One is faced with many choices when looking for an Irish flute. By "Irish flute" we mean a flute, most commonly in the key of D, that is well-suited to playing traditional Irish music, with all of its nuance and subtlety. While some people play Irish music extremely well on modern, metal Boehm-system flutes, the vast majority of Irish flute players (Grey included) prefer the 19th-century wooden, simple-system flutes, or modern instruments based upon these 19th-century models. These are the kinds of flutes we sell. We do not sell modern, metal flutes.
Please select one of the Flute categories listed below to learn more about it.
Terry McGee's Grey Larsen Preferred Flute. Grey's favorite choice of all flutes is Terry McGee's Grey Larsen Preferred model. Click here to read about it, hear Grey play it and see photos of it. A limited supply is available here with no waiting period.
The models we offer for immediate delivery are keyless (with or without tuning slide) and the six-key model, all in African blackwood and sterling silver. From time to time we are have in stock keyless models made of Delrin, a polymer material that is attractive to players who fear that their climate, camping activities or performance situations are just too harsh for wood. We can get Delrin flutes (keyless or keyed) by special order.
The Grey Larsen Preferred model (also popularly known as the GLP) is a wonderful choice for people who want or need a more phyiscally comfortable flute. It has relatively small finger holes, a smaller-than-usual outside diameter, and a lighter weight. This makes it very well-suited for players with smaller hands or hand impairments. The smaller finger holes also make the GLP one of the most nimble and responsive flutes available, qualities that Grey values very highly in the execution of Irish ornamentation techniques. He also finds that it has a lovely range of tonal qualities that he doesn't often find with larger-holed flutes.
Casey Burns' Flutes. Casey Burns' Folk Flute fills the need that many players have for an excellent economy-priced flute in the key of D. Click here to read about it, hear Grey play it and see photos. At $375.00, it is truly a great value. It is a very fine instrument, not only for the beginner, but for the experienced player on a budget.
The Folk Flute, and all of the Burns flute models, are available with two finger hole spacing options, the Ergonomic Standard and the Ergonomic Small-Handed. The latter is the most comfortable finger-spacing that we have ever seen for small-handed flute players. This is one of Casey Burns' specialties, and in our opinion he has achieved the best level of comfort we know of for those players with small or impaired hands.
In addition to the Folk Flute, we can sell you any of the Casey Burns flute models, all of which Grey recommends highly. This includes his keyed flutes, and flutes in a wide variety of pitch levels. Please contact Grey to make arrangments. Buying your Burns flute through us helps to support the work Grey is doing in creating Irish flute and tin whistle instructional materials, and we are very grateful for your help in this regard.
Original 19th-Century Flutes. At times, Grey has some original 19th-century flutes available for sale. Almost all of these are keyed flutes (8-key is the most common configuration), and sometimes they are quite inexpensive compared to comparable keyed flutes from today's makers. Of course, when we have these, they are available without any waiting period. (Modern makers usually require a waiting period of 18 months to five or six years for a new keyed flute.) Grey feels that the very best Irish flutes are the ones being made by today's finest makers. But if you want a good-playing keyed flute right now, at a price often below the fine modern models, these flutes may serve you quite well. Please contact Grey if you are interested in this kind of flute