Good beginning flute tunes?

[Jumbuk]

What tunes do you think are particularly good for learning flute in the early stages? By this, I mean ones that progressively introduce common techniques without being impossibly difficult.

For the moment, I am working on a bunch of tunes that either I know on another instrument or I hear played in sessions. I have generally tried a few and the ones that seem playable are the ones that are starting my repertoire. The main ones would be:

Jigs: Over the Ocean, Tripping up Stairs, Saddle the Pony, Morrison's
Slip jigs: The Butterfly, Fig for a Kiss
Reels: Cooley's, Ships are Sailing, Morning Dew

Most reels seem too hard on the flute, even the ones I find easy on banjo or guitar. Those are about the only ones I can get through at even a slow speed.

I haven't mentioned slow tunes or hornpipes. I am pretty much past the initial stages of only being able to handle slow tunes, but not yet up to the stage where I can do justice to a classic air. I have never been all that excited by hornpipes on any instrument, but the usual three are in my flute repertoire (Off to California, Boys of Blue Hill, Harvest Home).

I haven't mentioned polkas either. I used to do lots of these on banjo, but they don't seem to fall as easily onto the flute.

Any suggestions to head me in the right direction?

[Wormdiet]

The best thing to do is figure out those tunes that jump up and select you rather than the reverse. Play the tunes that you can't get out of yer head because they're so good. Play them slowly, if necessary (Not a bad idea in any event) My list is different than yours.

When I started playing I learned all sorts of common "beginner" session tunes. . . and I still can't play half of them worth spit because they aren't "my" tunes. . . others, I can fly on no problems because I really like them.

But here's my list of fun things to work on (Again, yours may probably be different)
Jimmy Ward's (AKA Clare Jig)
Rolling Waves
Trip to Durham
Sliabh Russell

All of them are jigs, and they can all be played slowly and sound very nice. Of the four, only Jimmy Ward's might fall into the category of "overplayed" session tunes, at least around here.

[chas]

I'm not too big on reels, but a couple that I like, that I learned early on and sound pretty good not played really fast:

Over the moor to Maggie
Swinging on the gate

[Jayhawk]

We're on opposite journeys...I've started playing tenor banjo, and man are the tunes (all the tunes - I've had the banjo about 8 days now) so much harder on banjo. I can't imagine playing a reel or jig up to speed, but I can play Boys of Bluehill fast enough. For me, polkas seem too weird on the banjo but sound perfect on the flute.

I was just telling my wife, who had the glazed over look that occurs when I talk about ITM, that I need to have patience because it tooks years to get where I'm at on flute so it'll take years on another instrument. It seems like it should be easier, but on the flute, until the embouchure automatically works every time and you don't have to think about what fingers go down for each note, it's simply going to be tough.

Eric

[psychih]

I love reels, especially the big ones. After a very long time, have finally managed to learn Maids of Mount Cisco, but it still needs a lot of refinement. I second learning tunes that interest the player. It's supposed to be enjoyable =)

[Jumbuk]

We're on opposite journeys...I've started playing tenor banjo, and man are the tunes (all the tunes - I've had the banjo about 8 days now) so much harder on banjo. I can't imagine playing a reel or jig

Eric

"so much harder on banjo" - boy, is that good to hear!

For me, the banjo was pretty easy because I had been playing guitar for about 15 years beforehand. My daughter plays fiddle, and when I started teaching her guitar, the biggest difficulty for her was using a pick (she found fingerstyle easier). For a native flute player, using the pick is probably like getting the embouchure for me.

The secret with tunes like polkas, waltzes and marches on the banjo is the fact that notes don't sustain - they disappear as soon as you pick them. So you use repeated notes a lot to fill in the gaps.

From memory, my beginning banjo tunes were Spanish Lady, Siege of Ennis, Rattling Bog, Sweeney's, Denis Murpy's, Blackthorn STick, Rakes of Kildare, Haste to the Wedding, Over the Ocean, Saddle the Pony, Merry Blacksmith, Drowsy Maggy, Sally Gardens, and the aforementioned standard hornpipe list.

[Jumbuk]

The best thing to do is figure out those tunes that jump up and select you rather than the reverse. Play the tunes that

I guess that's what I am doing right now. The point of my question was more - I know that some tunes are much easier on banjo than others, so what are the tunes that are easier on flute than others?

PS Clare jig is on my list.

Thanks,

[Jayhawk]

Jumbuk - thanks for the tips! As for good tunes, the Kesh is a good starter tune on flute, Drowsy Maggie (a bit harder, but when you get it you'll feel great), Boys of Bluehill, and try Britches full of stiches, too.

Eric

[treeshark]

My teacher has what he calls 'great fluty tunes' though he makes any tune sound good. Amongst these are: Humours of Glendart, Sailor on the Rock, Maude Millar, The Sunnybanks, The Dark Haired Girl, Last Night's Fun. Old Joe's Jig, The Lilting Banshee, Henchey's Delight, Molloy's Favourite and a fair few of the others mentioned by posts above.
Rob

[Bretton]

I'll 2nd the suggestion of Jimmy Ward's Jig. It doesn't go very high so it makes it an easy one if you're still working on hitting the 2nd octave consistently. That was the first tune I worked on with the flute.

-Brett