A new 6 week Semester in Tinwhistle, Irish concert Flute, Tenor Banjo and Mandolin will begin at the Greater Danbury Irish Cultural Center (GDICC) www.gdicc.org on February 23rd, 2013. All levels are welcome. If you're 7 years of age, you are ready to take lessons.
If you don't have an instrument, the whistle is very inexpensive and you may be able to purchase one from Kate's Irish Gifts in Danbury. Here is the link: www.katesirishgifts.com
The Irish Flute is different from the Silver Flute in many aspects. Not least of which is it's made of wood. There are just too many types of wood to list here. As such, when the wood warms up from playing, it elicits a beautifully haunting, woodsy tone. Most flute beginners start off on a keyless, simple system flute (trust me, that doesn't mean it's simple at all). If you're a beginner, you will start off by getting to know your instrument and how to achieve a good embouchure.....which will result in getting a good tone. It is of the utmost importance that you achieve this before moving on. If you are just trying to learn new tunes, you won't be satisfied with the end result as you will be unable to progress to the next level. So, I promote different playing exercises to improve the quality of your tone and breath control from the beginning.
If you don't have a flute, let me know. I have a couple of extra flutes myself, or, I can recommend other colleagues that can provide you with one.
Regarding the Banjo, (I only work with the 4 string), which is defined as a Tenor. This instrument is used primarily for playing entire melodies as opposed to a 5 string which is known for playing chords. If you don't have an instrument, you can take a look at some of the local music shops in the area. There are a couple that carry both Banjos & Mandolins. For a beginner instrument, you won't need to invest a lot of money, they are relatively inexpensive.
