Learn Flute Basics Online

  • 29 lessons teaching how to play 24 very popular Irish tunes.
  • Progress at your own pace, pause & repeat videos.
  • Access on all your devices.
  • PDF sheet music & mp3’s to download & keep for each tune.
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  • Access to 14 instruments, 40+ courses, 700+ tutorials

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BONUS:
  • Access our Entire Course Catalogue for Every Instrument.
  • Library of over 150 popular Irish tunes to practice along with.
  • Virtual Reality Sessions for the unique Irish Pub Session experience – a real treat for the Irish music lover.
  • Community Forum of students and teachers, all friends with a love of Irish music.
Effortlessly holding its own among traditional Irish music instruments, the flute is becoming more and more popular, perhaps because it shares much of its playing technique with its even more popular cousin, the tin whistle. This course is for absolute beginners and has all you need to master the basics, plus a whopping 24 Irish tunes!

By the end of this beginner’s course, you will have a repertoire of twenty four Irish tunes that sit very well on the flute, the knowledge of how to play with good tone and rhythm with basic ornamentation and a deeper understanding of the Irish music tradition. The course has 29 lessons—making it our biggest course on OAIM—broken into 3 to 4 tutorials each, where tunes are taught phrase by phrase.

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Course Structure

The Flute Basics course is aimed at the absolute beginner flute player. It begins with the foundational steps of how to hold the instrument as well as an in-depth instruction in embouchure, which is the refined craft of blowing air into a wood instrument and involves the correct positioning and use of the lips, facial muscles, tongue, and teeth to produce the sound. So mastering embouchure is a vital piece for anyone new to the flute and the tutor does a beautiful job in explaining this with the support from a close camera angle to highlight the subtleties.

Once you can correctly blow into the flute you can move on to learning the scales of D and G. Essential instruction is given on when to take a breath in a tune and what technique to use in taking a breath, tips are also given on articulation, ornamentation, flute maintenance and how to gain clarity of tone in both the high and low register.

Demonstrating a deep understanding of the challenges involved in learning the flute, the tutor also addresses the most common issues that give so many flute players difficulties.

The traditional Irish tunes taught in this course are:

Tripping To The Well
The Rattling Bog
Báidiín Fheilimí
Buachaill Ón Éirne
The Foggy Dew
The Glenside Polka
The Rakes Of Mallow
Gander In The Pratie Hole
The Rocky Road To Dublin
Danny Ab’s
The Butcher’s March
The Rambling Pitchfork
O’Keefe’s Slide #1
O’Keefe’s Slide #2
The Boys Of Bluehill
Humours Of Whiskey
The Sunny Banks
Jimmy Duffy’s #2
The Munster Buttermilk
The Heathery Breeze
Brendan Tonroe’s
McGivney’s Fancy
The Crosses Of Annagh
O’Gorman’s Reel 

Recommended Flute for Beginners

Much like the tin whistle, you need to have a flute in the key of D to play the vast majority of Irish tunes. And, much like any instrument, a good quality beginners instrument is essential to making your job as easy as possible. Affordable instruments can be found in the €600-1000 range and we would advise starting out on either a keyless flute or one with only a maximum of three keys (e.g. F, Bb and C or G#). Keyless flutes from Martin Doyle are in the lower end of this range whereas the same ones from Patrick Olwell will be in the higher bracket. Both are fantastic instruments. You would want to avoid buying cheap flutes online or in chain music shops as these are extremely difficult to play even for professionals. Another option is the go for a polymer/delrin flute from a maker such as Desi Seery (RIP) or Michael Cronnolly (M&E Flutes). These are less maintenance and obtain a tone that is almost identical to a wooden instrument. The disadvantage, however, is that they can be quite heavy and cumbersome making it a challenge for a beginner.

When choosing an instrument it is important to make sure that the flute you choose is relatively easy to play. If the instrument is extremely difficult to blow then this might deter you from playing the instrument. There are practice flutes that you can buy from around €100-€200, for example Hammy Hamilton has metal practice flutes which are okay but cannot be tuned so they are only really suitable for solo playing—which is fine when you are just a beginner. There are also some plastic flutes available but there can be intonation issues with these flutes. Try to get the help of a teacher or flute player to play the flute before you buy it just to check that the blowing is not extremely hard and that the intonation is okay. Other than these practice flutes, the next step would be around €600-€800 which would be a keyless flute from a flute maker, which would have a certain amount of waiting time, or something like a De Keyzer wooden flute that can be bought in a lot of music shops.

We usually recommend Martin Doyle flutes for beginners in the key of D. They are by far the best value for money wooden flutes on the market. If that’s too expensive buy a good Delrin one.
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Advice Starting Out with the Flute: Posture, Holding and Tone

Enjoy the journey, every step of the way. Don’t progress to the next lesson until the current lesson is mastered. The key to flute playing lies in the embouchure, so you may need to stay at that lesson for a while before moving on.

1. Posture and Holding

You must sit up straight, the flute is to be kept off the shoulder and shoulders must be kept down. Keep your neck straight and bring the flute to the mouth, do not bring your mouth to the flute as this will change you posture. Work on your balance, try not to grip the flute, everything should be relaxed. Thumbs should be behind your second fingers; relax your arms with your elbows pointing the floor.

2. Tone

Work on your embouchure, which is the shape of you mouth when blowing. You should have a small pinhole of air blowing across the mouthpiece. Keep your embouchure nice and tight so no air escapes. If you find it hard to fill the whole flute to start, take off the head joint and just use this to get used to making a sound. For the low octave, tuck in the lower jaw and blow. Airflow is directed in a more downward motion, aiming at the lower cutting edge of the embouchure hole. For the high octave push out the lower jaw a little, tighten embouchure a little more and blow gently. Airflow is directed at a higher angle of the embouchure hole. Lifting the head a little can help here. You are recommended to experiment with your embouchure and directional flow, as every flute player is different. Also practice in front of a mirror so you can see your embouchure and always work on trying to get a nice clear tone. If your tone is hazy, then there is air escaping from your embouchure.

It is highly recommended to be familiar with any tune you are learning before you begin learning how to play it, so download the mp3 file and listen to it frequently first before beginning the tutorial on it.

Your Tutor
Steph Geremia

Steph Geremia, your tutor on the Flute Basics course, is a traditional flautist and singer recognized as a vibrant and versatile musician on the traditional music scene. Her 2009 debut album, ‘The Open Road’, named as one of Folk World’s ‘top ten trad albums’, received critical acclaim at home and abroad, establishing Steph as an internationally distinguished flautist. Her latest album “Up She Flew” was released May 2018.

Though a long-time Irish resident, Steph hails originally from New York where she first began playing traditional music. She studied World Music at the prestigious, Wesleyan University, receiving a first-class honours Bachelors of Arts. She also holds a Master’s Degree in Traditional Irish Music Performance, which she completed at the University of Limerick. Steph originally moved to County Sligo and immersed herself in the Sligo/Roscommon style of flute playing. She was taken under the wing of several of the noted players from that area and spent many years surrounded by great traditional stalwarts, such as Peter Horan, with whom she played regularly for several years. Steph is now based in Galway where she teaches and performs on a regular basis as well as continuing to tour internationally. Read more.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the fingering on a flute the same as a tin whistle?
Yes, the fingering doesn’t change except for some harmonic notes and cross-fingerings which are not essential.
Do you need to have keys on the flute?

I’d say that 90% of Irish music doesn’t need keys to play. Most of the tunes are in G Major, A Mixolydian, A Dorian, E minor, D Major, B Minor. For the occasional A Major tune or D minor (Us flute players tend to avoid these anyways), half holing is an option.

However, if you really want to get keys – here is the order you should get them in – from most used to least used:

Long F natural
Short F natural
C natural (although there is a crossed finger version of this. The keyed version is a bit better intonation)
G sharp
B flat
E flat

Two F natural keys are necessary – depending on the musical passage, for example if the next note after the F natural is a D, it’s impossible to use the short one first.

Kirsten

I often hear about flutes cracking. How do I avoid this?
Wooden flutes are very susceptible to changing temperatures (especially extreme heat and cold). As such, they need to be treated regularly in the early years with oils (linseed, almond). As the wood matures, there is less regular maintenance required but oiling should always be a routine measure. This keeps the wood in good condition to avoid cracking but, in any case, caution should always be taken when travelling to very hot or very cold climates.
Some older generation players used a pint of Guinness to fix cracks. Should I do the same?
Please don’t. In their endearing ignorance those musicians would spill Guinness into the instrument and, yes, it would seal the crack temporarily. However, once the Guinness had dried out of it, the crack would reappear even bigger. They would continue to use the same remedy without realising that, gradually, they were destroying their instrument beyond repair. The same applies for putting the flute into a sink of water.
I've been trying to get a tone for weeks and still nothing! Am I doomed?
The flute is a particularly demotivating instrument because if you can’t get a tone from it, you can’t play music in any capacity whatsoever. But fear not. It has taken some of our tutors at OAIM weeks on end trying to get a tone before ever succeeding and our tutors will share their varied methods on how to approach your embouchure. The flute is a very personal instrument as it is connected directly to your face muscles and breath. As such, everybody has a unique way of finding the tone. If you persevere, you WILL succeed.
I play Boehm flute. Can I use that for Irish traditional music?
Technically, yes but, ideally, no. The tone of a silver Boehm flute that one finds in classical music is not suited to the timbre of Irish traditional music. There have been a handful of practictioners who use a silver flute (best known in, perhaps, Joannie Madden of Cherish the Ladies) but she grew up in a household steeped in the Irish tradition which paved a pathway for her endeavours. Most people are not so fortunate. Other musicians like East Galway’s Paddy Carty and Peter Broderick utilised the Radcliffe system which had Boehm-like keys fitted to a wooden bore. This allowed the musician to play in the many unusual, un-flutelike keys while still producing a pleasing tone (albeit still different to a simple-system flute). There’s really no point in short-cutting, learning the Irish flute demands that you do so on a simple-system instrument (i.e. open holes). If you would like to play chromatically, you can always get a fully-keyed, simple-system instrument (i.e. open holes with added levers for chromatic notes).
What is a concert flute? Is it a classical instrument?
This is a common misnomer. A concert flute, in the context of Irish traditional music, refers to concert pitch i.e. 440hz. This simply means that the flute is in the key of D. However, the term has widened it’s usage to refer to an Irish, open-holed, simple-system flute. It has nothing to do with a reference to classical concerts.

Detailed questions and discussion on the course can be found in the Community Forum, available to paying members only.
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Flute Basics Lessons

Level

Hand, Finger and Lip Positioning

Flute Basics Lesson 1

  • Level 1
  • Melody
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Hand, finger and lip positioning (embouchure) and the scale of D Major.

Focus on Technique

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Scale of G

Flute Basics Lesson 2

  • Level 1
  • Melody
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The Scale of G Major

Focus on Technique

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Tripping to the Well

Flute Basics Lesson 3

  • G Major
  • Level 1
  • Melody
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Exercises on the scale of G Major

Polka

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Breathing & Articulation

Flute Basics Lesson 4

  • Level 1
  • Melody
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Breathing and Articulation

Focus on Technique

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Clarity of Tone

Flute Basics Lesson 5

  • Level 1
  • Melody
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Clarity of Tone for Low Notes and High Notes

Focus on Technique

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The Rattling Bog

Flute Basics Lesson 6

  • D Major
  • Level 1
  • Melody
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In this lesson, Steph will teach a simple tune in the key of D major called ‘The Rattlin’ Bog’.

Polka

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Báidiín Fheilimí

Flute Basics Lesson 7

  • D Major
  • Level 1
  • Melody
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Slurring Notes

Waltz

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Buachaill Ón Éirne

Flute Basics Lesson 8

  • G Major
  • Level 1
  • Melody
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Slurring Notes

Waltz

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The Foggy Dew

Flute Basics Lesson 9

  • E Minor
  • Level 1
  • Melody
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Cuts

March

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The Glenside Polka

Flute Basics Lesson 10

  • E Minor
  • Level 1
  • Melody
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Polka

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The Rakes Of Mallow

Flute Basics Lesson 11

  • G Major
  • Level 1
  • Melody
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Slurring notes

Set Dance

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Gander In The Pratie Hole

Flute Basics Lesson 12

  • D Mixolydian
  • Level 1
  • Melody
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Left hand Dexterity Cuts

Jig

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The Rocky Road To Dublin

Flute Basics Lesson 13

  • A Minor
  • Level 1
  • Melody
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Breathing

Slip Jig

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Danny Ab’s

Flute Basics Lesson 14

  • G Major
  • Level 1
  • Melody
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Slurring

Slide

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The Butcher’s March

Flute Basics Lesson 15

  • G Major
  • Level 1
  • Melody
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Phrasing and Breathing

Jig

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The Rambling Pitchfork

Flute Basics Lesson 16

  • D Major
  • Level 1
  • Melody
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Rolls Throat Articulation

Slip Jig

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O’Keefe’s Slide #1

Flute Basics Lesson 17

  • D Major
  • Level 1
  • Melody
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Clarity of Tone for Low Notes and High Notes

Slide

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O’Keefe’s Slide #2

Flute Basics Lesson 18

  • D Major
  • Level 1
  • Melody
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Jig / Slide Rhythm Throat Articulation

Slide

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The Boys of Bluehill

Flute Basics Lesson 19

  • D Major
  • Level 1
  • Melody
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Ornamentation: The Triplet

Hornpipe

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Humours of Whiskey

Flute Basics Lesson 20

  • B Minor
  • Level 1
  • Melody
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Throat Articulation

Slip Jig

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The Sunny Banks

Flute Basics Lesson 21

  • D Major
  • Level 1
  • Melody
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Tone: The Low D!

Reel

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Jimmy Duffy’s #2

Flute Basics Lesson 22

  • G Major
  • Level 1
  • Melody
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Tone: The Higher Register

Barndance

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The Munster Buttermilk

Flute Basics Lesson 23

  • G Major
  • Level 2
  • Melody
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Jig Rhythm and Basic Ornamentation

Jig

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The Heathery Breeze

Flute Basics Lesson 24

  • G Major
  • Level 2
  • Melody
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Left hand dexterity

Reel

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Brendan Tonroe’s

Flute Basics Lesson 25

  • D Major
  • Level 2
  • Melody
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Approaching tunes that fall below low D on the flute

Jig

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McGivney’s Fancy

Flute Basics Lesson 26

  • E Minor
  • Level 2
  • Melody
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Creating Rhythm using Throat Articulation and Cuts

Hornpipe

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The Crosses Of Annagh

Flute Basics Lesson 27

  • A Minor
  • Level 2
  • Melody
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In this lesson, Steph will teach the reel ‘The Crosses of Annagh’. In it, she will introduce the G roll…

Reel

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O’Gorman’s Reel

Flute Basics Lesson 28

  • D Major
  • Level 1
  • Melody
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Rolls

Reel

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Instrument Maintenance

Flute Basics Lesson 29

  • Level 1
  • Melody
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Instrument Maintenance

Focus on Technique

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