Chiff and Fipple Forums

My wife plays concert flute and we are interested in looking at buying an Irish flute, but her hands are quite small. (I play low whistle and uilleann pipes, and I can tell that her fingers are just too short and thin to do stretches and cover those big holes.) I know that most keyed Irish flutes have keys for the purpose of chromatic notes. However, does anyone make an Irish flute with keys for the diatonic notes (i.e., the D scale), so there is a very small stretch?

Thanks...

Yes, certainly.....first choice might be a Siccama or reproduction of same...

Edit: I've just verified that Terry McGee, for one, is making them.

She doesn't really need keys for a great deal of Irish music, but they are fun. (I have a keyless and a keyed flute.) I have fairly small hands. I've tried McGee's Grey Larsen Preferred model, John Gallagher's Rudall model, and Olwell's Rudall model. All of these work very well for smaller hands. Casey Burns also has a small-handed Rudall flute that fits smaller hands, plus he'll off-set some of the holes for comfort. You can do a search here on the board re: any of these flutes to find out more. Your wife needs to try some to see what fits her best re: playability, embouchure, sound, etc.

Good luck finding a good fit for your wife, Jeanie

Many thanks.

Casey Burns makes his small-handed model with keys.

However, I would second the idea of a Siccama model from Terry McGee. Siccama invented a flute with keys to extend the reach of the ring fingers on both hands. This enabled those holes to be larger and for other holes to be better placed. They were popular for a while around 1850 and have advantages beyond easier reach.

However, evenness of tone, volume, and intonation are not as important in Irish music as the ability to play crisp ornaments. Also, more keys cost more money.

-- Don

If she's just looking at playing in D & G (ie, you want a keyed-for-easier-reach equivalent of a keyless flute), it may be unnecessary - try holding your low whistle normally, then hold it like it's a flute. If you're like me, it's a lot easier on the hands in "flute" position.

My Casey Burns (normal ergonomic layout, not "small-hands" model) flute has smaller holes and a much easier reach than any Low D I've tried, and his "small-hands" model is supposed to be even less demanding. The McGee GLP models are supposed to work well for folks with small hands, too.

Not to say that she shouldn't get a keyed flute - just that it may not be an absolute requirement.

I have small hands, skinny fingers (but over an octave stretch on the piano) and find low d whistles impossible to play.

Older 19thc Rudall & Rose style flutes have an easier stretch than some of the modern flutes - and it's partly getting used to the wider stretch between RH2 and RH3 especially.

So Rudall-style flutes will be less of a stretch than some of the others, imho.

morgan, do not compare the cylindrical bore with the tapered bore barrel.

Tapered bore instruments diminish the span of the holes somewhat.

For example, I have small hands. When I visted Terry McGee's workshop he invited me to have a go on a bass Bb flute and I found, to my surprise, that it was a cinch. However a cylindrical bore makes the finger holes further apart and much harder. Its a technical thing - others could explain better.

So please don't judge the finger span required for a tapered bore D flute with the one required for a cylindrical bore low D whistle. Unless you're aiming to get a bansuri or a Tipple PVC and suchlike. But even these should not pose a problem for small handed persons.

I have a 4-key Ormiston that's teeny-tiny, wee little holes and very easy reach. It served me as a very fine "crossover" flute, and when I had to put it back to work a couple St. Pat's Days ago after my Pratten went temporarily lame, I was very pleased with its tone and flexibility.

Might be worth a look .... www.ormistonflutes.fsnet.co.uk

Mine looks most like the one on the bottom of the first picture. But alas, after all these big old Prattens, it feels too small for me now!

As mentioned above, the Casey Burns small hands ergonomic
flutes are virtually certain to accomodate your wife's
small hands. Casey is worth phoning up and discussing
your concerns; nice fellow, very informative and
helpful. These flutes are made precisely to accomodate
this difficulty and they do work; you can save a
good deal of money and come up with something
that ornaments as well and sounds as good
as your standard Irish flute.

Once again, thanks.

Our little group has been able to raise enough funds from gigs and CDs to buy a button box and a set of Uilleann pipes (for me) so now it is my wife's turn, if I can find something that fits her. This is excellent advice. Thanks, flutists.

Wow! Your group is cool! (And must be pretty busy, too!) Congratulations, and good luck!

However, evenness of tone, volume, and intonation are not as important in Irish music as the ability to play crisp ornaments.

Ipse dixit!

Cathy Wilde wrote:......

Might be worth a look .... www.ormistonflutes.fsnet.co.uk

.......

Thanks Cathy for the link.
Its one of the better sites IMO - free of clutter, to the point, informative and attractive. I like that he also makes F flutes.

[quote="Cathy Wilde"]Wow! Your group is cool! (And must be pretty busy, too!) Congratulations, and good luck![/quote]

We are cool, it is true, but not all that busy. We play here and there. But we are based on a college campus so it is fairly easy to get a large crowd and sell CDs too. Nice.