Often there are times when I ask myself many questions in the hope that I may understand exactly what is happening in the world of the Native American flute. I look to the Creator for answers knowing He will help me along my own path but there are many times when I feel his answers, even though they must be correct, may not necessarily be acceptable to everyone at the present time. However, I accept His judgment and continue my own flute journey.

Sometimes, I share my thoughts and questions with friends and flute enthusiasts and feel it may be appropriate to share with you the thoughts I have and questions I ask as a maker of Native American flutes:

It is fair to say that I understand the Native American flute is going through a long process of revival but are all those involved with this revival working together towards a common cause? I fear this is not so! I think most of you reading this and who know of my work, will appreciate the efforts I am making to get some form of uniform tuning established. Is this important? Yes! The Native American flute is, in my view and the view of many, the most beautiful of all instruments. It has power and abilities rarely found in any other instruments and this is not to be taken lightly. I feel all flute makers have the responsibility to create their instruments without compromise and with full knowledge of what it is they are creating.

A typical example of this can be found in the Native American flute world when several instruments are compared side by side. Accepting they are all of the same key and are 6 hole, minor pentatonic flutes, it is more likely than not that these flutes, although they claim to be tuned the same, actually play differently. I expect many of you have flutes in your own collection that do just this. To approach the flute makers with this scenario often leads to the same answer - 'This is how I make my flutes' and that answer is one I find totally disturbing.

Having just read that you may asked yourself why I am so concerned about the subject of tuning. You may then go on to think about a flute you may own that sounds great even though it may not be precisely tuned. You may well find this flute takes you off into a world of peace and harmony because of its tonal qualities! Well, that is wonderful and I accept totally that this is one of the many beautiful things brought upon us by these extraordinary instruments. But, what if that same flute had been created so that the notes were more in tune with themselves and to a true scale? Would that end the spiritual journey or would it make the same journey even richer?

All the scales we know today and that are acceptable within our culture have taken hundreds of years to perfect. A piano, for example, doesn't play just any notes. There are many hundreds or even thousands of notes that a piano is not capable of playing. If a piano was created to play all these possible notes the player would probably need a bus to travel from one end of the keyboard to the other and that is obviously far from being practical. The method of writing sheet music would also have to change in order to accommodate all these other notes with staff lines and musical notations of such great numbers it would be impossible to read. So, over many years the keyboard as we know it today has been developed by musicians to produce notes within scales and complimentary scales that sound right when played together and sheet music that works perfectly as a result.

Over the last three or maybe more decades many new scales have been submitted by musicians only to have them ignored by the world of music as they infringe upon what has become a firm standard of well created scales. On that basis, every flute created that is not tuned to an acceptable scale is therefore, by musical standards, not an acceptable instrument. The risk here is that the Native American flute may become and instrument that will never be accepted as a true instrument within our culture. Is this really important? I honestly believe it is. The Native American flute is too wonderful to inhibit in any way. The whole world should have the opportunity of appreciating just how well these instruments can be created and how well they can play; especially with other instruments. The Native American flute is not a curiosity and I feel it is totally disrespectful to treat it as such and in my view this, on a general basis, is what is happening.

Why is this happening? Wow, that is a good question to ask myself! My only conclusion is that there are far too many people, with good intension, dabbling with an instrument they really do not understand how to make and then calling themselves Flute Makers. If I were to create a piano without proper knowledge and understanding I would probably be assassinated by the Lead Violinist or shunned up by the percussion section of the orchestra. An appeal I would ask at this point is that all those who create flutes set aside just a little time each week to study what they are doing and how they can make their flutes better. The ultimate goal is to create flutes that do actually play the true notes they are capable of. Is this really too much to ask? No! And, is this really possible? Yes, it is. I have achieved this and I know of one wonderful flute maker who has been doing it for years. You only have to listen to the music of R. Carlos Nakai to appreciate how beautifully flutes can be played and how perfectly the Creator allows them to be created. My hat goes off to them both for demonstrating how well just two people can work towards a common goal and in the best interests of the flute.

It has been suggested to me that the answer to my questions lay in the hands of the buying public and that they will decide what is and what isn't a good flute. Well, that's a nice thought but I am not too sure exactly how this answers anything as the 'buying public' will only purchase what is available to them. As an example, imagine ten different people purchasing ten different flutes, created by ten different flute makers with each flute being tuned slightly differently because 'That's the way I (being the applicable flute maker) make them'. Now imagine those same ten people with their same ten flutes being put into a room together with the view of deciding who has purchased the flute with the best tuning. I am fairly sure the result would be that no one person will really know because they have no standards available to them to help them decide. So, on that basis how can the buying public truthfully decide anything other than how they will spend their money whether or not they achieve purchasing a good flute or not. It has always been, and always will be, my contention that it is just as easy to drill a hole in a flute in the correct position as it is to drill one in an incorrect position. It is all a matter of knowledge and understand that knowledge. It is my considered opinion that this is what separates good flute makers from those who claim to be flute makers. Ouch! sorry if that hurts but is it really not the honest truth? And, is this not the only opinion to adopt if the Native American flute is to achieve the respect throughout the world that it most certainly is entitled to?

But, having quality, tuned flutes available for all is not the only problem that exists within the flute world. How many people are taught by well intentioned flute instructors to keep the fourth fingering hole of a six hole flute covered at all times? I have discovered that there are so, so many. I am informed that some even refer to it as the 'forbidden' finger. The creation of this fourth fingering hole enables the flute, by repositioning the two holes above it to achieve many other perfect notes and modes within a single instrument. It is not just a resting place for the finger to help hold onto the flute during playing. Why is this technique so commonly taught? I wish I knew the answer to that one. Or, maybe I do but find it difficult to express for fear of tuning parts of the flute world on its head!

Well, let's take chance here. When I teach the flute at my classes I demonstrate all the modes and scales that are possible with a minor pentatonic, 1.4 octave flute. This includes the pentatonic scale in modes 1, 2, 4, & 5 as well as a major (Do, Re, Mi) scale. In all these examples, the only time the fourth fingering hole is kept covered at all times is when I demonstrate mode 4. I will leave you to decide just how knowledgeable you may feel some teachers are of the flutes they are playing and teaching to play.

So, there you have it. These are the thoughts that constantly churn around in my mind and probably in the minds of other conscientious flute makes. Being a flute maker of a considerable number of years, I have worked on the physical and mathematical aspects of the flute and the difficulties involved in actually creating a flute that is capable of such extreme perfection. Has it been easy? Certainly not! My wife will confirm the number of times I have been reduced to tears with sheer and total frustration. But, my view has always been to create my instruments as perfectly as the Creator will allow and nothing will deter me from this path. It this an obsession? No, it is just me giving the flute the respect it so richly deserves.

Thanks for reading this. If you feel you have something constructive to add to what I have tried to outline here, that you feel may help resolve the questions and doubts I have in my mind, I will be very happy to hear from you .Or, if you feel you basically agree with what I have written then talk to me! Let's get together with a combined goal to take the Native American flute to highest level possible.

Blessings to you all.

waking-spirit@waking-spirit.com