Learn to Play the Native Flute

Learn to Play the Native Flute Brought to you by: Joseph A. Yeatman and YuccaFlute.com Version 1

Learn to Play the Native Flute Introduction Most of the people who purchase a flute from YuccaFlute.com are experienced Native American Flute (NAF) players. But that is not always the case. Some absolute beginners start their NAF journey with one of our yucca or agave flutes. It s for those beginners that I have created this how-to booklet. There is no shortage of instructional material available, but this booklet gives you what I think is most important for you as a complete novice. The goal is not to make you a musician, not to get you ready to make a CD, not to teach you everything you need to know about the Native American Flute (NAF). The goal is to give you enough solid information to help you launch yourself on your own flute journey. The beauty of the NAF is that you don t need to be an accomplished musician to make impressive music. You don t need to read music to express yourself musically through the flute. The beauty of the NAF is its ability to let you create music with little-to-no training, to express yourself in a way that moves others without years of study, to help you tap into your inner musician. The Native American Flute is used as a meditative, healing instrument. It is used in the treatment of PTSD, Social Anxiety Disorder, and even Asthma. It is used alongside Yoga. And of course, it is used to create music traditional Native American, New Age, and even in conjunction with orchestral arrangement. The massive appeal of the NAF is the fact that with little training, and no prior musical experience, you can create beautiful music. You don t need to know how to read music. You don t need to know music theory. You don t need to know how to play another instrument. Seriously, by the time you go through this material, you will be playing the flute. My goal is to get you started on your own NAF path, to give you the essentials that you need to start out on the right foot. My only assumption is that you have just received one of my yucca flutes, or perhaps a flute from another maker. If you are reading this material, you might not know where to start. This is where. Before You Start Feel free to untie the leather and remove the block (aka bird, aka fetish) to see what s under it. If you do, you will see the Slow Air Chamber (SAC) Exit Hole and the True Sound Hole (TSH). The SAC Exit Hole is the one nearest the mouth end. The TSH is the one a bit closer to the bore end. When you breathe into the mouthpiece, air flows into the SAC, up through the SAC Exit Hole, under the block, and across the TSH. The mouthpiece end is referred to as the North end. The bore end is called the South end. The block is usually tied on with a leather thong (often deer or elk leather). Knots are typically not needed. The position of the block is very important, as it helps focus your breath on the South end of the TSH, called the Splitting Edge. This surface splits the air stream so that part of it goes down into the flute, and part of it goes above the flute. That is what creates the sound wave. Page 2

Each time before you start playing, you need to make sure the block is snuggly tied on and is in the right spot. The SAC Exit Hole should be completely covered. The TSH typically should be completely uncovered. The exact placement of the block is a matter of personal preference and playing style, but typically the bottom, South end of the block should either be right at the North end of the TSH, or about 1/16 North of it. Once you start making notes, you can shift the block up and down and see for yourself how it affects the sound. Until you develop your own preference, position the block as in one of the pictures below. Standard block Many flute blocks have a flat face. It may be slanted slightly forward or backward, but still flat. The face of the block should be at or slightly North of the North end of the TSH. The TSH should not be obscured by the block. Winged block This style of block is also called a Chimney. The wings on the side shield the TSH from light breezes and can sometimes make the flute easier to play outdoors. As always, the TSH should not be obscured at all by the block. The chimney wall should be directly over or just North of the North end of the TSH. The sides of the chimney should also not be obscuring any part of the TSH. Page 3

Hooded block Similar to a chimney, the hood can shield against light breezes. The hood in the block is over the TSH, but the TSH is not obscured by the bottom edge of the block. Under the hood, the South end of the block should be at or slightly North of the North end of the TSH. Hold Your Flute Your flute has 6 tone holes (aka note holes, aka finger holes). Hold the flute with both hands, covering the top 3 holes with the fingers of one hand, and the bottom 3 holes with the fingers of the other hand. Most players put their right hand on the bottom 3 holes. I play with my left hand down. It doesn t really matter. How ever you first grasped it is probably the way to go. Use your index finger, middle finger, and ring finger of both hands. Your pinky is just along for the ride, but can assist in holding. Your thumbs will both be under the flute and are instrumental in holding it as most of your other fingers come off of and back onto the flute as you play. Try to relax your grip and hold the flute gently. It s common to tense up at first, but try to be aware of it and learn to relax. Cover the holes with the fleshy pads of your fingertips. You do need to securely cover the holes, but you don t need to squeeze hard. Notice the difference between proper finger position on the holes and an improper position. Proper relaxed grip. Using finger pads. Crab Legs grip. Too tense. Overemphasis on the tips. I play left hand down, but most righ-handed people play right hand down. Page 4

Don t blow yet, but put the flute to your mouth as you maintain a proper grip. Hold the flute away from your body, but not straight out. Most players find it comfortable to hold the flute at about a 45-degree angle from their body. Keep your head/chin up to keep your airway open. Your First Notes Before you try your first note, cover the top 3 finger holes and uncover the bottom 3. The note that this fingering creates is a bit easier to get right than if you cover all of the holes. You ll do that shortly. Now just breath into the flute. Did you get a pleasant note? If not, first try breathing more softly. This is not an instrument you blow into. Almost all beginners blow too hard at first and create a lessthan-pleasant sound. The other thing to do if your first note was not right is to ensure that the top 3 finger holes are totally closed. Even a very slight air leak can cause squeaky notes. Shake your hands, stretch your fingers, then reposition your fingers lightly but firmly on the holes. Double check that you are closing the holes with the pads of your fingertips (the fingerprint area), not the very ends. Page 5

If you have trouble with all 3 top holes covered, try this. LEAVE THE RING FINGER HOLE COVERED, and raise your middle finger. You now have holes 1 and 3 covered and hole 2 uncovered. This should be an easier note to get right because you have one less hole to worry about whether it s covered properly or not. And if you have trouble with that, now try raising your index finger, but LEAVE THE RING FINGER DOWN. This will give you the highest note in the basic pentatonic scale for your flute. As before, it should be easier because you now only have one hole to worry about being properly covered. Until you are experienced enough not to need instructions, you should NEVER uncover hole 3 (the ring finger hole with your top hand). For now, leave the bottom 3 holes uncovered and try the 3 fingering positions we have just mentioned: holes 1-3 covered, hole 2 uncovered, and holes 1 & 2 uncovered. Go slow. Do not be in a rush. Try those 3 notes in any order and they should sound nice together. If any of them are squeaky, silent, or otherwise off, reinsure the basics (proper block position, soft breath, relaxed grip, no air leaks at covered holes) and try again. Stay here until you can make each of those 3 notes easily and consistently. Your Next Notes Once you have mastered the top 3 notes, try covering ALL of the finger holes. Breathe softly into the flute. If your basics are right, you should hear your flute s lowest possible note. This is called the Fundamental Note. Lift the ring finger of your bottom hand and play a note. Leave the ring finger up and raise the middle finger of the same hand and play a note. Now raise the index finger of the same hand and play a note. At this point you are back where you started top 3 covered and bottom 3 uncovered. You have also played all of the basic notes at this point. Basically, the way the Native American Flute (NAF) works is by controlling the acoustic length of the sound chamber (bore). If you cover all of the holes, the sound wave can travel the entire length of the bore before it escapes. It s as if there were no holes. Then if you uncover the Southernmost (bottommost) hole, you are effectively shortening the acoustic length of the bore, letting the sound wave escape a bit early, from that bottom hole. Uncover the next hole up and you have shortened the effective bore length even more, creating a higher note. And so on. It s the same way a slide-whistle works, if you are familiar with that. Page 6

The Most Important Lesson Always leave hole #3 (the ring finger of your top hand) covered. Keeping that rule in mind, if you uncover any other hole, make sure that all of the holes under it are also uncovered. Basic Pentatonic Scale Now that you can make any note, you could play them in nearly any sequence and create a pleasant melody. That is the beauty of the Pentatonic Minor scale. But, you should probably just practice the basic scale until you can do it easily. Starting with the fundamental note, uncover finger holes one-at-a-time from the bottom up, and play the resulting note. (Remember to always keep the ring finger of your top hand down.) The first note will be with all holes covered. The last note will be with all holes uncovered (except for hole 3). You just went UP the scale. Now go DOWN the scale. Start with all holes uncovered (except for hole 3), play a note. Then cover the top hole and play a note. Cover the next hole and play a note. When you have played the fundamental note again (all holes covered), you re done. Page 7

Now play up AND down the scale. Feel free to experiment, but you should stick pretty close to playing up and down the scale for a while maybe a few days. While sticking with the scale, try doing it with a single uninterrupted breath. Try it with a distinct start and stop to each note. There are different ways to start a note. You can articulate notes similar to saying Ta, Ha, or Ka into the flute. Try each articulation. Try going up and down the scale with all Ha s. Try it with all Ta s. Want something that sounds advanced but is very easy? Do the scale by playing a Ta and a Ka on each note. It s almost like saying taka into the flute for each note. Another way to introduce more interest is to try starting somewhere other than the fundamental note. Try playing the scale like this: Page 8

Now try it with a variety of Ha, Ta, and Ka articulations. Play some adjacent notes with the same articulation. Add some pauses. Extend or shorten some notes. You are still playing up and down the scale, just not from the normal starting and stopping points. Beyond the Scale In addition to starting somewhere other than the fundamental note, you can also play partial scales. Rather than playing all the way up before you begin going down, try playing half of the way up and turning around. You are still playing notes that are adjacent to each other in the scale, just not all of them. In this example, also note that a couple notes are repeated. This is another basic way to introduce more interest into your practice sessions. You can repeat any note(s) as much as you like. You can also play scale segments linked together rather than just going up and down. For example: Many tunes start and end on the fundamental note. Add a simple ending to the previous exercise, and you have a whole (but very small) tune. Page 9

Farther Beyond the Scale Going up and down the scale, with the modifications we ve mentioned already creates what are called Scale Songs. They re pleasant, simple, and good practice. Scale songs are generally played by playing a series of notes, each one just 1 step away from the prior note. In addition to playing in this step-wise fashion, you can also use Leaps. A leap is simply taking a bigger step between notes. Here, after your first 2 notes, you uncover 2 holes, skipping a note leaping over it. Experiment with leaps of different sizes. Generally, though, smaller leaps tend to sound more harmonious. Now, you can play scale songs using combinations of: Different starting notes Playing steps all the way up and down the scale Playing partial scales in step-wise fashion Playing scale segments in step-wide fashion Repeating notes Page 10

Inserting pauses between notes Lengthening or shortening notes Using leaps to skip notes Using Ra, Ta, and Ka articulation You can do a lot with these techniques. As you practice and get more comfortable with scale songs, you will find that you wander farther from the basic scale. Before long, you will be playing from the heart and making music that is pleasing to you and to others. Wetting Out As you play, moisture from your breath will condense within the Slow Air Chamber of your flute and under the flute block. As droplets form in the channel (or flue) under the block, they will interfere with the sound of your flute. The impact can be minor or even stop your flute from playing at all. This is normal. It s called Wetting Out. How fast and how severe your flute wets out depends on how it s made, and most importantly, the weather. Playing outside in cool, cold, or moist air will cause wetting out after just a few minutes. In warmer, dryer climates, or when playing indoors in the air conditioning, wet out may be slower. In any case, when it happens, you can continue playing if you remove the water from the flute. Here are popular methods for doing that: Remove the block and shake and/or blow the moisture out. With the block off, you can force the excess moisture out by carefully swinging the flute so that centrifugal force expels it through the breath hole. Be careful! You wouldn t be the first to accidently throw the flute across the yard, or bang it into a coffee table. It s safer to forcefully blow the moisture out. Leave the block on and shake and/or blow the moisture out. You can do the same operations with the block still on, but with modifications. For the shaking method, grasp the leather ties to help prevent from slinging your block across the room. Page 11

For the blowing method, put your finger tip in front of the block, over the TSH to prevent the splitting edge from working as normal. If you don t do this, you will get a loud unpleasant whistle when you blow. Keep playing with a different flute. Many flute players end up with more than one flute. This is the fastest (and most satisfying) way to keep playing after wetting out. Page 12

What Next? First, you ll be doing yourself a favor if you find and join a local Flute Circle. Flute circles are simply groups of NAF players who gather on a recurring schedule and play. Some concentrate on playing, others on instruction, but they all typically welcome players of ALL levels from accomplished musicians to absolute beginners. Flute circles are No Judgement zones. Even if all you can do is play 1 note, or even if you can t do that yet, doing it at a microphone among a small, supportive group is great. It s the best way to expand your skills, creativity, and confidence. You will also get exposed to new flutes and new flute makers. By the time you get to this point in this booklet, it s the right time to find a flute circle. Second, listen to other Native flute players music. There are surprisingly many established musicians in this genre. One of the most popular is R. Carlos Nakai. He s Navajo and lives in Tucson. You can find his CD s on ebay and Amazon, and can find him on Spotify and Pandora. He has quite a few CD s, many of which feature traditional solo Native flute playing. Another favorite of mine is Mary Youngblood. She s Seminole and Aleut. She is a 2-time Grammy winner and has been nominated for an Emmy. Search YouTube for My Gypsy Soul and Silent Wolf for a couple of my favorites. Page 13