The instrument I’m holding in my hand is a Native American flute, although a musicologist would tell you it’s actually a block end whistle. It has a pentatonic five-note scale, which goes like this: one, two, three. This thumb – finger held down. Excuse me, which goes like this.
[plays music]
Those basic five notes. And the flute it’s said is made from the branch of a tree that was hollow, broken off at the end, and a woodpecker made holes in it. So, this part is called the branch. This is called the bird, the external block end, which is a fipple that connects the air, brings it down from one chamber to the other. And where it sits is called the bird’s nest.
[plays music]
And that song I just played is one called “The Song of the Wind.” It was taught to me by Swift Eagle, a Pueblo Apache elder 38 years ago.
