An Irish flute is a conical-bore and simple wooden flute. The neanderthal flute is the oldest known and is 60,000 years old. Ireland plays this Irish flute all over the country since it has a vital heartland in Leitrim, Sligo, Roscommon, South Fermanagh, West Limerick and East Galway and Clare. The smaller the flute size will produce more sound. For example, the piccolo is around half the size of a concert flute and will deliver the highest sound. The irish flute follows the fingering layout of the tin whistle, so it is effortless to learn a flute.
Different styles of flutes:
- Roscommon – Sligo style: this style is fast flowing and ornamented.
- Leitrim and Northern style: Leitrim is less ornamented, highly rhythmic and uses glottal stops and tonguing.
- Fermanagh style: this style is perched musically and geographically between the plainer and will produce a uniform approach.
- East Galway style: this style is relaxed in tempo and entirely flowing.
- Clare style: this style is more stylistic.
Playing and technique differences:
- Fingering:
- The basic scale of the flute is D, whereas the Boehm flute is C.
- Cross-fingering is used in keyless wooden flutes.
- Tonguing:
- The Irish flute is independent of tonguing.
- Ornamentation:
- Ornamentation in Irish flute is different from classical idiom.
- You will encounter taps, rolls, cuts, slides, bounces and crans.
- Vibrato:
- Vibrato can be achieved by moving the fingers over the open holes.
- Classical-style vibrato will be handy, mainly while playing slow airs.
Interesting facts about a flute:
- A flute player is called many names like a flautist, a flautist and commonly a fluter.
- There are different sizes of flutes like alto, tenor, piccolo, bass and contrabass flute.
- The pitch of a concert flute is key C and has approximately three octaves.
- The pitch of an Alto flute is key G
- Flutes are made of wood, bone, ivory, plastic, glass, brass, resin, nickel, silver, platinum and gold.
- The flute is the earliest instrument.
Overall, An Irish flute is designed with ease of playing in mind. It will help beginners to learn the instrument quickly, and the concert flute is the best choice for beginners. If you love western music, move to western flute since it will rely on a wide range of notes and western flute is best for a professional fluter. You can gather more information from the website https://mcneelamusic.com/flutes.html.
