How to Tone Holes in a Native American Flute

Native American flutes are becoming more and more popular. You may have heard music by R. Carlos Nakai, one of the best known Native American flute players. Native American flutes are a length of hollowed wood, with a windway to move air from the mouthpiece to the sound chamber, and tone holes or finger holes along the sound chamber to change the notes played.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. Look at the flute to see how many tone holes it has. Most modern Native American flutes have five or six holes, but early flutes could have as many as seven, or as few as two or three.

2. Check the end of the flute. Some flutes have four tuning holes or slits near the very end. They are sometimes called the four direction holes. Other flutes have decorative ends.

3. Examine the space between the tone holes. Traditionally they are the width of the thumb of the flute maker. See if the space matches the width of your thumb. If so, it may be the flute for you.

4. Try playing the flute without covering any of the tone holes. Note the pitch. Now cover a hole and play. The pitch of the flute should be lower. A shorter flute has a higher pitch. When you cover the tone holes, you cause the functioning length of the flute to become longer.

5. Close the tone holes in order from the one closest to your mouth to the one nearest the end of the flute and play. Note how the tone changes as you close the holes. Try closing more than one at the same time to see what different notes you can produce.

6. Clean the tone holes by sanding the edges if their notes buzz or rasp. You can also widen the tone holes for your fingers for easier playing. Be aware that changing the size of the holes will change the notes of the flute when any of those holes are uncovered.

Tips & Warnings

• Without the tone or finger holes, the Native American flute wouldn't be called a flute. It would be called a whistle.
• Early flutes often had a raspy or breathy tone. Early European travelers described hearing a warbling sound from Native American flutes. When those flutes were blown vigorously with all the tone holes covered, the tone would jump between a low note and a note an octave higher. This type of tone is no longer popular, but you can hear old recordings of this kind of flute on the Spotted Eagle website (see Resources).
• You can hear clips of modern Native American flute played by R. Carlos Nakai at sites like Silver Lake Music and EMusic (see Resources).
• Increasing the size of the tone holes makes the useful length of the flute shorter. It may raise the pitch of the flute.

Resources

• Hear an old recording of a warbling flute.
• Hear clips of R. Carlos Nakai's flute playing.
• Hear more clips of R. Carlos Nakai recordings.