Wanting to learn the Irish Flute

[coralgene]

Im interested in learning the keyless Irish Flute and I'm not sure where to start.

Which flutes are good to begin with?

How are they like the tin whistle? (which i also plan to start as soon as my slow mailing service delivers it to my anxiouse arms)

Thank You

[Kypfer]

There'll be plenty of more knowledgeable people to tell you about the flute side of things, but the fingering used on a whistle is the same as is used on a six-hole flute. So you can start with the whistle, confident you won't have to "unlearn" your fingering if/when you expand your horizons ... good luck

[MTGuru]

Welcome! Where are you located? You can fill in your Location profile ...

OK, with my Magical Mod powers I can tell where you are, and I know there's an active session in your area. Introducing yourself there would be a great place to start.

[Latticino]

Second the suggestion to start with just the whistle. You might want to wait till you have a couple of tunes down until you take the plunge and fork out the bigger bucks for a flute (though a search for beginner flute on this site will give you plenty of good suggestions on what to do once you are ready). In my opinion the whistle has a shallower learning curve as well, and is a great introduction to the tunes and session culture. For the latter you might want to attend your local session a couple of times with no instrument, just open ears (and a recording device if no one objects) to get a feel for what tune selections and settings are more common in your area.

Best of luck on your journey. It can be frustrating at times, but it is a great feeling to actually be able to play the music you love.

[MichaelRS]

Might look up this guy's site for a good starte flute.

http://sites.google.com/site/dougsflutes/

[coralgene]

Thank you all so much for the advice Whats a 'local session'? And how do I get involved in my local session? It seems like a really good oportunity.

[Steve Bliven]

Whats a 'local session'? And how do I get involved in my local session? It seems like a really good oportunity.

Find it on Amazon.

Local session is a buncha folks playing Irish traditional music. Be forewarned, there are social structures and guidelines to sessions that may not be apparent on first view. If/when you find your local session, might be good to just go and listen and observe for a bit before attempting to jump in.

However, it's probably the best learning experience for this type of music.

Best wishes.

Steve

[coralgene]

Thank you I hope I find a session in my town.

[plunk111]

Just did a quick google and found this:

http://web.mac.com/pubscouts/THE_PUB_SC ... COUTS.html

Sounds like fun!

[MTGuru]

Just did a quick google and found this:

http://web.mac.com/pubscouts/THE_PUB_SC ... COUTS.html

Sounds like fun!

Yep, that's the one hinted at in my previous post.

[coralgene]

Oh my goodness! That so awsome! Thank you guys so much

[Akiba]

There are some excellent, top-notch Irish Trad players in Chico (at least one fine fluter and a piper/whistler as well). Met them and played a bit with them. Fine folk.

Here's another online resource: thesession.org . Lists tunes, sites of sessions, recordings, etc.

Listen, read, search, play, practice, soak it up.

Best of luck to you.

[Nachteule]

Hi coralgene,

You might want to check out the thread I opened on Simple and keyless flutes. There are a couple of recommendations for beginner flutes, mainly wooden ones though. I am not very fond of PVC in general, therefore I don't have that much information concerning plastic flutes, but judging from most youtube comments i came across, many people start out with a plastic flute (Yamaha or Aulos).
As for the wooden flutes, the Casey Burns Folk Flute got quite a few recommendations.

I'm not sure whether I'd recommend starting with "just the whistle". As a (German) flute player, I find it relatively hard to transfer the relatively similar fingering to the whistle. However, when I hold the whistle like a transverse flute, my fingering is much more fluent. I would never have thought that changing the position of the arms can have such an impact. To make a long story short, if you want to play the flute (only), it might not make sense to start with a whistle.
However, you might also have a very different experience.

[benhall.1]

I agree with you, Nachteule, it does make a surprising difference just having your arms in a different place. I moved from whistle to flute a couple of years back, and it took me ages to get used to what amounts to essentially the same fingering.

Still, who wouldn't want to play both whistle and flute?

[tucson_whistler]

I started with the whistle, then picked up the flute. For me, I thought it was nice--learning the flute can be frustrating sometimes . It's nice sometimes to play the whistle and just learn a new tune without having to worry about embouchure.

What I'm discovering though is that there are differences in technique; the ornamentation I do on one might not work as well on the other.., but maybe that's part of the fun.

Cheers,
Eric