Yamaha YRF21 Fife

I should state from the outset that am not a trained musician. I can hold a tune when singing and I have a reasonable appreciation of pitch. I was introduced to this instrument via a recording of an artist called Wouter Kellerman. I did a bit of research and noted that many people consider the fife to be a challenging instrument. Unlike a tin (penny) whistle or recorder the process of creating a note isn't straightforward, it's more akin to blowing across the top of a bottle. Thankfully the little ridge gives a good indication of where one's bottom lip should rest. On the first day I was glad I got a tin whistle to fall back on because getting anything other than an airy hiss out of the fife seemed impossible. However, after 30 minutes I was intermittently getting a warm, bright tone. The instrument sounds *wonderful* but it does take work. If the past three days are anything to go by I hope to progress quite quickly because frankly, I cannot put this thing down. I've noted a number of people (on Amazon US) stating that this is not a fife, it's a transverse recorder and giving it a a poor review as a result. I'm so glad I ignored those opinions; I don't care what this instrument is called, all I know is how satisfying it is to play and how lovely it sounds. My only criticism is that the instruction sheet, whilst it does demonstrate the scale, does not indicate how one needs to blow. However, a little bit of research demonstrates the technique required. Hey, for a little over £6 the latter is totally forgiveable.

I bought mine from eBay, but around the same price. It's a wonderful instrument for the price, great quality and a really nice tone. It is not a toy, this is a great instrument. With that said, I don't agree with the Fife title. A Fife is just a simple small six holed flute with a higher "shrill" than you will manage from the warm sound of the YRF21, I would like to described this as a bare bones piccolo, that's not an insult, it really is a lovely tone. Though ultimately they are all from the flute family, so certainly well placed for learning the techniques needed to play this type of instrument. You can use this for folk music of course, though being in the key of C seems to aim it more towards the classical end. You would want to move to an instrument in G, D or Bb at some point for folk music which naturally place F#. All in all though, this is a fine instrument and more than worth the price!

I actually really like it. I had considered buying a more expensive wooden fife, but thought against it in case "I couldn't get the hang of it" and at least I wouldn't have spent quite so much on a cheaper instrument if I couldn't happen to play it. This is the first time I have tried to play a fife or any side-playing instrument, so I was not sure I would be able to get any whistle out of it. I know when I was at school, there was someone with a flute who could never get any sounds out of it (they always sounded like they were blowing the top of an empty bottle). However, within literally seconds, I was getting the descant recorder type sound coming from it, which I was very pleased about! The one thing I did find, however, was that my left arm and fingers soon became very sore through my gripping the fife too tightly. I suppose, not being used to this type of instrument, and only being used to different kinds of recorder where you can be more relaxed when playing the notes, made a huge difference. This is on me, and I have to learn to relax my arms 'a lot!' for me to play it comfortably. As this fife has a groove indicator to show you the correct position to blow, it helped me get the sounds quickly, thereby enabling me get a tune out of it within seconds. I had read (from other reviews) that if you can get the hang of playing the fife, then you will find it easier to play a flute or similar. I have always wanted to play flute, and, on the strength of my now getting a tune out of the fife, I have now ordered a flute and I can't wait to try it out when I get it!

Very odd flute. The fingerholes are placed very tricky and that make this flute very difficult to use. It's a bit ticky to get the clean tones. The tones itself are very high-pitched.

Yes, this instrument can be seen merely as a stepping stone to a Boehm flute, but it really is a fascinating instrument on its own. Yes it takes some practice to get a musical sound from it at first, but is that not so with any instrument? Just wait until diaphragm vibrato kicks in and you will find this ivory-coloured lump of plastic can produce a sophisticated sound. It can be played fairly quietly, but how many instruments can effectively accompany drums at such an economical price. It is fun, a challenge and opens up a world of military fife tunes, so has a repertoire, despite not being historically authentic. Enjoy it.

Traditional Scottish flute. Good to start or continue.

Arrived very quickly. It is a lovely little instrument. I would say OK for children who are thoughtful and have some instruction. It is a neat little instrument you can take everywhere. You can play it out loud, or practice at the level of a whisper if you are just going through a piece of music and want a rough idea of it sounds, which is very useful if you live in crowded conditions. It sounds nicer than the recorder and isn't really difficult to play. If you can whistle, you can play this instrument. [...]

It never worked. A complete waste of money. I bought it as a gift for my husband and you can't get a sound out of it.

good product, delayed deliovery.

Suonando il lauto traverso, l'ho preso come strumento "da campo", da portare dietro in situazioni in cui non avrei tempo di provvedere alla mautenzione del suo collega in argento o in cui semplicemente non mi sento di portar dietro uno strumento che, pur non essendo in oro, è pur sempre relativamente costoso. Il fattore decisivo è stato il prezzo. Per imparare a sunare il flauto traverso è comunque necessario un "vero" flauto traverso (anche primo prezzo), ma questo può essere utile per insegnare le basi o per testare l'effettivo interesse di un bambino che abbia espresso propensione per questo strumento. In sostanza: funziona bene, e per 8€ è già abbastanza.

Uns wurde diese Kunststoff-Querflöte von der zukünftigen Flötenlehrerin meiner 6-jährigen Tochter empfohlen, da sie es nicht mehr erwarten konnte, endlich Querflöte zu spielen! Anfangs war es für sie sehr schwer diesem Plastikding einen Ton zu entlocken - doch mit etwas Übung und Ehrgeiz gelingt ihr das jetzt schon recht gut und sie konnte die Zeit bis jetzt bald ihre Musikstunden losgehen gut überbrücken und schon etwas an ihrer Lippentechnik arbeiten ;-) Die Querflöte ist, wie gesagt, etwas schwer zu bespielen und man muss schon recht scharf blasen um ihr einen Ton zu entlocken, der allerdings (für diesen Preis) recht passabel klingt... :-)

People who say this isn't a fife are right. It's a piccolo! I play the flute and also have a standard piccolo, and this is the same, but without keys. This instrument is very well designed and beautifully crafted, or factory made at any rate. It has a winged lipped plate, which means there is a wing shaped riser on top of the lip plate, which is nicely molded in one piece to the headjoint. The wing design is a feature you would find only on a custom flute headjoint costing well over $1000. On flute, the wing design is supposed to help players who produce an excessive amount of extra air noise in their tone. Personally, on flute, I don't like the wing for the type of tone I produce, but it looks nice, and it probably helps some people. Just the overall shape and form of this instrument is beautiful too. It is in C, and like the piccolo, sounds an octave above the flute. Unlike the three octave range of a piccolo, this instrument has only a two octave range with an extra third, so C2 to C3, C3 to C4, and C4 to E4. I haven't played it long enough, but it can probably be pushed higher. I hit a G4 on it already. I recommend using ear plugs, or at least cotton in the ears to protect your hearing if you're going up above G in the second octave anyway. This does not produce a rich sound like the flute, but is very much like the piccolo, an instrument which when played enough, can damage your hearing. Professional piccolo players have sometimes lost part of their hearing, and they know to practice with their ears protected. As a flute teacher posted here, this is the ideal starting instrument for a child of any age who wants to play the flute. Or maybe,an adult, who regrets not trying to learn the flute, should try this first. Why start on a $500+ beginner flute, when for less than $7, if you can learn to blow this after trying for a month or two, and can't put it down, then fine, step up to a flute. If you can't play it, then you've saved yourself hundreds of dollars. Before I started on flute, I bought an inexpensive pipe at a music store and probably drove my parents crazy playing it. There is a lot more linkage between this "fife" and a flute than there is a recorder and flute. Unless you play the flute or piccolo, start slowly on this, otherwise it will make you dizzy. Of course, being a flute/piccolo player, I was able to play this right away, but it is by no means easy to play. I think the flute is probably easier for a brand new beginner. Although for a child of 7, the finger stretch on this is better than flute. My one regret isn't about this instrument specifically, but I wish Yamaha would make something just like this but as big as they can make it, at least to Eb, pushing the finger stretch to that of a tenor recorder or so (which would need a key or two), because this thing would sound beautiful if it were longer. My other suggestion is to experiment with rotating the headjoint as much as you like, and see if that helps your tone, or helps you to produce a tone. Try to produce a tone with minimal tension in your lips. Some people mistakenly think that to produce a sound on the flute or piccolo you have to tighten up your mouth and raise the corners up, when in reality most top players have relatively relaxed lips, with corners of the mouth down a little bit. This is a great little instrument and easily worth $30+. Since the people on YouTube who demo this can't play it at all really, I hope to make some videos which show more of its potential.

Aucun son ne sort de cette instrument