Frequently Asked Questions about the Native American Flute

Native American Flutes - Vance Pennington - Waking Spirit Native American Flutes

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Frequently Asked Questions

     1. Questions I Ask Myself - new window
     2. Five Hole Flutes versus Six Hole Flutes
     3. Tuning and Playability
     4. Bore and Fingering Hole Sizes
     5. Endorsements

It never ceases to both surprise and encourage me to experience that many flute players and enthusiasts are seeking to learn more about the Native American flute. During my flute teaching classes, at various talks and gatherings and, indeed, even during my limited performances, I encounter many questions about flutes, playability and tuning. For me, it is totally uplifting to appreciate that people really do want to get involved, and gain a firm knowledge and understanding of the instruments they play.

I feel it is important to mention that many of the answers I give are actually demonstrated which helps people understand more easily the answers they seek and those questions that pertain to tuning are answered utilizing flute tunings which are most widely used and generally accepted as being 'standard'. (See chart at the foot of this page.)

In response to the many requests I have received to make their questions and my answers available to everyone, I have written this page which I dedicate to all who thirst for knowledge and understanding of the Native American Flute.

A general consensus is that a Native American flute is just a piece of wood with holes drilled in it! Perhaps my answers to the questions below will help eliminate that myth.

Five Hole Flutes versus Six Hole Flutes:

Q. I have a five hole (minor pentatonic) flute. Can I have it converted into a six hole flute?
A. No, not ideally! The top two (higher notes) fingering hole positions differ between a six hole flute and a five hole flute because of the placement of the additional hole - see chart below. A six hole flute is tuned so that it will play the same as a five hole flute if the fourth fingering hole is kept covered. However, because of the position differences of the upper two playing holes of a five hole flute, forming an additional hole will not allow the upper two notes to be tuned correctly. In order for a converted five hole flute to be in the same tuning as a six hole flute, the upper two fingering holes would have to be plugged and moved towards the bridge. Filing away at the two upper notes of a converted five hole flute to 'up-tune' the holes is not advisable. (See questions on Bore and Fingering Hole Sizes below.)

		1	2	3	4	4	5	5	6
5 Hole	F#	A	B	C#		E		F#
6 Hole	F#	A	B	C#	D#		F		G

Q. I have always been taught to keep the fourth fingering hole (apparently known as the 'forbidden finger') covered on a six hole flute. Why is that?
A. I cannot image why this is so! Covering the fourth fingering hole converts the six hole flute into a five hole which will limit its playability. The fingering/tuning chart at the foot of this page will show that finger placements numbers 9, 10, 12, 13, and 14 cannot be played without lifting this so called 'forbidden finger'! A six hole flute has a starting point using the lowest note possible for the scale it is tuned to - this is often referred to as mode 1. The second lowest note (or starting point) is known as mode 2 etc. Permanently covering the fourth fingering hole of a six hole flute 'converts' the flute into a mode 4. Every time you go up one mode you are reducing the flutes capability to play all the notes it is designed to.

Tuning & Playability:

Q. When attempting to play the notes shown on your fingering chart, using flutes other than those created by you, I find that all the higher notes, usually the upper three, are not in tune. Can you explain this?
A. Yes, but it is not easy as there is no short answer! The problem of tuning Native American flutes is one that has been around for far too long. The same problem arises constantly within the Recorder industry although the Recorder does have the ability to be extended or shortened in length to help compensate. However, this is only successful if the recorder is in tune when it leaves the makers workshop! (It is also a fact that transverse, orchestral flutes suffer at the higher notes when they are pulled apart slightly to tune them with other instruments.)

From the constant flow of questions I get asked about 'flat' upper notes of the Native American flute, all of which derive from players using flutes from so many different flute makers, it is apparent that the majority of flutes available today suffer this problem and what is most alarming is that it continues. Over the past years I have been making a dedicated point to investigate and understand the physical aspects of the flute in order to create them as constantly accurately as the Creator will allow. To me, this respects the efforts of the Native Americans who created the first flutes and who discarded them in order to create a better sounding instrument - utilizing the knowledge they had already gained. It is in this way my own personal flute journey continues.

So, how and why does this problem arise?

It is generally understood that the higher the pitch of a flute the smaller the bore size so an F#, mid range flute, will have a larger bore than a high C. This all has to do with sound frequencies. This principal also applies within a single flute! Taking an F# ( 6 hole, mid range) flute as an example, the fundamental note note is F#4 whereas the highest note is A5. This means that the A5 is in the octave range directly above that of the F#4. Based on the principal that higher notes need a small bore than lower ones one can begin to realize that the bore size of the flute becomes extremely relevant in order to accommodate both high and low notes. This same principle applies to flutes of all keys. So, the first thing a flute maker has to do is select a bore size that can accommodate all the notes to be played on the flute successfully and at their peek. This is accomplished by creating a flute that has a length to bore ratio that is best suited. For an F#4 flute the bore size will be between, say, 7/8ths and 3/4 of an inch. The flute maker will then go on to work out where the fingering holes need to be and this is where it all seems to go wrong.

When I design and create a flute I calculate the length to bore ratio based on the actual, physical size of the sound chamber I have created. This will differ from flute to flute even though they may be created on the same day, in the same key and utilizing the same settings on the machines used to create the bore size. Explaining how this calculation is done is extremely complicated and would take too long to detail so I would ask you to appreciate what I am saying is fact. Let's take an example of an F#4 flute that has a bore size and length that creates a length to bore ratio of, say, 0.85. This ratio is absolutely vital when calculating finger hole placements.

To explain more easily why this is , lets take a bowl filled with glass marbles. Each marble has a different value according to the musical note it pertains to:

F#	=	128 marbles
A	=	64 marbles
B	=	32 marbles
C#	=	16 marbles
D#	=	8 marbles
F	=	4 marbles
G	=	2 marbles
Total	=	254 marbles

If you reduce the number of marbles in the bowl by their value as each fingering hole is formed into the flute, one can clearly see that if the F# fingering hole is misplaced by the value of one marble, it will not be too noticeable. In other words, if you remove just one marble from the filled bowl you would not be able to notice easily that the percentage of marbles has dropped to 99.6%. However, when one reaches D# there are only 14 marbles in total left. Removing one marble due to incorrect placement increases the variance to 92.8% (the required note becomes flat by 7.2%). Similarly, the G note has a value of just two marbles. Imagine the consequences of removing just one or even breaking one of the marbles and removing just a small piece!

Hopefully, this simple example shows how accurately each finger hole placement must be in order to obtain the correct tuning. But, that is not all! The size and depth of the fingering hole plays an equally important part in correct placement and, therefore, accurate tuning. In summary, the factors involved in creating well tuned flutes are the length to bore ratio, the size and depth of the fingering holes and the placement of the fingering holes in relation to the actual length to bore ratio of the flute where the actual placement is being made. So, the length to bore ratio of the overall flute will determine the notes that can successfully be played over the whole flute and it is from this that all the other notes take their share or value - just like the bowl of marbles.

Confused? Well, this may help:

If A is equal to the length to bore ratio, B is equal to the size and depth of the fingering holes, C is equal to the note being achieved by placement and E is equal to a well tuned flute, the formula would be:

A x B x C = E

If, when creating a flute, a fingering hole is calculated to be, say, 5/16ths of an inch in diameter, 3/16ths of an inch deep and is placed in the exact spot on the flute where it needs to be, the result will be a very accurate note. If however, for what ever reason, the note is not correct and in tune, there is a problem somewhere, usually as a result of misplacement. The formula attained could be A x B+/- x C = E+/- (or something similar). If the value of E is altered in any way the flute will not be correctly tuned. Generally, one would think that filing away at any hole (to enlarge it, so that the note it plays is lifted) would solve the problem. But, is this true? Please read on:

Bore and Fingering Hole Sizes:

Q. I notice all your flutes, especially the mid range ones, have tuning and fingering holes that are of the same size whereas I have noticed that some flutes have huge fingering holes and some have a mix of tiny and large holes. Why?
A. It is possible, with correct calculations, to have all these holes within a minute fraction of being the same size which, incidentally, was preferred by the Ancients. However, if a fingering hole that is formed in a flute is incorrectly placed (for whatever reason) and the note is flat, filing away at the hole may bring it up into tune but the consequences are that the new size of this hole would not have been used to calculate where all the other fingering holes need to be placed. The result is that a flute may play all the primary notes correctly but will probably not be able to play cross-fingering notes (such as notes 5,7,9,11,15 & 16 in the chart below) in tune.

Q. What are the consequences of having really large fingering holes?
A. Usually, playability. Large holes will force a flute to sound louder than it needs to be but at the same time the upper or higher notes may not form comfortably. This may result in a flute whose upper notes sound airy, squeaky or just plain noisy. SImilarly, a flute with drastically varying sized fingering holes will increase in volume when the larger holes are utilized to create a note whereas the smaller holes will create a drop in volume.

Q. You have stated in the past that a flute needs to be created using a bore size that allows all the notes to play correctly within the key the flute is designed to play and yet I know there are flutes available that have 'oversized' bores. How is this possible?
A. That is something you really need to take up with the relevant flute makers. The basics of physics relating to this scenario is that mathematically, a flute of a certain key will only play well (and that includes all fingerings and cross-fingerings) if it is contained with a certain bore size and length and this is why higher pitched instruments have a small bore. To extend beyond the required bore size can be compared to a pint of liquid being kept in a one pint bottle but If the same one pint of liquid is poured into a slightly larger bottle, the contents (or in this case the notes) will be 'sloppy'.

Q: A friend of mine recently purchased a flute costing well over $1,200.00. I have played this flute and now realize, having played your flutes at this lesson, that this very expensive flute is no where near being capable of playing to the quality of your instruments. What should I suggest my friend does?
A: My initial response was, 'Why was it so expensive?' I was then informed that it was because it was created from a very rare species of wood and was then informed what the wood was.
The wood you have mentioned is available at many hardwood suppliers. It is expensive to buy and this may lift the price of the instruments by $50 - $100 but, nonetheless, it is quite easily obtainable. My advice to your friend is to investigate any such claims before purchasing. If, as you say, the flute does not play well, then maybe she should consider returning it to the place where it was purchased.

Endorsements:

Q: I bought a flute from someone who I always understood was a top flute maker (At this point I asked that the name of the flute maker not be revealed to me) and who carries an excellent endorsement from a well known flute player. But, in comparison to the flutes you have demonstrated at this venue, it is no where near as good. Why aren't your flutes heavily endorsed like some flute makers?
A: Beacause endorsements mean very little at the moment! There are several things to consider about this question. One consideration is on what grounds does any flute player or performer have to decide who is and who is not a good flute maker? Obviously, if a flute plays well and the notes sound good then the maker of the flute could be considered to be good but how much does the flute player/performer actually know about the flute he is playing in order for him/her to make any judgments. I have personally played my flutes in front of performers who have studied my fingering closely as they begin to realize that I am playing notes they never thought were possible.

The second consideration is to ask oneself who actually knows more about the Native American flute, the maker or the player? When I create a flute I know exactly what additional notes it will play, how to finger them and how much variance has been created in order for it to be played perfectly with an acoustic piano - and this is extremely important. My own experiences idicate that, sadly, there are very few performers who do actually appreciate just how many different scales and modes a correctly created flute can play, in any one key, and until they study, learn and understand exactly what a flute should or should not be capable of, their judgements may not necessarily be correct. It makes you think doesn't it?

So, having said all that, maybe I should leave it to you to decide if endorsements are really of any value!

My thanks go to you for taking the time to read this feature and I sincerely hope it helps you along with your own personal flute journey. Answers to other questions not covered here will be added as they arise. If you feel you have a question that I may be able to answer, please do feel free to email me at waking-spirit@waking-spirit.com

Flute Tuning Chart - utilized as a standard by the vast majority of Flute Makers.
The fingering diagrams above the tuning chart are those used to play an accurately tuned and playable flute.

* Columns 2 & 3 notes require partially covering the first fingering hole of the flute which is neither recommended or used by experienced flute players.

Column 1 shows the fundamental notes (all playing holes covered). Flute playing holes are progressively tuned to the RED notes reading from left to right.

Columns 1, 4, 6, 8, 10, 11, 12 & 14 are the notes of the Primary Scale for a six hole flute.

Columns 1, 4, 6, 8 & 11 are notes of the Pentatonic Minor Scale.

Columns 4, 6, 8, 9, 11, 13 & 15 are notes of the Major Scale.

Columns 4, 6, 8, 11 & 13 are notes of the Diatonic Scale.

Have a question you would like answered? Please feel free to contact Vance