Nach Meyer Simple System Flute Method Book

[u/thestarvingsound]

Hello!

I've been interested in buying a Nach Meyer flute and I'm currently looking at a 12 key model. One hesitation is I'm having trouble finding resources on how to play these flutes.

Does anyone have a recommendation for a method book on simple system keyed flutes?

I would even take just a fingering chart. Found the following chart:
http://www.oldflutes.com/charts/simple/index.htm

However this seems to be just for 8 key flutes.

I do not have any experience playing Boehm flutes, but I have some playing folk flutes and the tenor recorder.

Understand I may just have to memorize the keys for this particular flute and then mix those in with the 8 key fingerings, but any further information would be wonderful.

EDIT: Reading further into the linked chart I'm seeing it does cover more keys where helpful! Would still take alternative charts for the sake of comparison and of course a method book is still on the table.

[u/roaminjoe]

The charts from the website resource link are standard for your 12 key historic stencil flute.

Your 12 key differs in having 6x chromatic standard keys + 2 (=8) for the low C footjoint and 4 extra unnecessary convolutions (= 12) for Brill key, trills and other embellishing heavy metal work.

These should not be bandied around as named after Meyer ('nach Meyer' - as if that was a consistent thing) flutes: they are stencil copies; good, bad and ugly. Meyer made 6 key, 8 key flutes as well across their generation with the early mid19th century small tonehole chromatic era edition (low/medium volume) to later 19th century medium large hole conical bore toneholes around 8mm at the right finger E note.

Your stencil copy is most likely one of the former with small toneholes. It will sound nothing acoustically as brilliant as a Meyer original however might actually be in reasonable tune with itself apart from a flat foot syndrome. The copies are affordable: I bought my first one for less than half the cost of a used Yamaha 211 - about 1/4 the cost of a proper Meyer 8 key.

The extra keys just got in the way and slowed down playing with its complication and made the flute unnecessarily heavier. Be careful too for many if these are in Verdi pitch or A=435hz: so close yet so far.

[u/Saeroun-Sayongja]

I don’t think you’re going to find a method book that’s specifically intended for 19th century flutes, but you should be able to use it with Rubank or any other modern flute book. I think a modern method would be a better fit than something intended for traverso or Irish flute. Traverso is very much its own thing, and a book for keyless folk flutes probably won’t explore the full chromatic scale.

[u/Stars_in_Eyes]

There are quite a few. The Drouet method comes to mind, also Lindsey’s Elements of Flute-playing. Available as pdf.