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Irish Flute
Irish Whistle

[[Image:|200px|Irish Flute]]

Classification Playing range Related instruments Flute More articles Irish fiddle

The Irish flute is a colloquial name for a wooden flute used in the playing of Irish traditional music. Sometimes the term is also used to distinguish keyless, diatonic, simple system flutes from 19^th century flutes which played a diatonic scale by successively uncovering the toneholes but were made chromatic by the addition of metal keys. Some musicians consider the term "Irish flute" to be a misnomer, as the instrument is just a development of the older, simple system flutes, and is used in a wide variety of music, including Scottish music, Breton music, and others.

Irish flutes were originally old English simple system flutes that were discarded by concert musicians during the advent of the modern, Boehm system, Western concert flute in the late 1800s. These "obsolete" flutes were picked up at low cost by Irish traditional musicians. Today, Irish flutes are being made expressly for the playing of Irish traditional music by many makers. These modern Irish flutes often have few, if any keys, which is one difference between them and their predecessors, which had anywhere from 5-10 keys in addition to the standard six open holes.

Irish flutes are usually made out of wood, but are also occasionally made out of composite materials such as Delrin. Both materials have fairly similar musical characteristics, however, at least in comparison to metal flutes. Some makers also make more inexpensive practice flutes out of other materials, such as PVC or metal. Due to its wood headjoint, characteristic embouchure, the direct (keyless) fingering of notes in two major scales, and the characteristic manner of playing which is part of the Irish music tradition, the simple system flutes have a distinctly different sound than the Western concert flute. The tone of both instruments of course varies greatly with the player, but in general the simple system flutes have a bit of a darker, reedy tone and the direct fingering and style of playing gives the notes just a bit of portamento.

There are two main styles of Irish flute, the Pratten and the Rudall & Rose. The Pratten has wider bore dimensions and provides a louder sound, while the Rudall & Rose has a darker, pure tone and is slightly thinner than the Pratten style flute. Some flutes have an extra two holes on the end, which are meant to stabilize the tone and are not meant to be played. Terry McGee is a well known (among Irish Flute players) maker of Irish flutes. His website has a wealth of information on Irish Flutes and is listed below.

An influential tape of flute players which illustrates a variety of older playing styles circulated amongst musicians has made its way onto the internet. It is strongly recommended listening for anyone interested in Irish flute music. It is commonly referred to as the "Flute Geezer" tape, unfortunately so because of its negative connotation and the fact that many of the players did not meet the criteria for a geezer. It may have originally been referred to more appropriately as the "flute gods" tape.

The musicians identified on the tape are:

• Jack Dolan
• Packie Duignan
• Patsy Hanley
• Josie McDermott
• Eddie Maloney

There are also several unidentified players on the tape.

• Harry Bradley
• Vincent Broderick
• Eddie Cahill
• John Carlos
• Paddy Carty
• Billy Clifford
• Jack Coen
• Kevin Crawford
• Paddy Cronin
• Tom Doorley
• Egan, Seamus
• James Galway
• Frankie Gavin
• Carmel Gunning
• Hammy Hamilton
• Skip Healy
• Kevin Henry
• Michael Hynes
• Peter Horan
• Frankie Kennedy
• Emer Maycok
• June McCormack
• Catherine McEvoy
• John McKenna
• Matt Molloy
• Tom Morrison
• James Murray
• Laurence Nugent
• Francis O'Neill
• Peadar O'Loughlin
• Marcas Ó Murchú
• Mike Rafferty
• Micho Russell
• John Skelton
• Séamus Tansey
• Michael Tubridy
• Jean-Michel Veillon

• The Flow, a look at some irish flute playing styles
• A Guide to the Irish Flute
• What is an Irish flute?
• Healy Flute Company
• Terry McGee Flutes
• flute tape
• Casey Burns Flutes