Using the Yamaha Fife as an introduction to the flute

When I teach I believe the child should never fail.

In the learning situation it is the responsibility of the teacher to enable the child to succeed. It is so much easier to learn skills correctly from the very beginning rather than try to correct them later. If skills are not secure then a child will be hindered in reaching his/her musical potential.

It is easy to fail and/or develop problems on a full size flute as a beginner for the following reasons:

• the size and complexity of flute
• the instrument not working and easily damaged by the child
• posture problems the flute offers
• the cost of a good instrument
• commitment - does the child want to learn or just to have a nice shiny instrument?

The advantages of using a fife are:

• simple
• small
• unbreakable
• inexpensive
• commitment - if the child practices on a fife he/she will get even more pleasure from a flute

It is possible to teach all of the following using a fife:

• embouchure - making a good sound
• holding - balance and posture
• breathing/tonguing
• notes - only use fingerings that are the same as on the flute
• music reading/improvisation/composition/rhythmic development

When transferring from fife to flute

Start with headjoint work, experiment with sounds and composing

Then headjoint and footjoint together, tunes can be played

When the whole flute is used the child can play all of the tunes they learnt from the Fife Book, I usually have them memorise 3 or 4 before they get their real flute for this purpose and then they can concentrate on the flute rather than struggle reading the notes.The Fife Book - an introduction to the flute using the Yamaha fife by Liz Goodwin, published by Just Flutes.

Available from Flute World or Just Flutes - www.justflutes.com

Fife £5.49 The Fife Book £5.95 pack £10.95 Book and fife in a bag

Problems with the fife

The problems are usually perceived problems. The usual ones I hear are:

• The child wants a real flute - I’ve never found this a problem. Children are quite astute and can appreciate the need not to waste money and what they know themselves could be a passing whim. They enjoy the challenge of starting on something inexpensive with the knowledge they can move to a bigger instrument when they gain the skills.
• The fife isn’t in tune - what with! It is rare to find a beginner who plays in tune. The instrument is usually placed at a slightly different place on their lip each time they pick it up and they also experiment with the angle of the air - all very necessary. In the Fife Book I only use the fingerings that can be used on the flute, basically the scale of C major. It is possible to play all of the chromatic notes but the cross fingerings on the fife do need considerable skill on behalf of the player to make them sound reasonable.
• It is much harder to get a sound on the fife - Quite a strong air stream is needed on the fife and this generally means the flute sounds better when they transfer as the air support is there.
• I don’t like the sound - I do, I have no problem with it and the children don’t either.
• The child can’t cover the holes - children cope with recorders, if they do experience problems it is usually enough just to draw their awareness to the feel of the hole on their finger. A few youngsters might need extra time to get the fingers in the right place, but once they do, they will have a good hand position which will switch over to flute.

Ruth Ann McClain thoughts on the Fife

I simply cannot sing enough praises of the Yamaha fife, and now have yet another young one starting on it, and he is already ready to make the change. He is 10, so older than some, and not so small, but when he came to me, he was absolutely dying to start, and they were waiting on a flute which they were borrowing from a friend.

I have a curved head myself now, which is great, so I can actually judge whether the student needs it or not. In this case, the fife is soooo cheap, I suggested that he start on that. He was elated, and is doing great. He absolutely eats up everything I give him.

As some of you know, I am also a certified Suzuki teacher, although I do admit that I do my own thing as well. All of my beginners, I use Suzuki I and The Fife Book. They make great companions,especially when the kids are a little older, and can get into reading a little quicker, the Fife Book is just outstanding.

The only problem using the fife with the Suzuki book is that I have to omit the songs with Bb and F# because those fingerings are not the same on the fife, so, especially with the really young ones, but I think all, you don't want to learn one fingering and then have to change, so it has been easier to just omit those songs. Then when the move to the flute has happened, it is quite easy to go back and learn those pieces.

I have been using the fife now for years (can't remember how many), and have ALWAYS had success with it. It is primarily a tool, and a really inexpensive one, to learn basics, and then switch to flute.

Here are my reasons for using it:

1. Size and weight
2. Cost (almost nothing!!)
3. Durability..........ha! you could run over it with a truck and not hurt it, and many little kids are pretty clumsy, so easily drop things, or might forget they "left" it on the floor, and step on it!
4. Easy transition to flute. There is NOTHING natural about the way you blow AND hold a flute; it is just awkward in the beginning, Once the student learns the fife, there is nothing to playing the flute! Or maybe it is better said that it is certainly not as difficult as starting on the flute.
5. Very portable. Great to take to camp or on a trip, just to keep the chops going. If something happens to it, is easily replaced. I have several students who have been playing flute for a while now, and when they travel, etc., always take their fife. They also don't have to worry about leaving it in the car.

The thing which would make it the perfect beginning instrument, would be for it to have covered holes. Liz has tried, unsuccessfully, to find someone to add a key mechanism, AND keep the price down to around $25 or less, but hasn't found anyone. Her dream would be to have each key a different colour, so when teaching one would say something like "but you need to use your green finger, not the red one" or similar, and I think that would work really well too.

So for those of you teaching beginners, go out and buy a fife, and Liz's book and give it a try. You will be amazed.

As for the curved head flutes, yes, I have used them, and also think they are super. They do allow smaller people to play comfortably, which was not possible in the past.

If they are very tiny, the Jupiter Prodigy is excellent. see ??? link???One of the drawbacks of the curved heads, according to some, is that after a while, the curved heads may tend to slip. However, rather than have the tube expanded, a better solution came from a student's mom after attending a Suzuki workshop a few years back, which is to take a piece of embroidery thread or dental floss (or anything similar), and wrap it around the head before inserting it. It will keep the head stable. Much like us using plumber's tape to make ours fit at times, but easier to use than plumber's tape.

Hope this helps, and if anyone wants to write me directly with any more specific questions, please feel free to do so.
Ruth Ann McClain
mcclain@fluteconnection.net // http://www.fluteconnection.net