Used principally by Woodlands tribes, Southwestern tribes and tribes from the Southern and Northern Plains, the Indian flute
What is a Native American style flute?
The Native American flute is a
flute that is held in front of the player
, has open finger holes, and has two chambers: one for collecting the breath of the player and a second chamber which creates sound. The player breathes into one end of the flute without the need for an embouchure.
What do you call a Native American flute?
The prevalent term for a person who plays Native American flutes is “
flutist”
. This term predominates the term “flautist”. This is based on searches on the Google search engine performed on February 26, 2016 for “Native American flutist” (about 23,800 results) and “Native American flautist” (about 3,090 results).
What is the most common key for Native American flute?
The center of this range,
the keys of F# and G
, are the most common keys for Native American flutes. These keys are a good choice for most first-time players of the Native American flute.
What is the Native American flute revival?
The
late 1960s
saw a roots revival centered around the Native American flute, with a new wave of flutists and artisans like Doc Tate Nevaquaya and Carl Running Deer. … Carlos Nakai, who has achieved mainstream renown for his mixture of the flute with New Age and ambient sounds.
Why does my Native American flute squeak?
Squeaking is usually occurs
if you are not covering the holes completely or you are blowing way too hard
. It is possible to make the flute jump up in pitch (by and octave) by blowing harder while covering all the holes. … This is usually caused by the flute wetting out.
What is a wooden flute called?
The sring (also called blul)
is a relatively small, end-blown flute with a nasal tone quality found in the Caucasus region of Eastern Armenia. It is made of wood or cane, usually with seven finger holes and one thumb hole, producing a diatonic scale.
What is the best wood for Native American flutes?
Western Red Cedar
is the quintessential Native American love flute wood. Very light to hold, this flute-wood produces a classic warm, rich and resonant tone.
How are Native American flutes tuned?
Most modern Native American style flutes are tuned to
minor pentatonic scale
. This scale requires five finger holes, but some makers add one more hole, often called „the sixth hole”. This hole is used in some melodies or for additional sound decorations, but in reality, it is not required for pentatonic scale.
What is the difference between a Native American flute and a recorder?
The Native American flute is tuned to play what is called a minor pentatonic scale. … In this respect the Native American flute
is even easier to play than a recorder
(which is a diatonic instrument). The tonal quality of the Native American style flute is quite soft or mellow.
How long is a Native American flute?
How Long is a Native American flute? Anything from
15 to 50 cm
when it comes to sound chamber length. Add about 15 to 20 cm of the air chamber and that’s how long the flute is. Some flutes can be even longer, because some makers build flutes in lower keys (as a bass Native American flute).
What is the key of a flute?
The standard concert flute, also called
C
flute, Boehm flute, silver flute, or simply flute, is pitched in C and has a range of about three and a half to four octaves starting from the note C
4
(middle C).
Did Native Americans really play flutes?
Flutes were used for entertainment by many tribes while traveling
; many of these songs still exist today. The Hopi Tribe had flute societies that performed powerful prayer ceremonies with their flutes. … Until today, when the native flute is now widely accepted in most parts of North America.
Where does the Native American flute come from?
Richard Payne, an authority on this subject, believed that what we now call the ‘Plains style’ Native American flute originated with
the Northern Ute tribe
. These early Plains style flutes were made of wood. They had the duct cut into the body of the flute. Examples of these flutes were collected in the 1820s.
