TWO BOOKS FOR ONE PRICE! If you've ever wanted to play the 6-hole Native American flute, and play it well, these books are for you. (You get both books in this set.) No music background is required. All the tunes are written in an easy to read tablature, (music notation that anyone can understand), whether you know anything about formal music notation or not. Regardless of what kind of 6-hole flute you own, and regardless of what key it's in, (C, D, E, F, F#, G, A, it makes absolutely no difference), you will be able to play the tunes in these books. You'll learn to play Native American tunes, religious chants, and familiar folk tunes. You'll learn how to play the blues in the Pentatonic scale. And you'll learn how to use your flute for meditation. It's all here, in these two books.

CAMPFIRE FLUTE: Picture yourself sitting around a campfire with your friends. You are far out in the woods, away from noisy civilization. The fire cracks and pops, and all are content as they find themselves literally melding with nature. Now you reach into your backpack and pull out your beautiful Native American flute. You blow a few soft notes. The children, nestled in the arms of their parents, sleep peacefully. Now you add some structure to the tune you've started. The notes are sweet as they weave themselves among the smoke and blissful life-giving heat. Before you realize it, you are becoming one with the flute. Those around the campfire are gently taken to a new place, a new space. Any tension that may have been present in any of you dissipates as the beautiful melody of the flute encircles and embraces you.

Of course, you can play the flute in any setting—not just around a campfire. You can play the flute for your children, your lover, your friends, your pet. Your beautiful music may even calm down an enemy or two. <g> And it doesn't matter if you're sitting around a campfire, or out on your patio, because the flute will perform its magic on you and everyone around you, regardless of the setting. All you have to do is play it. And that's what Campfire Flute will do for you. It will take you from knowing absolutely nothing about the flute, to playing it with expertise and authority, and with that expertise you will experience a great peace. Even if you've never played any kind of musical instrument before, you can play the flute. Not all of us have the potential to be great musicians. Not all of us are physically gifted so the instrument we choose to play becomes putty in our skilled grasp. And not all of us have the musical imagination to compose our own tunes from scratch. But this doesn't mean we can't enjoy the instrument we might choose to play. Countless enthusiastic people who have wanted to make music have undoubtedly muttered to themselves in frustration, "If I could just find a good book to show me how, I'd be a terrific musician." If you have had these same thoughts, this book is what you've been looking for.

Bottom line? Campfire Flute is the perfect introduction to playing the NAF in the Native American way.

CELEBRATE THE NATIVE AMERICAN FLUTE: The book begins with three scale fingerings you use as reference. Then you are given advice on what kind of flutes you might buy, how to care for your flute, and how to adjust the totem for best tone. On page 20 you are introduced to the tablature system, a system for reading music that is hundreds of years old. Tablature has stood the test of time, and you will learn its advantages in this book. On page 20, (there are 101 pages in this book), we begin to learn our first tune, "Finding the Path". In succeeding pages you will learn about tied notes, the trill, the vibrato, the bark, and pick-up notes. You will learn the extended scale so you can play a greater variety of tunes. You will learn how to half-hole notes so you can get those notes that are in between the holes. You will learn the slur, a technique put to wonderful use in the tune, "Dancing With Angels". You'll learn a weird sounding tune called, "Alien Encounter". You will learn about notes with different time values. You will learn how to play the blues, finally ending your blues study with the "Saint James Infirmary Blues". You will learn how to tab out your own tunes, and a tab blank that you can make many copies of is included with the book. You will even learn a tune of the Mbuti Pygmies who live in the Ituri Rain Forest. The book introduces to a variety of tunes from many different cultures of the world, and many of these tunes aren't found in any other Native American flute book.

Throughout the book you will find interesting topics that are there simply for your reading pleasure. You'll encounter topics like, What's a spit valve? How does my flute generate its sound? Who is the Kokopelli flute player? How can I pray or meditate using my flute? What does intonation mean? Who is Alan Lomax? Who started the Shaker faith, and why? These are only a few of the many topics discussed along the way of learning how to play our flute. There is also a discography at the end of the book that gives you the titles, along with a short description of the many CD's that have influenced and inspired the author's flute playing.

Also included with the book are fifteen MP3 files--examples the author plays from the book. These files can be played on your computer or your iPod, or, using a utility like iTunes or MusicMatch, you can burn the MP3 files to a blank CD so you can listen to the files on any CD or DVD player.

The table above tells you the following: If you're in a hurry, order the download version, if you want pure, full-length audio files and don't mind waiting for it to come in the mail, order the CD version. The choice is yours.

REVIEWS:

"I purchased Dick's book two weeks ago. I have never played a wind instrument. Ihave always loved the sound of flutes and especially the Native American Flute. I was very skeptical at first that I could get a GOOD sound out of my flute. After reading the first half of Dick's book I picked up my flute, followed along with the instructions and lo and behold, I COULD MAKE A GOOD, Reliable, Note, and hence a tune. Following the insturctions in Dick's book is so easy. He is very clear and (took away) the overwhelming (anxiety) that I felt. A great way to add music to ones life. Also a terrific meditation tool. Practice and more practice does make the difference. And the way Dick presents the progression of playing the NAF is AWESOME. After the first lesson I had the true feeling I CAN PLAY THE NAF! Thanks Dick." Comments by satisfied customer, Barbara Crowe. Barbara plays an F# flute.

"Dear Dick, I just want to thank you for the simple way in which you present flute playing. It is exactly what I need. Your book is presented in a very conversational, simple style.... Thanks for the effort you put into writing it." Comments by satisfied customer, Bob Dorsett

"I am impressed. I tried to approach the book as I would from a beginner's viewpoint (which was not hard!) and I found the questions that seem universal to all beginning musicians to be dealt with in a clear and intelligent fashion; perhaps even more to the point, Dick addresses those issues in what seems to me to be a logical sequence. I very much appreciate the clarity of the explanations and the tab, the use of color in the text (for example, to indicate a sound file) and the font Dick chose, (very legible, interesting, not too cute and not too solemn.) (After reviewing this book) it makes me want to try it! Not being a wind instrument player of any wont, this is surprising and, to me, speaks volumes about Dick's book and the music." Reviewed by Janita Baker of http://www.bluelioninstruments.com/, (Blue Lion Guitars and Dulcimers)

"My beautiful wooden flute gathered dust for several months because the "learn on your own" method was too time consuming and not very productive. One evening of learning from Celebrate the Native American Flute gave me the clear instruction and suggestions I needed to pick up the flute and try again. This time, the melodies warmed my heart and gave me the desire to keep on playing. I continue to learn from the Celebrate the Native American Flute book and use it as a valuable resource to look up a scale or special selection. This book does not require a Masters in Flute; just the desire to master your flute to your satisfaction. If you are thinking about buying yourself or someone you love a new flute, I suggest you accompany it with this book, Celebrate the Native American Flute." Reviewed by Professor Constance Sanderson, Educational Consultant

"The sound of the Native American Flute is familiar to us all, as heard in western movies and television dramas for decades. Now everyone can play these stirring and sacred melodies by following the easy steps in Dick Claassen's Celebrate the Native American Flute. Claassen's explanations are easy to follow and comprehensive, complete with illustrations and mp3 sound files. It's obvious that his teaching is from personal experience. If you're attracted to the music of the ancients and wish to play it for yourself, this book is your guide." Reviewed by Professor David Harrenstein, Lanesboro Web Management Group

"This ebook is very detailed, and rich with illustrations. I even learned a lot of history! Since it is written for people without formal musical training, the book is surprising easy to follow. There were details on how to play the NAF with good techniques and new techniques (such as the 'bark' which I've never heard of) and one need not wait long to start playing a tune!

"As a person with formal music training, I find learning the NAF through this ebook very refreshing. There are many songs and lots of interesting and informative stories. It is not a book you can go through in a week or two. It definitely takes time to savour and enjoy the tunes of different styles. At the end of the book, there are recommendations of NAF music CDs. The author has thoughtfully included a blank tablature sheet so that one can write out the music one has composed.

Besides tunes and instructions, this ebook gives interesting accounts of the different types of Native American Indian flutes there are and even provided instructions on buying and caring for the flute. I own a Native American Flute which I bought while touring South Dakota but found the simple fingering quite inadequate as one needs more practice to be familiar with the fingerings and this ebook provides such exercises and tunes for such practices.

"Celebrate the NAF eBook comes with excallent audio recordings and also instructions on how to print and bind the pages of the ebook into a booklet. This is preferred as it's so much easier to thumb through the paper pages than to handle the instrument with one hand while scrolling through the different pages with the computer mouse with another.

"The tunes are in tablature forms and one does not require formal music training to use the ebook. The ebook is easy to follow. The mp3 sound files could be burned onto a CD for easy references, and there's also a tune index in both page order and alphabetical order.

I believe not everyone who buys a NAF bought it to play. Some, like me, had wandered into a Native American gift shop while traveling North America and chanced to see and be captivated by the beauty of both the look and the sound of the instrument. I never thought I could ever get a real instruction book on this "native" musical instrument - and more so because I live thousands of miles away. This ebook is a Godsend. I've enjoyed it tremendously!" Reviewed by Lynda of http://www.ebook88.com