Exploring the Highest Pitched Flutes

by Howard Fosdick © FolkFluteWorld.com

Let's take a look at the highest pitched folk flutes. We'll discuss and compare high tin whistles, recorders, ocarinas, and Native American Flutes.

Are these instruments big enough to fit in your hands? Are their highest notes too piercing for your ears?

Or, are they fun to play and pleasant to hear?

We'll answer these questions, and also offer some playing tips. So read on ...

The Highest Flutes

The highest pitched instruments that are commonly available for each kind of folk flute are:

The photo shows a garklein recorder at top, with a high G tin whistle below it.

Below the ruler are three C soprano ocarinas. A brown transverse is at left, and two green seedpods are to its right.

The seedpod ocarinas are often called pendants because they're so small you can comfortably wear them on a necklace. In fact, you can see that the lower one has a necklace attached.

Let's discuss and compare these instruments.

Sound Samples

If you're unfamiliar with how any of these flutes sound, click on any of these sound samples.

Be sure to look at how cramped the musicians' fingers are on these tiny flutes, so that you can judge whether yours will fit them:

Comparisons

Range:

This table lists the instruments by how wide their ranges are. The high G tin whistle leads in range, while the C soprano pendant and Native American flutes trail:

Note that the entries for the Highest Note, Lowest Note, and Range can vary by the manufacturer of the instrument and the skill of the musician. This table presents typical numbers.

Native American flutes are the least standardized instrument in this chart. Those termed "high flutes" have a lowest note that varies anywhere from C5 all the way up to B5.

Native American flutes also have the least range. Since they are based on a pentatonic scale, most play 6 or 7 whole notes.

Highest Note:

In order of their highest note, the instruments rank:

Most authorities cite the garklein recorder's highest note as A7. Good musicians with good instruments can go higher, though the notes can be piercing and unpleasant.

The garklein recorder and the high G tin whistle have the greatest upside range. As the chart shows, ocarinas stretch up to a note or two lower.

Playing the Highest Notes:

In my experience, it's easiest to hit the highest notes on the high G whistle. Just direct your breath very sharply into the instrument.

In contrast, it's challenging to hit the highest notes on the garklein recorder. (Your results may vary by the instrument you play and your skill as a musician.)

Hitting the highest couple notes on ocarinas depends a lot on the manufacturer. Some sound airy or require the acute bend technique. (Acute bend is where you position your mouth at a different angle to the mouthpiece of the instrument. It's useful to attain certain notes.)

Some ocarinas really can't play their claimed highest note at all. This is especially true of poorly made or cheaper instruments.

I've found it easy to play the highest notes on ceramic transverse and seedpod ocarinas made by Focalink. And they sound strong and true, too.

We'll leave Native American flutes out of this discussion as they vary too widely to generalize about.

Hurting Your Ears:

The highest notes of all these instruments can be pretty piercing. Some recommend wearing ear protection when trying to hit the highest notes. Or when playing in the upper register for an extended session. I wear earplugs.

Most agree that the highest notes of the soprano ocarinas are less piercing than those of the high G whistle and the garklein recorder. This is because vessel flutes have that mellow or rounded sound due to their enclosed chamber.

Also, nearly all ocarinas have their sound hole located on the underside of the instrument. So the sound waves are created beneath the instrument. To some small degree, the body of the flute shields you from them.

In contrast, both tin whistles and recorders have their splitting edge topside. Your ears are in direct line of hearing to the source of the sound.

Finger Spacing:

Can you fit your fingers on these tiny instruments? If you can't, you can't play them.

It all depends on the flute's available real estate and your hand size.

Fingering span is the measure between the two most distant fingering holes on the topside of an instrument.

As the photo shows, this distance measures 3 1/4" for both a garklein recorder (Aulos brand) and a High G tin whistle (Generation brand). That's not much space in which to fit your fingers.

But there's a difference between the two.

As a recorder, the garklein forces you to place 7 fingers into this space. The tin whistle requires you to fit only 6 fingers in the same space.

The result is that some people who can't fit their hands onto the garklein can still play the high G tin whistle.

Most find the transverse ocarina fairly easy to grasp.

As the photo of the black submarine shows, the transverse design means that your fingers are not all in a line. Instead, your two hands are staggered. And your fingers for each hand form a slight arc.

This overlapping-hands design yields a fingering span of over 4". Not bad for a 5" long instrument that requires you to place all 8 fingers on top!

This table summarizes:

You can watch the sound samples above to see how it looks when people play these instruments, and how their hands fit on them.

Be sure you play with your fingertips, rather than splaying your fingers across the tone holes! That way your fingers will take up less space and you can more deftly manage these instruments.

Conclusion: The garklein is the tightest fit. Some people simply can't jam all their fingers on it comfortably enough to play it.

The transverse ocarina and the high G whistle are easier fits. Most people should be able to finger them, even if they feel a little cramped or awkward to play.

It's difficult to generalize about Native American flutes because their design parameters differ so greatly. Their lengths and finger hole spacing depend on non-standardized measures such as bore size and the location of the block (or totem).

C Soprano Pendants

We haven't said much about pendants (aka "seedpods") because their shapes vary to so much that it's difficult to generalize about them. Now we'll remedy that.

The above photo shows several C soprano pendants made by Focalink. Focalink is a Taiwanese manufacturer with a reputation for making ocarinas that are well-tuned, capable musical instruments.

These ocarinas are quite small. For example, look at the orange oc. It measures 2.48" by 2.16" by 1.06". It weighs all of 1.72 ounces. That's tiny!

Here's a close-up of a green plastic pendant against a measuring stick. Most people should be able to get their fingers to fit. If you have difficulty, the trick is to play with your fingertips. That reduces the space you need near the tone holes.

And keep in mind that pendants do vary. Some will give you more finger space than others.

Click on the photo of a musician playing a similarly sized C soprano if you want to see how big they are in action. The video also demonstrates how bright and cheery they can sound in capable hands.

Some assert that the instrument's high-pitched sounds are too high and piercing to listen to for very long. Earplugs can moderate this.

Different instruments produce different decibels. For example, my ceramic Focalink pendant has a milder, sweeter sound than the green plastic pendant in this photo. I wear earplugs when playing the plastic pendant but don't need them when playing my Focalink.

Soprano C pendants make lovely jewelry. With their light weight and a stylish necklace, you can comfortably wear them. They make great conversation starters.

And, with the many clever designs available, they offer attractive collectibles. Some enthusiasts focus on building themed collections of animal pendants, fantasy pendants, or other categories.

Wearing Your Flute

Given that high pitched flutes are small and light, they're catchy and unusual jewelry to wear about your neck with a lanyard or necklace.

But the flute's shape matters, too.

Most people find linear flutes -- like the garklein recorder or the tin whistle -- ill-shaped for wearing.

In contrast, many seedpods fulfill this role well. That's why they're commonly called pendants.

Transverse ocarinas can work, too, especially if they're made from plastic. Plastic is much lighter and more wearable than ceramic.

Play the Bird Flute

Several hundred years ago, people played songs on high flutes to encourage birds to sing. Sometimes they'd play outdoors to whichever birds might respond. More often they held training sessions with their caged pet birds.

High pitched flutes elicit the best response from birds because they sound most like their own voices. Some composers created songs specifically to encourage bird song. For example, see this songbook published in London in 1717.

You can read all about the bird flute and how to teach birds to sing in my article Try Bird Fluting!

The Second Highest Flutes

What if you hands don't fit on the instruments we've discussed so far? Or if your ears won't tolerate them?

One easy solution is to drop down to the second highest-pitched instrument in each category. You can find them in this chart.

This chart comes with one big caveat: the lengths and fingering spans listed here can vary a lot by the manufacturer. With that in mind, let's discuss.

Second Highest Tin Whistle:

For tin whistle, the fundamental only goes down a single whole note, from G to F. That's not much if you didn't like the highest notes on the G whistle.

On the other hand, the fingering span increases by about one inch. That's enough to make the F a much more comfortable fit for many folks.

The next whistles down are in E and E♭. Thus what people call the high whistles descend in the keys of:

The keys of D and G are the most popular.

Second Highest Recorder:

The sopranino recorder is the second highest flute to the garklein. It gains you about one inch in fingering span versus the tiny garklein.

An inch doesn't sound like much, but it's enough for many folks who can't play a garklein to fit their hands on a sopranino.

The sopranino recorder is in the key of F (just like the F tin whistle). That's 4 whole notes lower than the garklein at C6.

It's way easier on the ears than the garklein when playing the highest notes. You won't hear many complaints about the highest notes on a sopranino.

Given these significant differences between the garklein and the sopranino recorders, it's not surprising that the sopranino recorder is relatively common, while the garklein remains a rare bird.

Second Highest Ocarinas:

The G soprano ocarina is the next down from the C soprano.

The transverse ocarina in G soprano is easier to grasp than competing tin whistles and recorders. And, most would agree that its highest notes are more melodic than piercing.

With G soprano pendants, much depends on their shape. In general they're more playable than the C soprano, being 3 whole notes lower and somewhat larger. For example, Lark In the Morning sells several G seedpods that measure 3.25" by 2.5" by 1".

Soprano G ocarinas -- transverse or pendant -- are not especially popular. Most oc players either prefer the C soprano or they drop down a full octave to the lower-voiced Alto C (or C major) ocarina.

Another Alternative

Another alternative to the highest flutes and their piercing sounds is the Coda EDC flute.

The Coda's inline design gives it a comfortable fingering span (see photo).

The Coda distinguishes itself with pleasantly sounding notes throughout its range, including the very highest. It's a good alternative if you want to play high but preserve your hearing.

The Coda's range is two full octaves. That's the same as the widest range of any flute in this article, the high G tin whistle.

The Coda's highest note is C7. In comparison, the highest notes of the high flutes in this article run from A7 down to E7.

This article describes the Coda in detail.

Playing the High Flutes

Thus far we've focused on whether your hands fit high pitched instruments, and whether your ears will tolerate them. But there are other factors to consider.

For example: tiny flutes shine when it comes to ornamentation. They clearly articulate trills, flips, rolls, cuts, and other fancy techniques. Their small size gives them an advantage in this respect because they're more sensitive to small changes in air pressure.

For this reason, many feel that fast-paced tunes fit these instruments perfectly. A quick Celtic song or a fast-paced march might play well on your high flute.

This heightened sensitivity to air pressure also makes it easy to play a nice vibrato. If you need to learn how to play vibrato, start with a high flute. After you gain some facility, you'll find vibrato easier with lower pitched instruments.

Their piercing projection means that these flutes can be heard above an ensemble. It's no accident that high fifes were used by militaries in the 19th century to communicate to troops during battle.

Your flute tunes won't be swallowed up by nature if you play them on a high flute in the forest or the wide open plains.

If your high flute's highest notes are too painful, you can plan to avoid them. One technique is to play tunes that employ a narrow range of notes, and that don't require the instrument's highest notes. Or, transpose a song into to an optimal key to mark down the highest notes.

And you always have the option of dropping down the the second-highest flute in its class if you need to.

Final Words

The highest pitched flutes offer a whole new world to explore. Some songs just sound better in the high range than they do on lower voiced instruments.

The high flutes project well over ensembles and won't deaden in a forest like lower flutes.

You can use them to teach your pet bird to sing, or to communicate with wild birds in the outdoors.

But issues like hand cramp and piericing tones can detract from your enjoyment.

I hope this article has given you useful tips for the high flutes. A well-played, expressive vibrato on a high instrument, or a fast-paced Celtic tune, prove these instruments fulfill useful musical roles.

Related Articles

You may wish to read my related articles: