Native American Flutes

The Native American flute, courtship flute or love flute, is a widely available and affordable instrument.
It's a very simple instrument to learn, yet is capable of producing music that is very beautiful and expressive.
For these reasons it can be a wonderful way for anyone to make music, regardless of prior experience.
While it can be played very simply, there is much scope for using advanced techniques to enhance the basic 
musical vocabulary. 

Traditionally there was no written music for the Native American flute , and not much music passed down 
through generations. The flute was primarily used as a personal instrument, where the player would improvise 
or find their own songs. This is one of the things I like about this instrument, that is an extension of the 
self rather than a tool to play other songs upon. The true music of the Native American flute is within the 
player, and is unique to that person. Only by learning to play can you find it. There are of course many 
recordings by flute players, and there exist songbooks for the instrument, but the true nature of the flute
is for the player to create his or her own music upon it.

This free tutorial focuses on the individual techniques I use to play my Native American flute, and is aimed 
at equipping the player with the enough vocabulary with which to start to play thier own music. There are 
examples of my own playing thoughout to demonstrate each technique.  


TUTORIAL UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Links:

Interesting measurements: http://www.native-languages.org/composition/native-american-flute.html

Homebrew Native American flute: http://www.dbeweb.com/kayak/pages/flute.html

UK Native American flute makers: http://www.nativeflutes.org.uk/

Good Native American flute resource: http://www.flutekey.com/

A UK Native American flute maker: http://www.shflutes.co.uk

Making a bamboo Native American flute: http://www.sammytedder.com/rvrcane.htm

Shakhuashi flute construction: http://www.navaching.com/shaku/design.html