Some Boehm Playing

[Cubitt]

I'll talk a little about my situation and why I'm so into the boehm flute right now. I started on a Dixon polymer flute. It has the conical bore and is pretty solid. It has small holes and is not really a loud flute, but held on in a small session. Then I got a Tipple flute. Bigger holes, bigger sound-- a great flute and was so cheap. I recently got out my boehm and played it for a few days and thought, why only play classical music on it? So I started re-learning irish tunes. I didn't think it was really difficult, just a bit different. I started playing some tunes in odd keys like D minor and G minor and discovered some beautiful music! This went on for a while and I then got out my Irish flutes again. They just seemed so quite and limited compared to the big sound I was getting from my gemeinhardt. So in terms of playing chromatically, (I only had keyless irish flutes) and playing volume, I can't go back.

The thing is, I haven't played on a keyed Olwell, Hamilton, McGee, etc. I don't have that experience, but I just don't have the money right now. That's why I can't say one is better than the other. I really want the keys, though. That's the factor that's keeping me on the boehm, and I'm starting to sound not half bad on it.

So Like John mentioned, (for me) it's the best flute I can play right now. It suits my music needs, and I like a challenge!

I think when I move to Colorado in a few weeks there will be more of an opportunity to play some good keyed wooden flutes then here in Jersey.

Thanks for the article, John. I'm off to read it.

Lee, stick with my original advice and stay with the Boehm unless you just can't resist the lure of a keyed wooden flute. IMO the sound you got on the clip is spot on. I started on a Boehm, but had been playing a keyless simple-system flute for Renaissance and Medieval music for many years, so when I picked up ITM, it was natural for me to favor keyless, since that was what everyone used. I'm not sorry I did, but I am so ingrained on simple-system that relearning everything on Boehm is just too much trouble. Besides, I have a really superb eight-key. You, on the other hand, are right where you need to be with your approach, so I see no advantage in changing. If it ain't broke, don't fix it, sez I.

Cheers.

[sbhikes]

Now we can visit the pawn shop and pick up a leaky old metal flute for the equivalent of 30 quid; what comes around goes around, I guess!

Yep, I bought my old leaky, water-damaged Gemeinhardt from craigslist for $45. A couple of pads replaced and it's perfectly playable. Great sound, fully chromatic and very loud. I can't play like Lee, but I completely understand where he's coming from.

[Lee Stanford]

e and stay with the Boehm unless you just can't resist the lure of a keyed wooden flute. IMO the sound you got on the clip is spot on. I started on a Boehm, but had been playing a keyless simple-system flute for Renaissance and Medieval music for many years, so when I picked up ITM, it was natural for me to favor keyless, since that was what everyone used. I'm not sorry I did, but I am so ingrained on simple-system that relearning everything on Boehm is just too much trouble. Besides, I have a really superb eight-key. You, on the other hand, are right where you need to be with your approach, so I see no advantage in changing. If it ain't broke, don't fix it, sez I.

Cheers.

I have this small fear. I've not yet brought the boehm to a session. (or any flute anywhere as I'm so busy getting ready to pack up everything I own and drive a uhaul to Fort Collins, Colorado)

Do you think people will look down on that kind of thing and give me looks or not want me to play if I'm not using something that resembles an irish flute? I've not yet really met people that elitist in the world of ITM, but there were some pretty ignorant things said about using the silver flute in ITM in "the session" forums.

I figure, as long as it sounds good, it's good, right?

[Cathy Wilde]

Don't worry about it. People are always going to find things to get worked up about, and if showing up at a session with a metal flute turns out to be some piece of ammo for them, then phooey. They'll get over it eventually. There are plenty of people with lovely wooden flutes who can't play a lick, but hey, we're all on the same journey and you're farther down the road than many. Just keep working at it and having fun, and then if the time, desire and funds all come together for a wooden flute, you can start THAT battle!

Happy moving and safe travels !

[Cubitt]

I figure, as long as it sounds good, it's good, right?

Yep. People sometimes tend to abuse what they don't have or can't do.

[talasiga]

.........
I have this small fear. I've not yet brought the boehm to a session.
.............................
Do you think people will look down on that kind of thing and give me looks or not want me to play if I'm not using something that resembles an irish flute? I've not yet really met people that elitist in the world of ITM, but there were some pretty ignorant things said about using the silver flute in ITM in "the session" forums.
...............

Dear Lee,
Please see my post about Sarah Allen (Flook flute player) and Joannie Madden http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php ... lto#673521. Extrapolate.

.........
I figure, as long as it sounds good, it's good, right?

No, not so fast Buster!
Not only must you sound good but you must be CONFIDENT that you sound good. Hecklers, like dogs, have a way of picking up on fear, even if you are not doing anything bad.

Best Wishes.

[peeplj]

I don't care what kind of flute you bring to a session.

If you can play the music, I don't care if you play it on a water hose.

If you can't play the music, then having a top-end Olwell isn't going to help matters any.

I've played wooden flute alongside silver flute with not a difficulty on either side.

--James

[Lee Stanford]

.........
I have this small fear. I've not yet brought the boehm to a session.
.............................
Do you think people will look down on that kind of thing and give me looks or not want me to play if I'm not using something that resembles an irish flute? I've not yet really met people that elitist in the world of ITM, but there were some pretty ignorant things said about using the silver flute in ITM in "the session" forums.
...............

Dear Lee,
Please see my post about Sarah Allen (Flook flute player) and Joannie Madden http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php ... lto#673521. Extrapolate.

.........
I figure, as long as it sounds good, it's good, right?

No, not so fast Buster!
Not only must you sound good but you must be CONFIDENT that you sound good. Hecklers, like dogs, have a way of picking up on fear, even if you are not doing anything bad.

Best Wishes.

Thanks. Still working on the bansuri as well... But I won't be posting and videos of that anytime soon

[sbhikes]

Lee, come to our session and bring your Gemeinhardt. We had a tap dancer tonight and people were fine with that. They are fine with me noodling away at a respectable distance. So far I have seen none of the snobbishness you read about on Internet forums.

[talasiga]

Lee, come to our session and bring your Gemeinhardt. We had a tap dancer tonight and people were fine with that. They are fine with me noodling away at a respectable distance. So far I have seen none of the snobbishness you read about on Internet forums.

You're obviously quite a newbie. Session snobbishness can be very very subtle and you need to be a veteran to detect it and produce it.

Patent snobbishness is usually the work of underdeveloped types who don't know anything about the tradition of snobbery.

[cocusflute]

noodling away

I don't think of myself as a snob, nor do I think people I play with are snobs. But none of us encourage "noodling," if by noodling you mean playing some notes that aren't in the tune at the same time as people who know the tune are playing the notes of the tune. It is distracting and, IMHO, worse than snobbery.
Playing a melodic harmony line in ITM is a very chancy thing. To do it right you must know the tune itself - and very well. Myron Bretholz refers to how an accomplished musician would feel if, after working on a tune hours and days, a beginner comes to the session and thinks he is adding something by faking a harmony.
A respectable distance for safe noodling would be about, what? 100 yards?
Half-knowing the tune and trying to play it is another thing. Knowing when not to play is a more appreciated virtue. I've never been in a session where a beginning player, honest, sincere, tactful and respectful of the musicians and the music, was snubbed. But I have been in sessions where bollixes have been snubbed, and rightly so.
I doubt you'd be snubbed because of the silver flute. As has been mentioned, it's your attitude and what you do with the flute that matters.

[crookedtune]

Not to speak for Diane, but by "noodling" she may mean that she learns new tunes in sessions by quietly trying to grab the main notes of the tune, all at a distance and at a low volume that will minimize disruption to the session. I think we all do this. If you know the tune and can play it to speed, then you join in. If you don't, you either just listen or test the water in a careful and quiet way. "Noodling" is something very different, and I agree that it can be very, very annoying!

[Doug_Tipple]

For a few years I played fiddle and guitar in a make-up contra dance band, which is similiar to a session in that anyone who wants to participate can do so. The melody players on mandolin, fiddle, and guitar were miked for the dance, but the rest of us did the best we could do without mikes on the second row. Occassionally the violin or guitar players would take a break, and I sat-in for a few of the tunes that I could play up to speed, which was always fast. It seems to me that this arrangement worked pretty well. The dancers got music that they could dance to, and all of the second row band members got to participate in the music-making.

With regard to playing a harmony line along with the melody, I am reminded of my church in college where the organist was a member of the music faculty. He would play the first verses of the hymns straight, but on the last verse he would emprovise on the melody. Even though I knew the hymns quite well, I often found it hard to sing the melody when the organist was doing his thing with the accompanying improvisation. I suspect that it would be equally difficult to play melody in a Irish session when beginners were off rhythm and playing the wrong notes and chords.

[cocusflute]

Exactly right, Doug. I think ITM is kind of rare for "folk" music. It's the same melody repeated verbatim, and in unison. There is very little wiggle room for improvisation or harmony. Contra-dance music - and a contra dance band - is a lot looser. I came to ITM - and to Ireland - through fiddling and contra dance in New England.
It's great to play with accompaniment but most of the time each of us is playing solo. The more you play the more you know, and the more you know the more you hear. The more you hear, the more you realize how far you've yet to go.

[sbhikes]

Yes, I am a newbie. But I've read all the mean and nasty postings about people like me or worse than me on this forum and on thesession.org and with the fear of all that inspired in me, took a VERY meek attitude to my own session.

Much to my surprise, they did not treat me like that, they kept telling me to sit closer, to do the best I could, "we all started where you are", and to keep coming back.

Last night they had a tap dancer and she was someone they obviously knew and welcomed. She only danced once or twice, mostly she just used her shoes to drive the beat. It sounded great. She also played the fiddle, the concertina, the bouzouki, the banjo and god only knows what else.

Somehow I arrived early for the first time. They asked me what did I know how to play. I played Tara Diamond's barndance, which I have just learned from the Fliuit Tutor. They didn't know it. I told them I'm working through this book and so far it's mostly barndances. They said they only know one, Lucy somebody-or-other's but couldn't remember how it goes. Somehow I guessed right which one Lucy somebody-or-other's was and they played along with me.

Then they FORCED me to sit in the circle and not outside. I told the guy next to me that sitting next to me is the booby prize because I don't know very many tunes and the best I can do is quietly guess the first note or so of every bar and that I would try to be quiet and not play too many bad notes. He said that was considerate of me, and otherwise was friendly to me as he whacked away on the loudest banjo on Earth.

After they finally played a tune I could keep up with, I figured it was time for me to go home. As I walked out, a few people pulled me aside and said I sounded really good, and don't worry so much about being a beginner. One lady, a beginner fiddler herself, said sometimes all she can manage is a few notes here and there and most of the time, like me, she just sits and fingers the fiddle without making much sound. She was kind enough to write down a list of the tunes they seem to always play.

Yes I am a newbie but I know what I am talking about. Plus I am human and female and not oblivious to body language and human emotion. It's not all as snobbish and cruel at every session. There are welcoming open sessions out there. I am fortunate that our session is one of them.

I am absolutely certain if Lee showed up with an electric bass and a bad attitude they'd kick him out (I've seen it -- not Lee, but the scenario). But if Lee showed up with a boehm flute and played with the skill he's capable of they'd be happy to have him.