Yes, today is my birthday....

I became interested in buying an Indian Bansuri flute, 6 finger holes with western E scale. It is quite long, about 30 inches and made from a single section of bamboo, without intermediate knots.

A few questions:
- Anybody plays or has tried a similar flute?
- when described as "E, western sale", does it mean that the lowest note is an E?
- If so, which "E" would it be on the Böhm flute (if at all present on a C or B modern flute)

Thanks!

Happy Birthday Jose Luis! (mine is next week) My son has a flute similar to yours. I believe it does mean the lowest note is E but not sure which one. You can probably play it against a piano to know for sure. He plays beautifully on his. I can barely play it, but not nearly the beautiful music I play with my Yamaha. But it should be fun for you to experiment Good luck.

Thanks. No, I do not have the flute yet, so I cannot test it with piano or a tuner.

Happy Birhtday Jose!

Look forward to hear if you have any success with playing the Bansuri. It seems so big and probably difficult to play. Should be a lot of fun, though!

hey happy birthday jose it was mine on dec 2nd hope ya had a great day

Congrats you too!

Happy Birthday!

My family is Pakistani and we've always had a Bansuri in the house, but I just started learning it a few months ago....

I dont know what it means by Western E Scale. But if you know its tonic, that is the note it will be when the first three holes are covered, for example, my Bansuri (19 inches) Has a tonic of C, its highest note is D#7. Its lowest note is G4.

It seems like your going to have a bass bansuri, so your probably going to have to cover the tone holes with the middlesection of your fingers. Good luck!

Thank you for message and wishes. Interesting information, too.

I am awaiting a reply from my friend in India who is in contact with the artisan. But have had no news for a while.

In fact, I do not know what its tonic might be. I do not think it could be an E, it would give B as lowest note, probably one octave lower that the Böhm C flute with a B foot. Too low, I guess.

Your flute, having a G4 as lowest note could resemble the Böhm Alto flute, but an octave higher? And it also seems to be a transposing instrument when playing western music, sounding a quarter below than written.

Anyway, I get more and more confused about all this.

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I also feel concerned by your comment about the tone hole sizes. I have thin and long fingers and the middle sections of them are not much wider than the tips. How wide are the holes on your Bansuri (their diameter in mm or inches)?

The holes on my bansuri are about a half an inch, I can use my fingertips, but My father recommended I play with the center of my finger, If I ever decided to play a bass. I still play with my fingertips because I probably wont. I dont think you have to worry, Im sure your fingers dont have to be too thick, the holes shouldn't be too big.