How to Play an American Indian Flute

The Native American flute is fairly simple in construction and easier to learn to play than most orchestral instruments. It produces a complex, haunting and woody tone and is a very popular instrument in some areas. While complex techniques are possible on the Native American flute, even someone who has never played a wind instrument before can pick it up and learn the basics of the instrument quickly.

Instructions

1. Hold the flute in both hands, left hand above right, pointing down and in front of you. The exact angle is not important so find the angle you feel most comfortable with.

2. Cover the finger holes with your fingertips. Most Native American flutes will have five, six or seven holes. If your flute has five holes, cover the top two with your left index and middle fingers and the bottom three with your index, middle and ring fingers. For a six-hole flute, use the index, middle and ring fingers of both hands and add the ring finger of your right hand to cover the bottom hole on a seven-hole flute. If your flute has an odd number or positioning of finger holes, adjust as necessary for comfort. Make sure that you completely close all the holes with your fingers, but avoid squeezing the flute, which will only tire out your hands.

3. Bring the flute up to your mouth, keeping your head up and neck straight and your shoulders relaxed to avoid unnecessary strain. Support the flute primarily with your thumbs, though you can also use any fingers not covering a finger hole to stabilize it if necessary.

4. Moisten your lips to ensure a good air seal where your mouth meets the flute.

5. Place your mouth against the end of the flute. Keep your lips puckered and only slightly open, as though blowing out a candle. Cover the mouth hole completely with your mouth, but do not actually put the end of the flute into your mouth like a clarinet mouthpiece.

6. Breathe in deeply through your nose. Try to breathe in naturally as though to speak, allowing your abdomen to expand with the breath rather than your chest or shoulders moving. This will allow you to take a fuller breath and is the best way to breathe whenever you are playing the flute (or any wind instrument).

7. Blow into the flute in a slow, long, even stream. The speed of your breath will greatly affect the tone of the flute, so experiment and practice getting a good tone with all the finger holes covered before you try to play a melody. You can also create a very wide variety of interesting sounds and dynamic effects by altering the speed of your breathing. Adjust your fingers if necessary to make sure that all the finger holes are completely closed, as any air leaks will alter the tone greatly.

8. Lift one finger at a time from the finger holes, starting at the bottom hole to play higher notes. You don't have to lift them very far from the holes to play the notes. As you move up to each new note, practice controlling the tone with your breath; depending on your flute, each individual note may be more or less difficult to control.

References

• "The Art of the Native American Flute;" R. Carlos Nakai, James Demars, David P. McAllester, and Ken Light; 1997