Irish Flutes

The traditional Irish flute, also called the session flute,  is a crosswind  wooden flute with six holes, in key of D, that greatly resembles the baroque flutes of the 17th and 18th centuries. This instrument is chromatic and can fully match the tuning of other instruments in a group (or session). The fingering is the same as for any other D-scale, six-hole flute; the range is over two octaves. This is a popular flute for either folk or classical music, and has a very good tone which is mellower than that of the metal concert flute. These flutes are tuned by sliding the pieces together or apart at the joins; some makes have an additional tuning button at one end.

D is the most popular key in the Irish music world, and a player of Irish music should first buy an instrument in D.

However, in the world at large, the most popular key is C. For this reason, many players eventually get both C and D flutes.

Traditionally, the Irish play flutes with no keys; however some Irish flutes are produced with keys because it is easier to get the most-used chromatic notes on them.

Care must be taken in handling of wooden flutes; they need to be kept away from sunlight and sources of heat. In the north, where homes get very dry during the winter heating season, special care needs to be taken where buildings are not humidified; the moist Irish climate where these flutes feel at home is quite different.

In modern times we are now seeing plastic Irish flutes, and these have a surprisingly good sound. They also do not crack in dry weather (but must not be left exposed to a hot sun, because they can soften if they get too hot).

Flute lengths given below are measured with the flute pieces pushed all the way together.

Some Notes On Playing Irish Flutes

We get a certain number of these flutes returned to us because of a misunderstanding about the hand/finger positions. You do not need large hands to play these flutes when you play them correctly, and you do not curl your fingers to put the tips in the holes. An Irish flute requires a finger position more like that of playing the bagpipe chanter: the fingers are kept straight and flat. The Irish give no leeway for excuses about small hands or short fingers; they just tell you to spread your fingers out more!

Many players of concert flutes also play Irish flutes: it should be noted that there may have to be some adjustment of the playing position and the embouchure in playing an Irish flute. The fingering for the Irish flute is the same as that for playing the key of D on the concert flute (Boehm system). You play the same D fingering no matter what key the Irish flute is. (Irish flutes in different keys have different lengths, but they all are played with the same fingering.)

If you have never played the flute at all, we recommend that you get some lessons to get started. Total beginners working on their own often find that they can't get any sound out of a flute; this is most likely because they are blowing across the hole, rather than aiming the stream of air at the opposite edge of the hole to split the stream of air. (Yes, those expert flute players make it look very easy, which is small consolation.)

We recommend the Timber book listed further down on this page for all new players of Irish flute, whether you have never played any flute before, or whether you are a concert flute player who is now beginning to play an Irish flute. You all need this book; you can trust us on this.

It may even be best to begin on the low whistle, which is the same size as the Irish flute, and plays in the same range, but is much easier to get sounds out of! With a whistle, you just blow. (However, the low whistle has its own problems for beginners, in that the finger/hand/arm position has to be right. This is discussed on the low whistle page.)

We offer the Tony Dixon flute/whistle combo below, which is a fine outfit for beginners.

Tony Dixon Plastic Flutes

These Tony Dixon Irish flutes are made from polymer material; they sound surprisingly good, believe it or not. Also, they are not bothered by climatic conditions, whether wet or dry. Professionals find these flutes to be a useful addition to their collection of flutes, because they can play them under conditions where they would rather not play their expensive wooden instruments. Beginners will find that these work quite well for learning on. These flutes weigh less than wooden ones.

Both tunable and nontunable Dixon flutes are offered below. Why, you ask, would anyone pay good money for a nontunable instrument? The answer would seem to be that polymer flutes are pretty well impervious to climate, and therefore will always be in perfect pitch. (You get your band to tune to you.)

If you want a case for carrying your Tony Dixon flute, we offer some cloth cases below, as well as the long practice chanter cases, which work just as well for a flute as a practice chanter. (These do not fit into the Buck flute case shown below.)

Our Tony Dixon flutes now arrive in a sort of square plastic tube, which can serve as a case. However, beware: if you play your instrument and then put it into a closed plastic tube, germs can multiply. Always leave the end off the plastic tube to let the instrument dry out thoroughly before closing the tube. For this reason, cloth cases work better, as they allow your instrument to dry out.

We keep all Tony Dixon items in stock unless otherwise noted.

TDF1A. Two-piece plastic Irish flute: Lightweight,  tunable by moving the pieces at the join.  Although not shown in this photo, this flute now comes with an embouchure plate (this is a piece that fits over the blowhole). Some flute players like to turn the top part so that the blowhole is not in line with the finger holes, because they find it easier to reach the holes that way. Black color. Key of D. 23 inches long. $63
TDF1B. Two-piece black plastic Irish flute in key of C. 25 3/4" long. $63. Our note: this is a very large flute. It requires stretching of your fingers to reach the holes; anyone with a smaller-than-normal hand will have difficulty playing this instrument. We offer it because there is a demand for it, but we sell it with this warning about the size!

TDF2. One-piece plastic Irish flute: Black color. Key of D. 23 1/2 inches long. $37

TDF3. Flute/whistle combo. (Not shown) This is a combination set of plastic flute and whistle. You get three pieces: a main body piece with six holes (as in TDF1 above), a flute head (as above) and a whistle head as well. The flute and whistle heads are interchangeable, which means that you get both a flute and a tenor whistle in this set. Key of D. $106

TDF4. C/D flute combo. Two flute bodies (one in key of C and one in Key of D) and one interchangeable flute head. You get two flutes out of this, in two keys. $106

Separate pieces: Individual pieces of the above Tony Dixon instruments can be bought separately (eg, if you bought a whistle and want to add the flute head). All black plastic low D and C Tony Dixon pieces fit each other at any given time. However, over the years, Dixon has made some minor design changes, and it is possible that the current pieces may not fit or be in tune with old ones.

TDWH. Whistle head only. $43
TDFH. Flute head only. $19
TDSBD. D body only. $44
TDSBC. C body only. $45

Alto G flute

TDF5. Tunable (two-piece) alto flute in key of G, looks like the TDF1 above. All black plastic. 17" long. $44

The High D Piccolo/Whistle Combo

TDF6A. You get both polymer piccolo and whistle heads plus high D body. Whistle is 11 1/2" long, piccolo slightly longer. The piccolo head  has an embouchure plate. $41 set
Other pieces that match this set: separate high C body, and separate piccolo or whistle heads. These are on the Irish Penny Whistles page, as are black fabric cases that fit this set.

TDF6B. (Not shown) High D aluminum whistle/piccolo duo. This three-piece set has an aluminum body, and plastic piccolo and whistle heads, both of which have brass slides. $65

Solid Polymer Irish Flute

by Tony Dixon

TDF10: The Tony Dixon solid polymer flute. This is a fine, three-piece flute that is carved from solid blocks of black polymer. It is heavy in weight, with a conical bore, and bears no resemblance to the inexpensive plastic ones above. Cork joints. This flute has a nice, heavy feel to it; professional musicians have found this flute to be especially useful for performing under difficult weather conditions. About 23 1/2" long. Comes with a black cloth case that resembles the one shown below. $270.

From a customer who bought the above Tony Dixon solid polymer flute: "It surpassed my expectations. I have one of about every one of Tony's flutes, and this is the best. All of his stuff is good..."

From a band director: ...what a delightful little instrument. Nice tone, good intonation. I'm impressed with the quality...

The polymer flute comes in a case like this.

Irish Flutes by Mid-East

MIF1. Rosewood Irish flute. Key of D, four pieces (no keys), with metal slide, matte finish, cork fittings. In addition  to tuning by moving the pieces together or apart, there is a tuning rod at the bottom end (for sharpening the pitch). 26 inches long. It comes in a handsome blue hard box lined with red plush and satin as shown below.   The rosewood in this flute is a higher quality than that used by Mid-East for most of their other instruments. This is a very decent flute for $160

New! Blackwood Flute by Mid-East

MIF2.  Blackwood Irish flute, key of D, brass slide, silver-colored rings. Matte finish, cork fittings. Comes in a natural rosewood box lined with green plush (shown at left) $210

Books for Irish Flute

Timber: The Flute Tutor by Fintan Vallely. A self-teaching book for beginners and learners on the wooden, simple-system six-hole flutes, such as the Irish flute above; which have the same fingering as tin whistles. Includes basic instruction for total beginners, tips on Irish-style ornamentation of tunes, how to get chromatic notes, tunes to play, care of the instrument, and history. An interesting book to read! $13

The Turoe Stone. A collection of traditional tunes composed by the renowned Galway fluter, Vincent Broderick. Includes 68 tunes, photos, and notes on Broderick. $13

Special: Buy both the Timber and Turoe Stone books for $24.

Music books etc. for all Irish instruments

Irish Flute Cases

These cases also fit Irish whistles.

(Not shown) FC1. Long flat black fabric case, no handles. For D flute (not long enough for a C). Made by Tony Dixon. $9

FC2. (Shown at left.) Padded Tony Dixon double/double flute or low whistle case. This means that it takes two D or C flutes or low whistles; plus it has two short compartments for extra flute/whistle heads or D/C soprano whistles (these sit on top of the long compartments and are not very visible in the photo). Overall length is 27"; length of short compartments is 13 1/2". Shoulder strap. $30

FC3. Padded flute case has top flap with velcro closing. We show it with the two pieces of a Buck flute partially pulled out. $25

Please note that this padded flute case does not fit all of our Irish flutes - it depends on how many pieces the flute has, and what sizes the pieces are, whether the flute will fit. Ask us about this if you are thinking of ordering this case for a flute other than a Buck.

For other cases that fit D flutes, see our page of practice chanter cases.

Ordering information and Order form

If you do not receive a reply from us within a day or so after sending in an order on the order form, or after emailing a question, please contact us again, as our reply may have been thrown in your spam bin or may have returned to us. Exceptions: weekends or when we note on our front page that we are closed for any reason.

Email us

Back to the main Irish Musical Instruments page

Back to Home Page

You are on the Irish Flutes page of the web site www.harpanddragon.com
There are over a hundred pages on this web site; click on the Back to Home Page link
to see an outline of this entire site.

The Harp and Dragon
25 Madison St, Cortland, NY 13045 USA
Tel 607-756-7372   Fax/Ans mach 607-756-0366

The items below are not available.

LWC1. At left we show a padded double case; the long case takes a low D or C  flute (or whistle) and the smaller case that is attached (this is hard to see) takes an extra head or a piccolo or penny whistle. This case works well for the TDFW combo above. (A note: tenor whistles are the same length as flutes, and piccolos are the same length as penny whistles.)  Shoulder strap. 

Irish Flute by Buck Musical Instruments

We regret that these have not been available for some time. We are not certain when they will be available again. We do have some of the BIF2 padded flute cases below.

BIF1. This is a budget-priced two-piece rosewood flute in key of D, nice looking with mock ivory trim. The Buck logo is engraved into each (see left), along with a serial number. 24 1/4" long. $120.

This flute fits into the Buck case shown below, and also the long practice chanter cases.

NA