The Irish Flute Book by Fintan Vallely Reviews

4.8 Rating 48 Reviews

A Complete Guide to Learning the Irish Flute by Fintan Vallely

A unique visual and descriptive 'method' for all levels of learning and playing on the keyed and unkeyed 'Irish' or wooden flutes. Tried and tested, this is a greatly expanded and improved update of the very first Irish flute tutor, Timber, which was published in 1986. Its 136 pages are packed with background information and suitable for players at all levels, from the most basic to the most advanced.
The tutor also serves as a guide to understanding the principles of Irish traditional music and will prove useful to any aspiring traditional player. With 105 notated tunes and two companion CDs with 180 tracks of tuition, ornamentation and music examples, Irish music lovers will find this book a valuable resource. Vallely's method is also perfectly suited to the tin whistle.
Fintan Vallely is a musician and writer on traditional music and recipient of Gradam Ceoil's Lifetime Achievement Award 2023.
He published the first ground-breaking tutor for Irish flute in 1986 and for many years has taught flute at the renowned Willie Clancy summer school in Co. Clare and at seasonal schools and workshops internationally. He has recorded on flute with guitarist Mark Simos and in song with Tim Lyons.
As a critic and educator, he has written for The Irish Times and Sunday Tribune through the 1990s and has lectured on traditional music in Irish and UK universities since 1995. He is editor of the widely praised and award-winning Companion to Irish Traditional Music (1999, 2011) the encyclopaedia of Irish traditional music, and has other books on song, music and musicians — among them biographies of Antrim flute player John Kennedy and Leitrim fiddler Ben Lennon.
Over the years, Vallely has done extensive research on both the bodhrán and flute in Ireland and he brings that invaluable store of knowledge and insight to this new edition.
Read an extract from Fintan's book by clicking here
ESTIMATED SHIPPING TIMES:
IRELAND (Next Day)
UK (5 - 7 days)
EUROPE (7 days)
USA and CANADA (7 - 10 days)
REST OF WORLD (10 - 14 days)

Visit Product Page

Phone:

18322432

Location:

Unit 137 Baldoyle Industrial Estate, Baldoyle,
Unit 137 Baldoyle Industrial Estate, Baldoyle
Dublin
D13 X958

Visit Product Page

“Great book! Very helpful. Just barely started it, but it seems great.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“I'm enjoying working my way through it. Yay”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“Great book for intermediate players Great book for intermediates like me, who want to take the next step. Special focus is on different ornamentation techniques, which are crucial to get closer to an Irish sound. The sound examples on the CD help a lot with self-learning.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“Great Introductory Material Completely new to the flute. I found this not only helpful for technique, but also a good collection of beginning flute-accesible tunes and information on the history, regional styles, and culture of Irish flute players. The play along CD is good for listening, though I do wish the author would have announced the tunes or included a track list on a single page for reference while listening on the go. Small thing though. Over all, great resource.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“Great book. The book was exactly what I anticipated”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“I ordered it and had it at my home (Netherlands) within a week. Great!! and in Corona time.....”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“A Complete Guide to Learning the Irish Flute by Fintan Vallely is a fantastic book for learning the keyed and keyless Irish flute. Fintan Vallely, a true master and scholar of the Irish flute, covers everything: history and lore, choosing a flute, making sounds, the notes, written music, beginning to play tunes, flute technique, breathing, finger techniques, style, advanced fingering, breath and mouth ornamentation, awkward tunes and the third register, practice and flute maintenance, routine, curious and surprising aspects of flute playing, music to go on with, and learning more. The book contains over 100 tunes which are all skillfully played by Mr. Vallely and are on the included two CD set, along with scales and all the different types of ornamentation and sounds of the flute. There is also a support website to go to for resources and to have questions answered. I have the second edition of his book, Timber the Flute Tutor, written when Vallely was much younger. It is excellent in itself, but A Complete Guide to Learning the Irish Flute is far thicker, containing three times more material and information. It is the product of an Irish flute masters' lifetime of learning and experience with the Irish flute.”

1 Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago