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Fujara fingering technique

Fujara (overtone bass flute) has range of four octaves, where in its two middle octaves, modern Fujara flutes can play major diatonic (7-note) scale by fingering the three Fujara side holes.
All the traditional fujara melodies develop within these two basic and easily playable fujara octaves (on G Fujara: g - g¹ - g²), mostly around the middle of the Fujara scale (on G Fujara: d¹-d² in mixolydian mode). Sometimes the melody is played on the lowest fujara notes creating thus special effect called "humming". These two basic fujara octaves start with the 2nd and end with the 8th overtone.

The forth, highest fujara octave, is played merely by overblowing the overtones creating thus a harmonic scale - overtones played with all holes closed

.

Also see Fingering charts developed by Clint Goss.

Fujara Fingering technique:

Fujara is a folk instrument and due to its construction it is not always possible to play all these notes precisely. So, it is not a fault of your Fujara flute if it plays some of the notes little higher or lower ! If you require precise tuning on all tones, look for our precisely tuned Folkart Slovakia fujara marked with 5 stars in tuning.
Find out more about Fujara flute tuning.

 
F key Fujara f g a a#
(bb)
a#¹
(bb¹)
G key Fujara g a h (b) f¹# f#²
A key Fujara a h (b) c#¹ f#¹ g#¹ c#² f#² g#²
- closed hole,
- open hole
 c¹ - Middle C (C4, f=261.6)

Though it is still possible to play higher or lower tones not included in this scale, they are more difficult to play and therefore not used in traditional melodic playing.

The higher in fujara scale one goes, the less important becomes the fingering and on contrary more important becomes the precise strength of the in-blown air by overblowing the flute's overtones.

Fujara is traditionally played in its mixolydian mode:
  • F key Fujara: range: f - myxolydian mode c¹ - c²
  • G key Fujara: mixolydian mode d¹ - d²
  • A key Fujara: mixolydian mode e¹ - e²

How to blow the Fujara?

When you are holding your Fujara flute comfortably, blow directly into the mouthpiece hole. Fujara is basically an overtone flute, where the height of tone is controlled mainly by the strength of in-blown air. As you can see in the fingering chart above, e.g. with all holes closed you can play 6 different notes - (on G Fujara: g d¹ g¹ h¹ d² g²). The difference between these notes is the strength of in-blown air only. This applies to all the notes sharing the same fingering, with a rule that a higher note requires higher air pressure.

Little exercise:

Take your fujara flute, adjust your position to hold it comfortably and close all three fingering holes. Now, try to find all these notes (= harmonic series of overtones, on G Fujara: g d¹ g¹ h¹ d² g²... download, all the fingering holes are closed) by changing the strength of your breath only:

  1. First, blow your fujara overtone bass flute really gently and try to find the Fujara fundamental (2nd overtone - g on G fujara)
  2. Pause blowing and start to blow little stronger to get the next overtone (d¹ on G fujara). Pause again, and blow even little stronger to get the next one (g¹ on G fujara) .

Try to get all these successive overtones (from 2nd to 8th) by pausing the breath and then heightening the blowing pressure (little by little) for each next overtone. It is important to separate the overtones by pauses in breath (legato mostly doesn't work) to "hit" the note correctly.
...

Fujara can play these overtones:
( all fingering holes closed, playable by overblowing only)

overtone (harmonics) Fujara in F Fujara in G Fujara in A description Variance
16 (F6) (G6) (A6) octave (double - 16/8), 0 cents
15 (E6) f#³ (F#6) g#³ (G#6) major seventh (15/8) -12 cents
14 e#³ (E#6) (F6) (G6) flat minor seventh (double of 7 - 14/8) -31 cents
13 (D6) (E6) f#³ (F#6) sharp major sixth (13/8) +41 cents
12 (C6) (D6) (E6) perfect fifth (second double of 3 - 12/8) +2 cents
11 a#² (Bb5) (C6) (D6) flat perfect fourth (11/8) -49 cents
10 (A5) (H5) c#³ (C#6) major third (double of 5 - 10/8) -14 cents
9 (G5) (A5) (H5) major second - tonus (9/8) +4 cents
8 (F5) (G5) (A5) octave (double - 8/4),
here ends our Fujara Fingering <<
0 cents
7 (E5) (F5) (G5) flat minor seventh (7/4) -31 cents
6 (C5) (D5) (E5) perfect fifth (double of 3 - 6/4) +2 cents
5 (A4) (h4) c#² (C#5) major third (5/4) -14 cents
4 (F4) (G4) (A4) octave (double - 4/2) 0 cents
3 (C4) (D4) (E4) perfect fifth (3/2) +2 cents
2 f(F3) g (G3) a (A3) octave (double - 2/1),
>> here starts our Fujara Fingering
0 cents
1 F (G2) G (G2) A (A2) Fundamental (1/1 - contrabass octave)
» not playable on all Fujara flutes «
0 cents

Overtone Series: The Western chromatic scale has been modified into twelve equal semitones, and in relation to that scale, many of the harmonics are slightly out of tune, and the 7th, 11th, and 13th harmonics are significantly so. Among the first eight partials, the fundamental, second, fourth, and eighth partials are relatively well in-tune (the fundamental is considered the first partial). The third and sixth partials are slightly sharp, while the fifth is slightly flat. The seventh partial quarter-tone flat. Variance below 5 cents is not noticable by human ear.

Fujara (overtone bass flute) is capable to play EASILY & NICELY in 7 overtone levels, starting with 2nd and ending in 8th overtone, where by fingering of its 3 holes we get full major diatonic scale :

  • Fujara in F key : from f (F3) - up to f² (F5), traditionally played in its mixolydian mode: c¹ - c²
  • Fujara in G key : from g (G3) - up to g² (G5), traditionally played in its mixolydian mode: d¹ - d²
  • Fujara in A key : from a (A3) - up to a² (A5), traditionally played in its mixolydian mode: e¹ - e²
>> FAQ about Fujara playing technique ?

Harmonic series explained in detail


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