On 06/07/2017 08:37 AM, Cindy Hamilton wrote:
I played Boehm flute and recorder, but I've never before looked at
the Irish flute. It's interesting.

The fingering is straight forward on the simple system flutes. Going
from one to the other isn't bad except the Irish flutes and most
whistles are in D and the F# on a Boehm breaks the pattern.

The fingerings are the same on whistles so a $10 whistle makes a cheap
practice instrument even if it is an octave higher.

The development of the Boehm system is interesting. There must have been
a lot of fiddling around to get the intonation right.

It's a diatonic instrument and you think more in terms of modes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fKeMG_DruA

That's Mixolydian, which isn't the most common, but it has an exotic
feel. Of course you can play it on a Boehm. The problem with those is on
fast jigs and reels they can sound like a typewriter.