Native American flute crafted by Chief Arthur Two-Crows, 1987

The Native American flute has achieved some measure of fame for its distinctive sound, used in a variety of New Age and world music recordings. The instrument was originally very personal; its music was played without accompaniment in courtship, healing, meditation, and spiritual rituals. Now it is played solo or along with other instruments or vocals both in Native American music and in other styles. There are two different types of Native American flute, the plains flute and the woodlands flute, each with slightly different construction. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1993x1387, 689 KB) Summary Licensing File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Native American flute User:Jossi/Artwork ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1993x1387, 689 KB) Summary Licensing File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Native American flute User:Jossi/Artwork ... New Age music is a style of music originally associated with some New Age beliefs. ... World music is, most generally, all the music in the world. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... For the Todd Rundgren album, see Healing (Todd Rundgren). ... There are hundreds of tribes of Native Americans (called the First Nations in Canada), each with diverse musical practices, spread across the United States and Canada. ...

History

A busker in New York City's Broadway-Lafayette subway station playing a Native American flute.

There are many stories about how different peoples discovered the flute. A common character in these stories is the woodpecker, who put holes in hollow branches while searching for termites. The wind would blow around these branches, creating sounds that the people noticed and sought to recreate. The actual development of the flute probably did not follow this pattern. The theory that it was developed by the Ancient Pueblo Peoples based of Mesoamerican designs is the most common solution. Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 450 pixelsFull resolution (2816 × 1584 pixel, file size: 3. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 450 pixelsFull resolution (2816 × 1584 pixel, file size: 3. ... New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ... Broadway–Lafayette Street is a station on the IND Sixth Avenue Line of the New York City Subway. ... Cliff Palace, Mesa Verde National Park White House Ruins, Canyon de Chelly National Monument Ancient Pueblo People or Ancestral Puebloans were a prehistoric Native American culture centered around the present-day Four Corners area of the Southwest United States, noted for their distinctive pottery and dwelling construction styles. ... Location of Mesoamerica in the Americas. ...

The late 1960s saw a roots revival centered around the flute, with a new wave of flautists and artisans like Doc Nevaquaya and Carl Running Deer. Of special importance is R. Carlos Nakai (Changes, 1983), who has achieved some mainstream renown for his mixture of the flute with New Age and ambient sounds. The 1960s decade refers to the years from January 1, 1960 to December 31, 1969, inclusive. ... A roots revival (folk revival) is a trend which includes young performers popularizing the traditional musical styles of their ancestors. ... R. Carlos Nakai is a Native American Flutist. ... Changes is the ninth studio album by The Monkees. ... Year 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1983 Gregorian calendar). ... New Age music is a style of music originally associated with some New Age beliefs. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

Notable and award winning Native American flautists include: Douglas Blue Feather, Mary Youngblood, Kevin Locke, Jay Red Eagle, Robert Tree Cody, Robert Mirabal, Joseph Firecrow and Terry Lee Whetstone. This article is considered orphaned, since there are very few or no other articles that link to this one. ... Mary Youngblood is a Native American flutist in Northern California. ... Kevin Locke (Lakota name: Tokeya Inajin, meaning The First to Arise) is a Lakota/Anishinaabe Native American flutist and hoop dancer. ... Headline text Jay Red Eagle is a Native American flutist and member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. ... Robert Tree Cody (b. ... Robert Mirabal (b. ... Joseph FireCrow is a Native American flutist. ...

A few classical composers have written for the Native American flute, including James DeMars, David Yeagley, Philip Glass and Brent Michael Davids. Dr. David Anthony Yeagley (b. ... This article needs additional references or sources to facilitate its verification. ... There are very few or no other articles that link to this one. ...

Construction

A wooden Native American flute.

The Native American flute is the only flute in the world constructed with two air chambers - there is a wall inside the flute between the top (slow) air chamber and the bottom chamber which has the whistle and finger holes. The top chamber also serves as a secondary resonator, which gives the flute its distinctive sound. There is a hole at the bottom of the "slow" air chamber and a (generally) square hole at the top of the playing chamber. A block (or "fetish") is tied on top of the flute. In a plains flute, a spacer is added or a channel is carved into the block itself to form a thin, flat air stream for the whistle hole (or "window"). In contrast, a woodlands flute has the channel carved into the top of the flute, allowing for a less reedy sound. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (795x606, 69 KB) Summary A native flute. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (795x606, 69 KB) Summary A native flute. ...

The "traditional" Native American flute was constructed using measurements based on the body - the length of the flute would be the distance from armpit to wrist, the length of the top air chamber would be one fist-width, the distance from the whistle to the first hole also a fist-width, the distance between holes would be one thumb-width, and the distance from the last hole to the end would generally be one fist-width.

Woods

Native American flutes can be made from various materials. Juniper , Redwood and Cedar are popular, as they provide a nice aroma. The softwoods are generally preferred by most flute players because of the softer tones produced by the wood. Other harder woods such as walnut and cherry are appreciated for the clear, crisp, richness of sound that they can produce. Although traditionally flutes would be made from river cane, bamboo or a local wood, more exotic rainforest woods or even plastics are now used. Species Junipers are coniferous plants in the genus Juniperus of the cypress family Cupressaceae. ... Binomial name Sequoia sempervirens (D. Don) Endl. ... Species Cedrus deodara Cedrus libani    var. ... “Walnut Tree” redirects here. ... “Cherry tree” redirects here. ... Look up cane in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Diversity Around 91 genera and 1,000 species Subtribes Arthrostylidiinae Arundinariinae Bambusinae Chusqueinae Guaduinae Melocanninae Nastinae Racemobambodinae Shibataeinae See the full Taxonomy of the Bambuseae. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...

There are hundreds of tribes of Native Americans (called the First Nations in Canada), each with diverse musical practices, spread across the United States and Canada. ... Chicken scratch (also known as waila music) is a kind of dance music developed by the Tohono Oodham people. ... The Ghost Dance by the Ogalala Lakota at Pine Ridge. ... Native American hip hop is popular among Native Americans in the United States and the First Nations of Canada. ... Peyote songs are a form of Native American music, performed as part of the Native American Church. ... This article is about a Native American gathering. ... The Arapaho are a tribe of Native Americans from the western Great Plains, in the area of eastern Colorado and Wyoming. ... Blackfoot music (best translated in the Blackfoot language as nitsínixki - I sing, from nínixksini - song) is primarily a vocal kind of music, using few instruments (called ninixkiátsis, derived from the word for song and associated primarily with European-American instruments), only percussion and voice, and few words. ... The Dene live in northern Canada. ... The Innu are among the First Nations of Canada. ... The Inuit live across the northern sections of Canada, especially in Yukon, Nunavat and Northwest Territories, as well as in Alaska and Greenland. ... The Iroquois are a Native American tribe. ... The Kiowa are a Native American tribe. ... Navajo music is the music of the Navajo people and nation, currently in Arizona, Utah and New Mexico. ... The Kwakiutl are an Aboriginal people in Canada. ... Pueblo music includes the music of the Hopi, Zuni, Taos Pueblo, San Ildefonso, Santo Domingo, and many other peoples, and according to Bruno Nettl features one of the most complex Native American musical styles on the continent. ... The Seminole are an indigenous people of the Americas, living in the U.S. state of Florida. ... The Sioux are a diverse group of Native Americans generally divided into three subgroups: Lakota, Dakota and Nakota. ... The Yuman are a tribe of Native Americans from what is now Southern California. ... The United States is home to a wide array of regional styles and scenes. ... Canadian music includes pop and folk genres; the latter includes forms derived from England, France (particularly in Quebec), Ireland, Scotland, and various Inuit and Indian ethnic groups. ...

Variations

Some modern Native American flutes are called "drone" flutes, and are two (or more) flutes built together. Generally, the drone chamber plays a fixed note which the other flute can play against in harmony. However, the drone may also change octaves as it resonates with the melody played on the adjacent flute.

Music

Modern Native American flutes are generally tuned to a variation of the minor pentatonic scale, which gives the instrument its distinctive plaintive sound. Recently some makers have begun experimenting with different scales, giving players new melodic options. Also, modern flutes are generally tuned in concert keys (such as A or D) so that they can be easily played with other instruments. The root keys of modern Native American flutes span a range of about three and a half octaves, from C2 to A5. Image File history File links Native_American_Flute. ... Software development stages In computer programming, development stage terminology expresses how the development of a piece of software has progressed and how much further development it may require. ... A minor scale in musical theory can be viewed as the sixth mode of the major scale. ... In music, a pentatonic scale is a scale with five notes per octave. ...

Fingering

Native American flutes most commonly have either 5 or 6 holes, but instruments can have anything from no holes to seven (including a thumb hole). Various makers employ different scales and fingerings for their flutes.

Films

• Songkeepers (1999). Directed by Bob Hercules and Bob Jackson. Lake Forest, Illinois: America's Flute Productions.

See also

• List of Native American musicians

This is a list of Native American musicians and singers // Carrie Underwood - Muskogee Creek Jerry Alfred - Northern Tutchone keeper of the songs Jim Boyd - Colville Indian Reservation Rita Coolidge - Cherokee ancestry Cozad Singers - Kiowa Jerry Fretwell - Cherokee Lana Chapel - Cherokee Todd Griffin Buffy Sainte-Marie - Cree Kari Wührer - Cherokee...

External links

• International Native American Flute Association
• Flute Tree Native American Flute Informational Web Site.
• NAF Music A Yahoo! Music Group With Largest Web Collection of Free Native American Flute Sheet Music and Tab.
• NAF Music Songs A Yahoo! Music Group enabling the upload of Native American Flute Music songs