Mally's Traditional Music Store

While the wooden simple-system flute is traditionally used in playing Irish music, a growing number of folk players have adopted the silver flute as a viable alternative. Here for the first time, The Complete Irish Flute Book presents the silver or Boehm flutist with a method for learning authentic Irish ornamentation! This thorough guide provides detailed fingering charts, exercises, and technical essays for learning to execute ornaments in the in the Irish style. Through a wealth of hornpipes, reels, jigs, set dances, and slow airs and songs. This book focuses not only on musical accuracy, but stylistic authenticity as well. The companion CD contains 26 of the 101 tunes from the book.

This comprehensive method includes: extensive historical notes, a comparison of hand and finger positions for wooden and silver flutes, embouchure and breath support in the folk and classical traditions, plus an introduction to dance music, performance practice, and ornamentation used by traditional players. These include slides, cuts or tips (single grace notes from above or below respectively), double and tripple grace notes, and short and long rolls. The material is sequentially presented along with extensive alternate fingering charts to facilitate correct performance practice. Includes unornamented "standard" tunes side-by-side with ornamented variants with piano accompaniment.

The companion CD contains 26 pieces from Mel Bay's Complete Irish Flute Book.Works are presented in both traditional and non-traditional settings with each piece closely following the transcriptions in the companion book. Players will find this CD extremely helpful in learning to play ornaments in the Irish style.
Attention simple-system flutists: players of keyless or multiple-keyed wooden flutes will find a more compatible approach for learning to play in the Irish style in Mel Bay's Complete Irish Whistle Book. Why? Whistle fingerings closely parallel fingerings for simple-system flutes. Also, the selection of repertoire in the whistle book is confined to the keys of D, G and A- all traditional keys for traditional flute players

Mizzy McCaskill received her Bachelor of Music degree from Ithaca College and her Master's and Doctorate in Music Education from the University of Kentucky, Lexington. She is a specialist in curriculum design and has written numerous publications concerning folk flutes, the modern Boehm flute, and flute pedagogy. She performs and records as both a flutist and vocalist in folk and classical genres.

Flutist and composer Dona Gilliam received her Bachelor of Music degree from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, LA and her masters in Music Composition from the University of Kentucky, Lexington where she also received her Juris Doctorate of Law degree. Dona performs and composes in both folk and classical genres. She is currently a Professor in the School of Music and School of Media Arts and Design at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, VA. With Mizzy McCaskill, she has co-authored numerous Mel Bay books addressing the flute, tin whistle, fife, and clarinet.

Complete Irish Flute CD Edition : Mizzy McCaskill and Dona Gilliam