NOVICA Decorative Wood Traditional Peruvian Quena Flute, Brown, Jacaranda'

Beautifully made quena in the key of G (sol), at a great price. The papers that come with it only give finger placement for one octave and don't show a note chart, but G is (sol), so just take it up from there. You can look up quena finger placement for more octaves and accidentals online (Pinterest, Google images, etc..). YouTube also has instructional videos as well as clips of people playing many classic and current songs on different types of quenas. If you new to the quena, you may have difficulty creating a clear resonance or even any resonance at all if you are unfamiliar with the mouth placement and how to blow. You have to direct the airflow across the blade so that the air gets bisected by the mouth piece going half into the flute and half outside of it. Placement of the flute at the chin as well as the angle you hold the flute at may have to be altered and adjusted as well as how loose or tightly you direct the airflow (looser flow equals lower sound, tighter air stream results in a higher pitched sound even with same finger placement. Basically, air flow can change the octave you are in.). Don't get discouraged! oui may get it right away, or get it but not be consistent. It can take a month or more to get truly proficient creating a clear resonance on the quena with any consistency, but it's well worth it! The finger holes are very large as well and are easier to cover if you hold your fingers at approximately a 45 degreee angle to the quena body rather than a 90 degreee angle and use the pads of your finger, not the tips, to cover the holes and get a good seal. This is a great quality Quena at an afforadable price and well worth the patience and practice to play it. I can also recommend a Native American Flute by Grey Fox in A# Minor (from Amazon) which has an open hole mouth piece that you simply blow into and smaller finger holes. Both are amazing for the quality and price!

I have a wide variety of flutes but, due to some recent medical problems, I can no longer turn my head adequately to properly play my transverse flutes. I have a Shakuhachi vertical head joint being built for my classic flute so I can get back to playing but I got impatient and started looking for a flute I could play now. I stumbled across this Novica Quena, which has a very similar embouchure to the Japanese Shakuhachi flute and, for this price figured I couldn't go too far wrong.I received my Quena yesterday and spent the evening playing it. The tone is warm, the intonation is spot on. This is an amazing value for such a quality musical instrument.The Novica Quena uses a large bore with a smaller end hole to improve intonation across all three octaves similar to the tapered bore of a classic flute.The hole pattern is the same as a penny whistle or simple flute with the addition of a thumb hole on the underside. Surprise! The thumb hole adds some clarity to the highest note in the first octave but, after you practice a bit to polish your intonation at octave changes, you can just leave the thumb hole closed and play it with the same fingerings as a simple flute. All flute cross fingerings work as you expect to play sharps and flats.I don't know why but I was loath to leave the house this morning without it. Maybe I'll sneak down to my car at lunch time and get in some practice.P.S. The holes on this quena are quite large, which makes for a big sound but could present a problem for kids or other small fingered players.

Do not buy this if you have no experience playing a wood instrument. It is extremely difficult to get any tone and you will get frustrated and probably blow out along trying to learn it. It says for beginners, I completely disagree. I’ve had such a difficult time I’ve come to wonder if maybe it was constructed wrong. If you don’t have a good lungs and the patience of Job, I would not recommend as a beginner. It will end up sitting on a shelf as a paperweight.

Received this flute today and I am impressed with the quality and sound. It is nicely made with a nice case, the wood looks great, the embouchure notch is smooth and symmetrical. It could be decorative if that's all you wanted it for......but what a waste. It sounds great! I am getting almost a full second octave after an hour or so and the resonance is deep and not very airy. I am a very much an amateur hobbyist flute player(I usually just noodle around, hopefully in the woods) so I don't think it would take anyone too long to have decent results, and you will keep getting better with time.If you haven't played end blown flutes you should know that they are tricky and you will have to spend some time before you can get a good sound. As far as end blown flutes go I find this one to be fairly easy to play. Easier than bamboo but possibly more limited in timbral range. We will see.Just wanted to mention that this is a good sounding flute since, unless you have experience with these types of flutes, you might not be able to tell. It might be easier to start with a side blown flute if the difficulty sounds daunting. If you are totally new to flutes or breath powered instruments you should know that they are very relaxing since controlling the breath has that as a side effect.

I'm not a musician, but figured I could learn at least the basics. I can't figure out how to make any sound except blowing air. Not one note. I've watched YouTube videos, and a reviewer on Amazon seemed to do ok. So either I'm not genetically capable of making the right shape with my lips or the flute was not cut right. I'm at a loss. I have tried this many times at different angles, each time giving up in frustration. Then I'll dig it out again sometime later. Still can't play a note.In other news, the plastic thread wrappings (like fishing line) came off the first time I tried to use it. The fabric case looks, cool, though.

This is a beautiful instrument. I did not realize it would be Impossible for me to produce a sound from it. So disappointing. I will return the one I received and get another one. I will not give up.