Since I last posted here I have become involved in learning to play a North American Indian Flute which was given to me by a very dear friend who lives in Australia.
The NAF (as it's called), for those who haven't come across it before, is a flute adopted by North American Indians as a love flute. As far as I can discover, it was first introduced to the Indians by European fur trappers (probably French) in the 1500s and has since become a part of most tribes' tradition.
It is a simple straight wooden flute with 5 or 6 holes and has a range of about 17 half-tones.
Whilst traditional flutes are not tuned to any specific key and are played to pentatonic scales, many of us like to play conventional European music as well as simulating Indian music.
For my own purposes, and those of my friend in Australia, I have been rearranging, transposing, and adding fingering for European Folk Songs, popular tunes (not contemporary) and classical pieces to fit this flute's range and functionality.
It was suggested to me that there may be other people interested in my adaptations. I will therefore, from time to time, feature them on this blog.
I don't know if I am breaching copyright law here, even though my adaptations are not published for profit, but if anyone has an issue with any piece I will withdraw the work in question.
There are a few other things to bear in mind:
• NA Flutes are hand made, often by amateurs, so although the fingering I show works on my flute, you may need to modify it for your instrument.
• I am just an amateur dabbler, so you experts please forgive any lack of accuracy in layout, timing or use of symbols
• I welcome any suggestions, either to correct stuff I post, or in terms of music I could adapt.
• My flute is tuned to E and has five holes so the key signature and fingering are specific to those factors. The Fingering is of course universal applicable to most 5 hole NAFs.
NAF MUSIC #1 Brahms' Lullaby
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