by

Dick Claassen

author of Celebrate the Native American Flute

Weighing many aspects: Evaluating the excellence of a musical instrument can be a tricky business. The whole process is subjective, at best. To be truly objective, one has to evaluate many aspects of the instrument, so when you weigh all these aspects, you have a solid idea of the instrument's worth. Case in point is one of Chris Fuqua's bamboo Native American flutes. (You might think that bamboo is an odd choice of wood to use for an instrument that is native to the U.S. We usually think of bamboo flutes as belonging to the Japanese tradition. Actually, bamboo grows on North American soil. No doubt there were lots of NA flutes made from bamboo back in the distant past.)

Gorgeous!: Okay, for starters, let me say that this flute sounds positively beautiful. That's my subjective opinion. But let me discuss some characteristics of this flute that will be helpful to know if you want to move past my subjectiveness.

The perfect flute key?: I own the F# model. This is a good flute key, regardless of whose flute you might buy. Why? Because many people prefer a lower-sounding instrument. Even though there are flutes made in much lower keys than F#, they are difficult to play for some people with small hands, (more on this in the next paragraph), but many flute players find that the F# flute is pleasantly low and fills the bill quite nicely.

Flute size and playing comfort: Physically speaking, the lower the flute key, the farther apart the note holes are. That's because the lower the key the longer the flute barrel. (Think 'piccolo', high range, 'tuba', low range.) And that fact means note holes can end up being too far apart to comfortably reach. This can be a real problem with those of us who are "blessed" with small hands, short fingers, or both. A child's hands would have real problems with a low-keyed flute. My hands are medium size, and I have fairly long fingers. But when I play a flute in the key of E--one step below F#--I'm barely able to comfortably play it. So a D flute--which is one more step down--would be beyond my finger stretch. That lower keyed flute will have impossible hole distances--at least for my hands. The note holes of an F# flute has more manageable hole distances. Most adults and many children could play this flute quite comfortably.

Importance of note hole diameter: Something else that dictates playing comfort is the diameter of the holes. If your fingers are small in diameter--that is, if your finger pads are small--you would be hard pressed (no pun intended <g>) to cover a note hole completely. And if air leaks around your finger, you won't get an accurate tone. This bamboo flute has small diameter holes, making it possible for just about any size finger to get a good note seal.

Tone stability: This particular flute has a very stable tone. What might I mean by that? Well, if a flute's tone is unstable, blowing the flute even the least bit too aggressively will make the notes squeak and squawk as the tone breaks out of its unstable envelope. Chris' flute stands up to quite aggressive blowing. This makes the flute great for jamming. Now, I don't know about you, but I don't play only traditional Native American music on my flutes. I play anything and everything within its tonal range. I especially enjoy playing the blues, and this bamboo flute is the best blues flute I've got. By far. The tone is stable at almost any volume, and it's terribly forgiving of the beginner, something to consider if you are just starting out on your flute journeys.

Flute mouthpiece and playing intimacy: Something very unique to this flute is its mouthpiece. The other four flutes I own have a shaped mouthpiece where you put your lips around it and blow. Chris has taken a unique approach. There is no mouthpiece, as such. The blowing end is just the straight open bamboo, but Chris has rounded the edge of the bamboo so it's comfortable to put your lips right up against the end. This forms a perfect seal. More important, it allows you to comfortably play the flute in the most intimate way. I'm a string player of several instruments, and I've been at it for quite a few years. But I can say, in all honesty, that I have never had the intimate playing experience with these instruments--much as I love them--as I have with this flute. You have to play it to understand what I mean, but I find myself at times completely absorbed by the tone, the ease of playing, and the simple blowing end that allows me to get "inside" the flute.

Other flutes I own compared to Chris' flute: One of the flutes I own is made of Cedar and there's no denying it has a quite beautiful tone. But it's delicate, and if you blow even the least bit too hard, the tone "blows out". I also have a flute made from river cane. This flute has tremendous volume, but the holes are almost too large for my medium-sized fingers to cover. And the note holes are quite far apart since the key of the flute is E. This particular flute also has quite a large bore, and this calls for significantly more air to make the flute sound. (Chris' bamboo flute has a small bore which doesn't require nearly as much air flow to get a tone.) I have two plastic flutes--one an E, the other an F#. They sound fine, and are fairly easy to play. But they're not wood. And if a flute isn't made of wood, you don't get that pure wood sound: you get a plastic sound. As previously mentioned, Chris' bamboo flute has a pure tone. The note holes are small in diameter, making them easy to seal. The holes are close together, making it easy to play for most size hands. The straight and simple mouthpiece end is a wonderful way to get "inside" the flute as you play it. The tone is stable, no matter how much breath control you might have. Or not have. And if you're interested in making your flute sound even more beautiful, it responds extremely well to the vibrato technique, a way of slightly changing the volume rapidly to make sustained notes sound pretty.

The two highest notes: Still another great aspect of this flute is that the second note above the octave, along with the minor third that follows--these are the two highest notes on a Native American flute--are extremely clear. They are also very easy to finger and fall naturally under the fingers as you play. I find these aspects especially valuable when jamming or when I want to play fast passages involving these two notes.

Playing smoothly and cleanly: And finally, the combination of the shorter hole distances and smaller diameter holes makes it easier to play smoothly and cleanly. Whether you're jamming, or playing slow meditative passages, the flute plays clean and fast, or clean and smooth: whatever you want.

6 holes versus 5 holes: I mentioned in passing that the flute in question has six holes. Chris, as well as other flute makers, makes flutes with five holes, but you need to keep in mind that although the five-holers make sweet music, they are limited to the Pentatonic scale, a minor scale. This limits the flute to that one minor scale. There is certainly nothing wrong with that limitation if you want to use your flute strictly for playing traditional music, or noodling meditatively. But if you want to play every type of music, I would advise you to buy a six-hole flute where several major scales, as well as several minor scales, are possible to play on this type of flute. The majority of the music we listen to on the radio or on our iPods will be written in a major scale. If your purpose it to play a wide range of music on your flute, you will need six note holes.

Craftsmanship: (I mean the term, "craftsmanship" to be inclusive of women.) I didn't comment on the craftsmanship of this flute since it doesn't contribute to the other characteristics I've already mentioned, but you should know that Chris is a consummate craftsman. The flute has been carefully constructed and then rubbed with tung oil, giving the instrument a silky feel; it's very nicely done. It's clear Chris pays close attention to the finer points of flute-making because he uses double leather thongs to tie on the block. This may seem like a minor point, but the blocks on my other flutes can be pushed out of line at the least bit of bump or stress, necessitating having to constantly adjust the block so its edge sits up along the edge of the sound hole. But the block on Chris' flute doesn't move, once correctly positioned. And that's a relief. I'm thinking, "Why didn't someone think of double-thonging before?"

Teddy bear <g>: A major part of the process in choosing someone to be your flute-maker is finding out how easy they are to work with. Chris is a "Teddy Bear". I can't think of a finer compliment I could possibly give him.

Summing up: In summary, if you're looking for a sweet-sounding flute that plays easy and has a stable tone, and is very forgiving of beginners and at the same time has great potential for the pro player, you may very well be as satisfied with this flute as I am. Can you tell I'm happy with this flute? <g> Whether you're a pro who's been playing the Native American flute for some time, or a rank beginner who's looking for a sweet sounding instrument, this flute will haul your mail. ^_^

Speaking of "mail", if you'd like to EMAIL me about this flute or anything else about the NA flute, you are most welcome to do so. My email is editor-graphics@awestruckebooks.net.

Dick Claassen - NA flute player, author, publisher. For information on ordering Dick Claassen's instructive book Celebrate the Native American Flute, please visit FluteFlights.com.