Just watched a very good video on how to use the circle of fifths and how to use it for the minor keys.

The video had very good info. But how does a flute player put this to use? Does a beginning player really have to learn all of this? I have played music since 1955 and I am just beginning to learn theory. I have played professionally in bands since 1966 and still do. I am just now starting to become musically literate. Not knocking it, just sayin’.

It is one thing to have a piano keyboard in front of you with it all right there, the sharps and flats and such are visible. With a Native American flute, there is only one pentatonic scale visible. There rest is in the audio range. So how does this work out on flute? How does a circle of fifths relate to a flute when your buddy starts strumming a chord progression? There isn’t time to consult the charts unless your buddy is patient. Theory is important. It is even used when compiling an album. You don’t want several songs in a row that are in the same key. Sort of like a boring melody. If you using the circle of fifths as a guide arranging the order of songs, each song sounds fresh because it is in a different but related key. Anyway, knowledge is good, but there I am with a guitarist and he starts playing a chord progression. No time to consult the charts and diagrams. It is time to play the flute.

I think playing by ear is the answer. What is playing by ear? It is listening to the melody in your mind and then playing that on a flute or your instrument of choice. Consider singing. How does a singer know where the note is? All a singer has is vocal cords. A singer knows just how to configure the vocal cords to achieve a given pitch. A musician can do the same thing. One can learn where a certain pitch is on their instrument in the same way a singer does it. So if any player, beginner to advanced just plays the scale through and pays attention to the sound, they can begin to associate the pitch with the hand position. I am primarily a guitarist. I have always said “I just make the string longer and shorter”. Guitars have six of those strings. All one is doing with a flute is making the bore longer and shorter. So, play the scale and let your mind and spirit take in the sound. Eventually hand position to attain a certain pitch will be learned.

There are a lot of rules in music, but one stands out to me. If it sounds good, it is correct. Jimi Hendrix opened one of his songs with “incorrect” tones. Listen to the intro to Purple Haze and you’ll see what I mean. Even incorrect can sound good in the right context. It is nice to be able to explain and describe technically so we can communicate that to others, but it isn’t necessary in playing the instrument. So to the nitty gritty. To play an Em Native American Flute in G, just put a G chord to playing and then find the “good” notes. Now make a melody with them. It really is that simple. It is how I do it.

Some might say, but I am tone deaf. Can I play the flute? I submit that there is no one that is tone deaf. Everyone can hear pitch changes. We use pitch every day when we speak. It is a very important part of audible communication. If you don’t believe it read this blog in a mono tone and I’m pretty sure before you finish the opening sentence, you know what I mean. So called tone deaf people use pitch all the time when they speak. Earl Thomas Connally was “tone deaf”. Someone that was paying attention, heard the sound of his voice recognized the potential. They had him taught how to recognize pitch and how to tell when two notes are the same. It can be learned. So “tone deaf” people, may have a bit more work to do, but they can do it. Tuning a guitar by ear uses the principles. One listens to the overall pitch until they get close. They will sound a bit “sour” at first. Listening closely one can hear a sort of “warble”. That is a third note being generated by the difference of the two. The further apart the two notes are the faster the warble because faster in tone vibrations equals higher pitch. So if there is a sour sound and one listens, they can hear the warble. Tune the string slowly and if the warble slows down that is the correct direction. Keep tuning until the warble is gone and the two strings are in tune.

So reality is anyone can learn to play the Native American Flute. It may be easier for some, but all can do it. The main ingredient for success is to play it a lot. Play through the scale and your fingers will learn. The same way a typist learns to type. The payoff is a lifetime of fun and deep satisfying enjoyment. And the best part is you can share the enjoyment with others.

Some might be afraid to play in public. I was for a long time. What if I make a mistake? That would be very embarassing. I played that tape many times in my younger years. Reality is this. If a Gm pentatonic scale is correct for the key of Gm, then any note in that scale is valid and correct as long as the song stays in the key of Gm and doesn’t actually make a key change. If that is not true, then the Gm pentatonic scale is not valid. Music can be expressed mathematically. And we all know that in mathematics it is either true or false. So either the scale is valid or it is not. Some notes may not sound as good as others in a certain chord, but it is musically and theoretically correct. Sow how can one make a mistake if that is true? You can’t. Wow! There goes one of the biggest fears for a beginner playing in public.

Consider the process of writing a song. We all can do it. Take my word on that. Writing a song, some notes are higher some are lower. Some are short and some are long. The musician just arranges the properties of the tune and of each note. The easy way is to hear the sound in your mind and play it on your flute. If you play your flute line first with no background music and then put chords to it, some very interesting progressions can be developed that might not have otherwise. Writing a chord progression isn’t too hard, but for me I tend to write progression I already know. Following a free flowing flute line forces me to make decisions on how it sounds and less on what is “correct”. That is how I write most of my flute music. Developing a chord progression first tends to lock in the melody. Melody first, makes it so the chords have to follow the melody. If the flute is truly a “lead instrument”, then it makes sense to me to let it lead the accompaniment. Develop the chords and music around the flute, not the other way around. If the flute line gives a feel of melancholy, then the accompaniment will automatically take on that feel.

So to me, the way a beginner gets to the finish line is to play the flute a lot and take in the sounds as they play. They become part of a huge library of sounds in the spirit (some would say mind). Collections of notes (riffs), are also in there. Pick up a flute. Hum a few notes that you hear in your mind, then play them on the flute. At some point you’ll be able to “hum” in your mind and play the notes simultaneously. Let that collection in your “library” become part of the process. Think of those riffs as a single expression.

It amazes me how many melodies have been written over the centuries and there are still a gazzillion more that haven’t been written yet. There is plenty of room for your melody to be added to the collection.

I got a bit wordy on this and drifted a bit, but that is OK. After all I’m just blogging. To sum it up. Learning theory is great, but not necessary to actually playing an instrument. There are many, many self taught musicians out there. If theory were actually necessary to playing, then the self taught musicians wouldn’t exist nor the guys like me that play by ear. So pick up that flute, violin or whatever you decide is your instrument and start making some beautiful sounds. It will turn into music. Trust me on that.

And also, PLEASE share your music with the rest of us!

William