Native American flute crafted by Gary Kuhl in 2003. Material: Myrtlewood. Collection of Clint Goss.
The **Native American flute** is a flute that is held in front of the person playing it, has open holes for the player's fingers, and has two separate parts: one for the breath of the person playing the flute and another that makes the sound of the flute.

The player breathes into one end of the flute. A *block* on the outside of the flute directs the player's breath from the first part to the second part, causing air to vibrate in the second part. The vibration causes a steady resonance of air in the second part that creates sound.

Native American flutes are made in many different designs, sizes, and variations —far more other woodwind instruments.

Names
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The Native American flute has many other names.: *American Indian courting flute*, *courting flute*, *Grandfather's flute*, *Indian flute*, *love flute*, *Native American courting flute*, *Native American love flute*, *Native American style flute* (see the Indian Arts And Crafts Act), *North American flute*, *Plains flute*, and *Plains Indian courting flute*.

The correct way to spell the name of the instrument is "Native American flute" using capital letters for "N" and "A" and lower-case letters for the "f" in "flute".

A person who plays Native American flutes is called a "flutist". The word "flautist" is used, but much less often.

History
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Native American flute, Lakota Culture, 1935 or before. Collection of Clint Goss.
There are many stories about how different Native American peoples invented the Native American flute. In one story, a woodpecker pecked holes in the branch of a tree while searching for termites. When the wind blew along the holes, people heard music.

It is not well known how the design of the Native American flute developed before 1823. Some of the influences may have been:

* Branches of trees or stalks of plants with holes drilled by insects that created sounds when the wind blew.
* The atlatl.
* Musical instruments made of clay made in Mesoamerica.
* The **Anasazi flute**, a type of flute developed by early Native American peoples.
* The parts of the organ that make the sound of the instrument. Native Americans were taught to make these parts of the organ as early as 1524.
* The recorder — a musical instrument that came from Europe.

It is also possible that instruments were carried from other cultures during migrations.

The oldest Native American flute made of wood is from 1823. It is now in a museum in Bergamo, Italy.

Parts
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Parts of the Native American flute
The Native American flute has two parts: the *slow air chamber* and the *sound chamber*. A *plug* inside the instrument separates the slow air chamber from the sound chamber.

The parts of the Native American flute can have many alternate names. The plug is sometimes called the *internal wall*. The slow air chamber is also called the "SAC", the *compression chamber*, or the *mouth chamber*. The sound chamber is also called the *pipe body*, the *playing chamber*, the *resonating chamber*, the *tone chamber*, or the *variable tube*.

The *block* on the outside of the instrument is a separate part that can be removed. The block is also called the *bird*, the *fetish*, the *saddle*, or the *totem*. The block is tied by a *strap* onto the *nest* of the flute. The block moves air through a *flue* from the slow air chamber to the sound chamber. The block is often in the shape of a bird.

The slow air chamber has a *mouthpiece* and *breath hole* for the player's breath. Air flows through the slow air chamber and up the *exit hole* into the flue.

Blocks on two Native American flutes
The sound chamber contains the *sound hole*, which creates the vibration of air that causes sound when the airflow reaches the *splitting edge*. The sound hole can also be called the *whistle hole*, the *window*, or the *true sound hole* ("TSH"). The splitting edge can also be called the *cutting edge*, the *fipple edge*, the *labium*, or the *sound edge*.

The sound chamber also has *finger holes* that allows the player to change the frequency of the vibrating air. Changing the frequency of the vibration changes the pitch of the sound produced.

The finger holes on a Native American flute are *open*, meaning that fingers of the player cover the finger hole (rather than metal levers or pads such as those on a clarinet). This means that the player must be able to reach all the finger holes on the instrument with their fingers. The finger holes can also be called the *note holes*, the *playing holes*, the *tone holes*, or the *stops*.

The *foot end* of the flute — the end far away from the player's mouth — can have *direction holes*. These holes affect the pitch of the flute when all the finger holes are covered. They also relate to the "Four Directions" of East, South, West, and North found in many Native American stories. The direction holes can also be called the *tuning holes* or *wind holes*.

The picture shown above– *Parts of the Native American flute* with English-language labels – can also be seen with labels in Cherokee, Dutch, Esperanto, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Russian,and Spanish.

A flute with a *spacer plate*, made by Richard W. Payne.
### Spacer Plate

Another way to build Native American flutes uses a *spacer plate* to create the flue. The spacer plate sits between the nest area on the body of the flute and the block. The spacer player is usually held in place by the same strap that holds the block onto the instrument. The splitting edge can also be part of the spacer plate.

The spacer plate is often made of metal, but spacer plates can be made of wood, bark, and ceramic.

### Dimensions

Many old Native American flutes were made using measurements of the body. The length of the flute was the distance from inside of the elbow to tip of the index finger. The length of the slow air chamber was the width of the fist. The distance between the sound hole and first finger hole was the width of the fist. The distance between finger holes would be the width of a thumb. The distance from the last finger hole to the end of the flute was the width of the fist.

Currently, makers of Native American flutes use many methods to design the dimensions of their flutes. This is very important for the location of the finger holes, since they control the pitch of the different notes of the instrument. Flute makers may use calculators to design their instruments, or use dimensions provided by other flute makers.

### Materials

Many Native American flutes are made from river cane, bamboo, wood,
or even plastic. Some makers of Native American flutes use ceramic or glass.

Music
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Native American flute (six holes).

Performed on a 1987 flute crafted by Chief Arthur Two-crows.

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*Problems playing this file? See media help.*


Native-American-style flute (five 
holes) G.

Performed on a 2001 flute crafted by Rick Heller.

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*Problems playing this file? See media help.*

Many Native American flutes have a musical scale called the pentatonic scale in a minor key. This musical scale is used in most Native American flute music. However, some makers of Native American flute now use different musical scales. Many makers of Native American flutes tune flutes carefully so that they sound good when played with other instruments such as guitars and pianos.

Native American flutes may be large or small and have a wide range from very low notes to very high notes. From the largest flutes (lowest pitch) to the smallest flutes (highest pitch), they span a range of about three and a half octaves, from C2 to A5.

Early recordings of Native American flutes are available from several sources.

### Fingering

Fingering for the main musical scale (pentatonic minor) on many Native American flutes.
Most Native American flutes have either five or six finger holes. However, a flute may have no finger holes or as many as seven finger holes, including a hole for the thumb. Different makers employ different musical scales and fingerings for their flutes.

Nakai tablature for Native American flutes, showing the notes of the primary scale - the pentatonic minor scale.
### Written Music

Written music for the Native American flutes is often in the key of F-sharp minor, although some music is scored in other keys. Music written for the Native American flute uses a key signature of four sharps. This is known as "Nakai tablature". Many pieces of written music adds finger diagrams below the notes to show which finger holes to cover for that note.

The use of a standard key signature for written music that can be used across Native American flutes in a variety of keys classifies the instrument as a transposing instrument.

Two Native American flutes, made since 2005

Revival
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A Native American flute player performing for donations in a train station in New York City.
There were few Native American flute players before 1960. Use of the Native American flute increased in the late 1960s. Many people began playing them, such as Doc Tate Nevaquaya, John Rainer, Jr. Sky Walkinstik Man Alone, and Carl Running Deer.

The music of R. Carlos Nakai became popular in the 1980s. The album "Canyon Trilogy" was issued in 1989. In 1998 it was the first Native American music album certified as a Gold Record by the Recording Industry Association of America. Canyon Trilogy was certified as a Platinum Record on July 8, 2014.

Mary Youngblood won two Grammy Awards in the *Native American Music* category for her Native American flute music in 2002 and 2006. Today, Native American flutes are being played and recognized by many different peoples and cultures around the world.

Community Music
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Groups of players of the Native American flute meet every month or two. These groups are known as *flute circles*.

These organizations help flute circles within their country:

* WFS — World Flute Society (U.S.A.)
* RNAFF — Renaissance of the North American Flute (U.S.A.)
* JIFCA Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine — Japan Indian Flute Circle Association (日本インディアンフルートサークル協会) (Japan)

Documentaries
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* *Songkeepers* (1999, 48 min.). Directed by Bob Hercules. Produced by Dan King. Lake Forest, Illinois: America's Flute Productions. Five distinguished traditional flute artists - Tom Mauchahty-Ware, Sonny Nevaquaya, R. Carlos Nakai, Hawk Littlejohn, Kevin Locke – talk about their Native American flutes and their songs and the role of the flute and its music in their tribes.
* *Journey to Zion* (2008, 44 min.). A documentary by Tim Romero. Santa Maria, California: Solutions Plus. A film about Native American flute players attending the Zion Canyon Art & Flute Festival located in Springdale, Utah, the gateway to Zion National Park.

Other websites
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to ***Native American flutes***.

* Renaissance of the North American Flute Archived 2016-03-02 at the Wayback Machine
* World Flute Society
* Native American flute music sheet Archived 2013-06-28 at the Wayback Machine
* Flutopedia Flutopedia - an Encyclopedia for the Native American Flute.
* Flute Tree Native American Flute Informational Web Site.
* NAF Music Archived 2013-10-07 at the Wayback Machine and NAF Music Songs Archived 2008-07-06 at the Wayback Machine Two Yahoo! newsgroups with collections of sheet music for Native American flutes.
* List of archives containing Native American flutes Archived 2011-07-18 at the Wayback Machine
* Finger Diagram Fonts for writing out Native American flute music.
* Native American Flute Tablature
* Native American Flute References — over 3,100 citations for the Native American flute.