Roy's School of the Fife - Part Two - Playing the D Scale (with Fifer Roy Wulf)

[@thewintergardener2873]

Such a close & important association between the Fife and our early American Military History... Thank you for having a role in keeping (and teaching) the legacy and sounds of this wonderful instrument alive for future generations.....

[@mr.roywulf]

I'm so pleased that you like my instructional videos! I will be posting more soon. :)

[@MarkWYoung-ky4uc]

Great tutorial Mr. Roy. Fife music always makes me happy!

[@mr.roywulf]

Thank you, sir! So glad to increase happiness by any legal means available! :)

[@visionpiping1048]

So clearly explained. I am looking forward to the next videos.

[@mr.roywulf]

Thank you, my friend. More lessons will be on the way fairly soon.

[@sp00k48]

I have an ACW event this weekend where I'll be fifing, so great timing! Thank you Mr. Roy Wulf! Actually, one thing though.. I noticed watching this that I play the fife over the left shoulder, opposite to how you play it. Is that an issue? It doesn't seem to affect sound at all and I don't really want to relearn all the fingerings and songs.

[@mr.roywulf]

Oh great! So happy to be of service. Well, if you started off playing the instrument backwards but it sounds fine, I don't see any particular reason to relearn. I'm sure in the past people learned to play however they figured it out.

[@henry6644]

This is great, this tutorial was very helpful for learning how to play notes, unfortunately I don’t play fife

[@mr.roywulf]

Well, if you ever give it a try, these videos will be here. As I say, being a fifer, drummer, or bugler is a great way for someone who is too young to carry a firearm to participate in reenactments of historical battles. I may do a school of the bugle series later.

[@stevensheldon9271]

Wow. Just started playing today. Already I was able to figure out D1, D2, and D3, which are achieved just by blowing harder! I was wondering how to get around the octaves! And now I can tell I am playing correct notes!

[@mr.roywulf]

That's excellent! Keep up the good work. I'm going to be posting Part 5 shortly, and then Part 6 will be coming along soon after that.

[@elimati100]

Great video! I have a problem and i hope you can help me with it. My fife seems to be in E. When i play the D3 position, it sounds like an E, and when i play the E position, it sounds like a F#. I have a good ear and i use an online piano for comparison. I can always transpose so the fact that my fife is in the key of E ain't a problem in itself. My problem is that when i play the D2 position like you do (low D), i don't get any sound. The fingering chart that came with my fife says that i need to cover every hole in order to get a low D (D2 or rather E in my case), and not leave the first hole open like you do. When i do that (cover every hole but the first and blow gentler), i do get a note but it sounds flat, E flat in fact, instead of regular E. I wonder if there's something wrong with my technique. Do you have any idea?

[@mr.roywulf]

I will see if I can figure out what might be happening. First of all, can you tell me the manufacturer of this fife or any other information about it? There are indeed fifes pitched in different keys, and it would be helpful to know more about it.