Native American flute: Difference between revisions
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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 one which is designed to resonate and create sound. The two chambers, called the “slow air chamber” and the “sound chamber”, are separated by a “plug”. Air is directed from the slow air chamber to the sound chamber by a channel called a “flue”. The flue is formed by a combination of the body of the plug, the body of the flute, and an external “block”. The phrase “open finger holes” means that the finger holes on the instrument are closed by your fingers, rather than keys or mechanical mechanisms.[1]
History
There are many stories about how different Native American peoples invented the flute. In one tale, woodpeckers pecked holes in hollow branches while searching for termites; when the wind blew along the holes, people nearby heard its music.[2]
The earliest Native American flute made of wood was collected by the Italian adventurer Giacomo Costantino Beltrami in 1823 on his search for the headwaters of the Mississippi River. It is now in the collection of the Museo Civico di Scienze Naturali in Bergamo, Italy.[3]
Construction
The Native American flute is the earliest flute recognized to have two air chambers. An internal wall (sometimes called a plug) inside the instrument partitions the two chambers: The slow air chamber (also called the compression chamber or mouth chamber) and the sound chamber (otherwise known as the pipe body, playing chamber, resonating chamber, tone chamber, or variable tube). The sound chamber contains the sound hole (or distal mouth opening or true sound hole) and the tone holes (finger holes).
Materials
Although traditionally flutes would be made from river cane, bamboo or a local wood, more exotic rain forest woods or even plastics are now used. Today flute makers use many exotic materials too, like ceramic and glass.
Music
Modern Native American flutes are generally tuned to a variation of the minor pentatonic scale, which gives the instrument its distinctive plaintive sound. Recently some makers have begun experimenting with different scales, giving players new melodic options. Also, modern flutes are generally tuned in concert keys (such as A or D) so that they can be easily played with other instruments. The root keys of modern Native American flutes span a range of about three and a half octaves, from C2 to A5.[4]
Early recordings of Native American flutes are available from several sources.[5]
Fingering
Native American flutes typically have either five or six holes, but an instrument may have zero to seven, including a thumb hole. Various makers employ different scales and fingerings for their flutes.[6]
The primary scale of a majority of the contemporary Native American flutes that are currently produced is the pentatonic minor scale.[6]
Revival
During the late 1960s, the United States saw a roots revival of the flute, with a new wave of flutists and artisans such as Doc Tate Nevaquaya, John Rainer, Jr., Sky Walkinstik Man Alone, and Carl Running Deer. Mary Youngblood won two Grammy Awards in the Native American Music category for her flute music. She remains the only Native American flautist to be distinguished in this way, as the [[National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences]] retired the category in 2011. Today, Native American style flutes are being played and recognized by many different peoples and cultures around the world.
Documentaries
- Songkeepers (1999, 48 min.). Directed by Bob Hercules. Produced by Dan King. Lake Forest, Illinois: America's Flute Productions. Five distinguished traditional flute artists - Tom Mauchahty-Ware, Sonny Nevaquaya, R. Carlos Nakai, Hawk Littlejohn, Kevin Locke – talk about their instrument and their songs and the role of the flute and its music in their tribes.[7]
- Journey to Zion (2008, 44 min.). A documentary by Tim Romero. Santa Maria, California: Solutions Plus. An nspirational documentary about Native flute enthusiasts attending the Zion Canyon Art & Flute Festival located in Springdale, Utah, the gateway to Zion National Park.[8]
See also
References
- ↑ Clint Goss (2016). "FAQ for the Native American Flute". Flutopedia. Retrieved 2016-2-16.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) - ↑ Clint Goss (2010). "Legends and Myths of the Native American Flute". Flutopedia. Retrieved 2010-12-13.
{{cite web}}: line feed character in|title=at position 42 (help) - ↑ Clint Goss (2010). "The Beltrami Flute". Flutopedia. Retrieved 2010
-12-13.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); line feed character in|accessdate=at position 5 (help) - ↑ Clint Goss (2010). "Keys of Native American Flutes". Flutopedia. Retrieved 2010-12-13.
{{cite web}}: line feed character in|title=at position 16 (help) - ↑ {{cite web |url=http://Flutopedia.com/discography.htm |title=Early Native American flute Recording Discography |work=Flutopedia |author=Clint Goss |year=2010 |accessdate=2010-12 -13}}
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Clint Goss (2010). "Native American Flute Fingering Charts". Flutopedia. Retrieved 2010-12-13.
- ↑ Joyce-Grendahl, Kathleen. "Songkeepers: A Video Review". worldflutes.org. Suffolk: International Native American Flute Association. Archived from the original on 2010-08-12. Retrieved 2010-08-13. And: [http://www.nmai.si.edu/calendar/index.asp?year=2006&month=9&day=9 National Museum of the American Indian]. Archive copy at the Internet Archive
- ↑ "Journey to Zion documentary website". Archive copy at the Internet Archive
External links
- Renaissance of the North American Flute
- World Flute Society
- Native American flute music sheet
- Flutopedia Flutopedia - an Encyclopedia for the Native American Flute.
- Flute Tree Native American Flute Informational Web Site.
- NAF Music A Yahoo! Music Group With Largest Web Collection of Free Native American Flute Sheet Music and Tab.
- NAF Music Songs A Yahoo! Music Group enabling the upload of Native American Flute Music songs
- List of archives containing Native American flutes
- Finger Diagram Fonts for writing out Native American flute music.
- Native American Flute Tablature
- Native American Flute References Native American Flute References — over 2,100 citations for the Native American flute.