Fife

What it means

The fife is a small, high-sounding transverse flute with a narrow bore, plain construction, and usually only a few keys or none at all. Traditionally it is made of wood and has six finger holes. Its sound is sharp, bright, and extraordinarily penetrating — a property that makes it suitable for use outdoors and beside drums. It differs from the orchestral piccolo through its simpler mechanism and its harsher, more overtone-rich tone.

Musical use

Its home is military and marching-band music, in which it has appeared together with drums for centuries. Armies from Switzerland and southern Germany used it as early as the 15th century; by the 16th century it was a standard instrument of European infantry. In this scoring it takes the melody while the drums carry rhythm and signal function. The repertoire consists of marches, signals, and song tunes, often in few keys that suit the fingering technique. Since the simple construction does not comfortably allow a complete chromatic scale, the melodies are tailored to it. Newer instruments with 10 or 11 finger holes, by contrast, are fully chromatic: the thumbs and little fingers play the accidentals. Today the fife lives on in marching bands, in historical performance practice, and in regional traditions.

Performance practice

The embouchure demands a very concentrated, fast airstream because the embouchure hole is small; work first on a stable note in the middle register before tackling the high register. On the keyless six-hole fife you produce chromatic notes with cross-fingerings or by half-holing individual finger holes; both must be practised patiently. Expect the intonation to wander with volume and to have to be balanced through the embouchure. In a band or ensemble, the tuning must be settled jointly, since instruments of different makers deviate from one another. Keep the wood cared for by oiling and let it dry after playing.

Many ensembles therefore play instruments of a uniform type so that the fifers sound well together. Check the tuning together and fix the fingering chart for the semitones used as binding. Outdoors the sound carries far, yet you hear each other poorly — stand closer together and follow the drum.