Flute vs. Whistle question... ?
- ninjaaron
- Posts: 343
- Joined: Sun May 22, 2005 7:06 pm
- Please enter the next number in sequence: 1
- Location: Alien in Belgium
- Contact:
Flute vs. Whistle question... ?
Now, any experience I have with either of these instruments is hardly worth a grain of salt, I've been playing the whistle for about four months (Low and Soprano D's), and I've been playing flute for about 4 days.
Obviously, my blowing technique sucks. I think I have slightly better feel for correct wind velocity because of the whistles, but it's still pretty terrible. That's to be expected, I suppose. These things take time. Tone comes with practice and learing more about technique (listening to folks on the around here probably doesn't hurt much. Harmony Central boards did wonders for my guitar playing. I degress)
That's mostly all besides the point, only to say that my flute tone is pretty bad, but I don't begudge it (much), because that's the way it goes with learning instruments. My whistle tone is pretty good, and has actually improved noticabley since I started to get notes out these side-blown terrors a few days back.
But back on track here. I thought most of my whistle finger technique would transfer to the flute pretty easily, but it seems that I have to play much more slowly or things get messed up. This could be because I an consentrating very hard on getting a sound out of the durn thing, and it affects the way my fingers move (or don't move, as the case seems currently to be).
So, when it comes down to it, is the whistle a little easier to play fast stuff, and grace notes and bends on than the flute, or is it just my lack of experience that slows me down? (interestingly, I was listening to this "World Flutes" CD, and Joanie Madden was definately playing the fastest, most ornamented stuff, But I guess her style of music calls for it more that, say, shakuhachi music).
Obviously, my blowing technique sucks. I think I have slightly better feel for correct wind velocity because of the whistles, but it's still pretty terrible. That's to be expected, I suppose. These things take time. Tone comes with practice and learing more about technique (listening to folks on the around here probably doesn't hurt much. Harmony Central boards did wonders for my guitar playing. I degress)
That's mostly all besides the point, only to say that my flute tone is pretty bad, but I don't begudge it (much), because that's the way it goes with learning instruments. My whistle tone is pretty good, and has actually improved noticabley since I started to get notes out these side-blown terrors a few days back.
But back on track here. I thought most of my whistle finger technique would transfer to the flute pretty easily, but it seems that I have to play much more slowly or things get messed up. This could be because I an consentrating very hard on getting a sound out of the durn thing, and it affects the way my fingers move (or don't move, as the case seems currently to be).
So, when it comes down to it, is the whistle a little easier to play fast stuff, and grace notes and bends on than the flute, or is it just my lack of experience that slows me down? (interestingly, I was listening to this "World Flutes" CD, and Joanie Madden was definately playing the fastest, most ornamented stuff, But I guess her style of music calls for it more that, say, shakuhachi music).
Everyone likes music
-
- Posts: 486
- Joined: Wed Aug 25, 2004 12:42 pm
- antispam: No
- Please enter the next number in sequence: 8
- Tell us something.: Have played Irish traditional music >15 yrs. Flute, pipes, guitar.
I've taught music in Austin since 2011 or so. - Location: Austin, TX
- Contact:
Re: Flute vs. Whistle question... ?
That's probably it along with the fact that your fingers are probably in a different position than they are when playing whistle. I wouldn't say that the whisle is necessarily easier for playing fast; it's just what you're used to. What it boils down to is practice- spending lots of time w/ the flute. Yes it's frustrating at first but the rewards are great. The tone will come w/ practice, as will speed and dexterity. Don't give up! It takes time.ninjaaron wrote: This could be because I an consentrating very hard on getting a sound out of the durn thing, and it affects the way my fingers move (or don't move, as the case seems currently to be).
So, when it comes down to it, is the whistle a little easier to play fast stuff, and grace notes and bends on than the flute, or is it just my lack of experience that slows me down? .
Jonathan Milton
jonathanzmilton.com/music
jonathanzmilton.com/music
- chas
- Posts: 7707
- Joined: Wed Oct 10, 2001 6:00 pm
- antispam: No
- Please enter the next number in sequence: 10
- Location: East Coast US
I also was surprised how much more difficult the fingerings were on the flute, coming from the whistle. But, you know what? Now when I pick up a whistle to play a tune I learned on the flute, it takes a little while to get the fingerings right on the whistle. I think, for me anyway, it's largely a matter of muscle memory -- the hands are in a different enough position that you use different muscles to make the fingers go onto and off of the same holes.
Charlie
Whorfin Woods
"Our work puts heavy metal where it belongs -- as a music genre and not a pollutant in drinking water." -- Prof Ali Miserez.
Whorfin Woods
"Our work puts heavy metal where it belongs -- as a music genre and not a pollutant in drinking water." -- Prof Ali Miserez.
- Cathy Wilde
- Posts: 5591
- Joined: Mon Oct 20, 2003 4:17 pm
- antispam: No
- Please enter the next number in sequence: 8
- Location: Somewhere Off-Topic, probably
To me, it's also a matter of position. Let's face it, the flute is not exactly the most graceful or symmetrical thing to hold at first! So perhaps you might experiment with your arm position (esp your left arm!) within reason, and of course your posture (see chas's thread). Sometimes notes get muddy and funky when your fingers aren't completely covering/sealing the toneholes. However, this does not mean to clutch at the thing -- it just means check your hand position and finger placement. In my experience, peoples' LH 3 and RH 3 (i.e., their ring fingers) are usually the culprits in leaky notes or wobbly sound; they tend to sneak off the toneholes just a bit, especially when the going gets a little heavy (i.e., when people are trying to play faster).
Other than that, you go, guys! Keep hammering at it, it'll get better eventually, and of course -- do try to have fun.
xo,
cat.
Other than that, you go, guys! Keep hammering at it, it'll get better eventually, and of course -- do try to have fun.
xo,
cat.
Deja Fu: The sense that somewhere, somehow, you've been kicked in the head exactly like this before.
- Doc Jones
- Posts: 3672
- Joined: Sun May 12, 2002 6:00 pm
- antispam: No
- Please enter the next number in sequence: 8
- Location: Southern Idaho, USA
- Contact:
Slow practice is the key. Your fingers are learning new stuff. Don't make them go to fast or they'll just learn it wrong.
At this point just focus on getting good tone without passing out. Speed and ornamentation are the least of your worries right now.
What kind of flute are you playing?
Doc
At this point just focus on getting good tone without passing out. Speed and ornamentation are the least of your worries right now.
What kind of flute are you playing?
Doc
Doc's Book
Want to learn about medicinal herbs?
Doc's Website
Want to become a Clinical Herbalist? Doc's Herb School
Want to learn about medicinal herbs?
Doc's Website
Want to become a Clinical Herbalist? Doc's Herb School
- Random notes
- Posts: 416
- Joined: Wed Jul 14, 2004 9:21 pm
- Please enter the next number in sequence: 1
- Location: Horsepoo Country
Face it - the whistle does have a little less to think about when you are trying to make music. When I first started playing the flute (not very long ago, admittedly) I had a dickens of a time keeping all the balls in the air. I would concentrate on the embochoure and the fingering would slip; concentrate on the fingering and develop a "death grip"; ease off the grip and my posture slid into a creditable Gollum impression. And so on. The cure is (so I'm told) PRACTICE. As posture and grip become second nature they require less attention from your CPU and allow more for the other bits.
I took up the whistle because I was assured by certain C&F members that it was indeed the easiest musical instrument to learn to play. So naturally, I took up the flute.
Roger
I took up the whistle because I was assured by certain C&F members that it was indeed the easiest musical instrument to learn to play. So naturally, I took up the flute.
Roger
Non omnes qui habemt citharam sunt citharoedi
- chas
- Posts: 7707
- Joined: Wed Oct 10, 2001 6:00 pm
- antispam: No
- Please enter the next number in sequence: 10
- Location: East Coast US
I would urge beginners out there to browse the archives. Not search, read them starting with Page 1; read any thread that looks like it's about playing, unless you're into timber, then read threads about flutes, too. With respect to what Cathy says above, I remember someone saying that once he thought of his fingers as raindrops falling on the toneholes, everything became much better. There are tons of nuggets of wisdom in the first 88 pages.Cathy Wilde wrote:Sometimes notes get muddy and funky when your fingers aren't completely covering/sealing the toneholes. However, this does not mean to clutch at the thing -- it just means check your hand position and finger placement. . .
Charlie
Whorfin Woods
"Our work puts heavy metal where it belongs -- as a music genre and not a pollutant in drinking water." -- Prof Ali Miserez.
Whorfin Woods
"Our work puts heavy metal where it belongs -- as a music genre and not a pollutant in drinking water." -- Prof Ali Miserez.
- ninjaaron
- Posts: 343
- Joined: Sun May 22, 2005 7:06 pm
- Please enter the next number in sequence: 1
- Location: Alien in Belgium
- Contact:
Home-made PVC. I've made four of them so far. In my estimation, I'm doing ok at it. They sound like flutes, and they are pretty easy to get a sound out of them. (I can generally get all the notes out of both octaves, and I've only been playing five days, so it musn't be too aweful).I'm gonna start making some stencils for them and spray-paint on some Decals and sell them on Ebay for 20 bucks or so.Doc Jones wrote:What kind of flute are you playing?
Doc
Still want to get Owell Bamboo flute or a Tipple one of these days, Maybe this summer, if I can afford it. A four or five keyed M&E is kinda the light at the end of the tunnel, But man, They ain't exactly cheap, and I'm a poor college student. Hence the selling of flutes rather than the buying.
I've made a G, a Low A (which I don't really play because it hurts after only several minutes), and two D's (one with a pinky an thumb holes for Eb and F. I'm a chromatic whore).
I'm about to go and drill the bodies for a C and another G (a G which is also destined for a chromatic fate). Pentatonic flutes are on the way before the end of the week.
Everyone likes music
- crystalflute
- Posts: 33
- Joined: Thu Jul 28, 2005 7:02 pm
- Please enter the next number in sequence: 1
- Location: New Mexico desert
- Contact:
Getting any good at an instrument takes time. I just got my first flutes this weekend and ... it's an adventure.
And that's being *very* kind with myself. I'm excited, though. Flutes are definitely something I've always wanted and thought about but haven't invested in til now.
I bought an ocarina years ago that got me kind of started on the whole wind instrument thing. I'm struggling with the embouchure combined with the fingering, especially on the bigger flute with my smaller hands.
And that's being *very* kind with myself. I'm excited, though. Flutes are definitely something I've always wanted and thought about but haven't invested in til now.
I bought an ocarina years ago that got me kind of started on the whole wind instrument thing. I'm struggling with the embouchure combined with the fingering, especially on the bigger flute with my smaller hands.
Learning to play // Sucking wind