It's Easy To Make Music

How To Play The Fife

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THE FIFE

Who is there that hasn't thrilled to the piercing shrilling of
the fifes as a fife and drum corps marches past in a parade
playing "The Girl I Left Behind Me" or some other stirring
march song? To many Americans the fife is as grand an instru-
ment as are the bagpipes to a Scotsman.

Many Boy Scouts learn to play the fife and many other young
people who are members of school and academy fife and drum
corps master it after a little practice. The only hard thing about
it is learning to blow into the mouth hole or embouchure to
produce the tone. With only six holes, however, it is the easiest
of the wood wind instruments to play and usually can be
learned fairly well in a couple of weeks if you practice every
day.

Making the Notes

Hold the fife with both hands in a nearly horizontal position
and projecting out to your right. Cover the three holes nearest
your mouth with the first three fingers of the left hand. Cover
the other three holes with the first three fingers of the right
hand. The right hand little finger rests on the fife beyond the
last hole.

Now tighten your lips a little by using the muscles at the
corners of your mouth and blow across the blow hole so the
air strikes its inner wall. Instead of blowing straight down, you
blow at an angle, so some of the air goes into the fife and some
passes over the farther edge of the blow hole.

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