM, the slur is nice, but not necessary, and you can save quite a lot using a quality student flute with closed holes over a mid-priced intermediate with open holes - not many will tell the difference between them. More practical to purchase a better quality silver or wooden head than worry about tone holes.

[jadphoto]

Open holed vs. closed hole Boehm seems to be a continuing debate. Perhaps not unlike wood vs. Delrin for flutes/whistles/bagpipes or somesuch.

When I had to give up my Casey Burns flute, and Highland piping, due to nerve issues in my hands (couldn't feel the holes) I bought an open holed silver flute and a set of Powell plugs, don't seem to notice it playing flat.

I'm OK with whistles and small pipes as the holes are small enough that I hit them but Highland pipes and low whistles aren't doable. I'm thinking of trying a Sweet Onyx though.

There are definitely some very good players using the Boehm system (both silver and wood) and achieving a "trad" sound quality from them. It just takes a bit of (un)training. The hardest thing to overcome is the guilt! But then, guilt is part of the Irish culture.

BTW, the Grey Larsen flute tutor has some sound advice, no pun attended, on playing ITM on a silver flute. It's in one of the indices.

JD

[Doug_Tipple]

You really can't play a Boehm with piper's grip, anyway, so the holes on a 'French' style Boehm (open-holed) are not much of an issue.

No doubt, Gordon, you are more experienced with these matters than I am. However, if you look at the video of tinwhistler playing the silver flute at the beginning of this thread, you will see that he is not using a conventional classical grip with his right hand. He is using a flat finger grip with the tips of his finger extending way over the hole. I call this piper's grip with the right hand. Perhaps you call this kind of grip something else.

[Doug_Tipple]

I have a DVD entitled, "Irish Music on the Classical Flute" by Brian McCoy that I can recommend to you. http://www.instruction.kellsband.com/le ... Flute.html
There are also several youtube videos available where Brian demonstrates different techniques for playing authentic sounding Irish music on the silver Boehm flute.

[Steampacket]

Paddy O'Donoghue plays a metal flute, no problem and he's 81
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U__WjRen-eo

[Gordon]

You really can't play a Boehm with piper's grip, anyway, so the holes on a 'French' style Boehm (open-holed) are not much of an issue.

No doubt, Gordon, you are more experienced with these matters than I am. However, if you look at the video of tinwhistler playing the silver flute at the beginning of this thread, you will see that he is not using a conventional classical grip with his right hand. He is using a flat finger grip with the tips of his finger extending way over the hole. I call this piper's grip with the right hand. Perhaps you call this kind of grip something else.

Didn't look too closely to the video, Doug, but I'm willing to agree flattened fingers, especially on the right hand, will work, but it's still clumsy. When I made my comment, I was thinking more about the left hand, trill keys, sharps flats and other parts of the design that will be either be in the way or almost impossible to shift back into position, should you want to take advantage of the Boehm's chromatic assets and not treat it like a whistle (or keyless flute). Closed hole would definitely make the piper's grip less of a problem, but - for anyone thinking about using a silver flute, it probably would serve them better to learn a more standard (Boehm) grip. Then again, I never mastered the piper's grip - in fact, not sure my mostly self-taught Boehm grip was perfect, either, but it worked, without problems, with the open holed silver, as well as keyed or unkeyed conicals.

[Kevin L. Rietmann]

Seán Moloney seisiún Lohan's # 3.3gp - YouTube. His Music on the Wind CD is very nice.

[Doug_Tipple]

Seán Moloney seisiún Lohan's # 3.3gp - YouTube. His Music on the Wind CD is very nice.

Sean is playing an alto flute, which can play down to an A.

[Akiba]

Seán Moloney seisiún Lohan's # 3.3gp - YouTube. His Music on the Wind CD is very nice.

Sean is playing an alto flute, which can play down to an A.

I believe the Boehm alto flute goes down to concert pitch G below the staff on its low C fingering, and concert F# if it has a low B key.

[Doug_Tipple]

Seán Moloney seisiún Lohan's # 3.3gp - YouTube. His Music on the Wind CD is very nice.

Sean is playing an alto flute, which can play down to an A.

I believe the Boehm alto flute goes down to concert pitch G below the staff on its low C fingering, and concert F# if it has a low B key.

Yes, you're correct. I was thinking that I didn't get that right. I haven't had my alto flute out of the case for awhile, and when I do, I generally just play by ear and don't worry about naming notes.