# Flute circle
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{{Short description|Organization of musicians}}
thumb|right|350px|Participants playing Native American flutes at a flute circle
A '''flute circle''' is an organization of musicians which focuses on the [Native American flute](/source/Native_American_flute).
Flute circles typically meet periodically to engage in educational and recreational
activities surrounding the instrument.
Most flute circles offer instruction on the Native American flute,
especially for flutists who are new to the instrument.
Many flute circles have a facilitator with experience in group music facilitation and
[humanistic music education](/source/humanistic_education)
to structure the activities and the music-making.[
{{cite thesis
| author1 = Mary Jane Jones
| title = Revival and Community: The History and Practices of a Native American Flute Circle
| type = M.A.
| publisher = Kent State University, College of the Arts / School of Music
| date = August 2010
}}
]
This use of the Native American flute in community music is notably different from traditional uses of the
instrument for courtship, hunting, or ceremony.[
{{cite journal
| author1 = Frances Densmore
| title = Music of Acoma, Isleta, Cochiti, and Zuñi Pueblos
| journal = Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology
| volume = 165
| publisher = United States Government Printing Office
| place = Washington, D.C.
| year = 1957
}}
]
This new use of the instrument has not been without controversy,
and flute circles are generally advised to use the instrument in a respectful manner because of
these considerations.[
{{cite journal
| author1 = Edward Wapp, Jr.
| title = The American Indian Courting Flute: Revitalization and Change
| series = Contemporary American Indian Issues Series, Number 5
| journal = Sharing a Heritage: American Indian Arts, Edited by Charlotte Heth and Michael Swarm
| publisher = American Indian Studies Center, UCLA
| place = Los Angeles
| year = 1984
| pages = 49–60
}}
]
Flute circle participants may span a wide range of experience and training in music —
from professionals to novice flutists or enthusiasts
of the Native American flute.[{{cite web
|url=http://www.worldflutesociety.org/flute_circles_clubs_and_groups/
|title=Flute Circles, Clubs, and Groups
|work=WFS
|author=World Flute Society
|year=2016
|accessdate=2016-02-18
|archive-date=2016-02-11
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160211234521/http://www.worldflutesociety.org/flute_circles_clubs_and_groups
|url-status=dead
}}]
Many flute circles focus on raising the level of [musicality](/source/musicality) of the participants
across a range of levels of musical experience using basic [song forms](/source/Ternary_form), [music improvisation](/source/Musical_improvisation), and techniques of experiential [music education](/source/music_education).
These techniques include [duet](/source/duet) and [ensemble](/source/Musical_ensemble) improvisation forms that include [drone](/source/Drone_(music))s, [ostinato](/source/ostinato) patterns, and [call and response](/source/call_and_response) forms.[
{{cite book
| author1 = James Oshinsky
| title = Return to Child — Music for People's Guide to Improvising Music and Authentic Group Leadership
| edition = Second
| date = January 2008
}}
]{{rp|21–25}}
Facilitation forms include ''traveling ensembles'', ''showcasing'', ''segmenting'', and general ''conducted improvisations'' —
techniques that are shared with other community music structures such as
[drum circle](/source/drum_circle)s.[
{{cite book
| author1 = Arthur Hull
| title = Drum Circle Spirit: Facilitating Human Potential Through Rhythm
| publisher = White Cliffs Media
| date = 1998
| isbn = 0-941677-84-2
}}][
{{cite book
| author1 = Arthur Hull
| title = Drum Circle Facilitation
| publisher = Village Music Circles
| date = 2006
| isbn = 0-9724307-1-7
}}
]
While some flute circles focus on aspects of [indigenous cultures](/source/Indigenous_peoples)
and [indigenous peoples of the Americas](/source/indigenous_peoples_of_the_Americas),
they do not typically relate to a single culture or tribe.[
{{cite journal
| author1 = James H. Howard
| title = Pan-Indianism in Native American Music and Dance
| journal = Ethnomusicology
| volume = 27
| issue = 1
| date = 1983
| pages = 71–82
| doi = 10.2307/850883
| jstor = 850883
}}
]
Flute circles can also organize events for participants to play at events,
festivals, school presentations,
or in service settings such as senior centers, elder facilities, and group homes.
Flute circles have also engaged in their own concerts, produced music albums,
and broadcast live music performances.[
{{cite journal
| author1 = Clint Goss
| title = Thriving Flute Circles
| journal = Overtones!
| volume = 2015
| issue = 4
| date = November 2015
| pages = 9–11
}}
]
{{Horizontal TOC|nonum=yes}}
== Community music ==
Flute circles are one type of community music gathering. Other types include [drum circle](/source/drum_circle)s, community choirs, facilitated dance, and community orchestras. However, Mary Jane Jones argues in her thesis that flute circles have particular attributes not found in other types of community music gatherings:
{{quote |text=If the goal of flute players is to express themselves through a Native American-based musical means, it could be argued that they should be able to do that just as effectively through drumming or dancing. The answer may lie with the fact that, as a wind instrument, the flute uses not just the hands, but also the breath. Singing is the ultimate form of personal musical expression. The sound is formed from within the body and the words from within the mind. For people who feel that their voices are inadequate or are hindered from singing traditional Native songs because of their inability to speak their ancestral language, using the breath to produce sound through a simple cylinder may serve as a satisfying substitute. The flute can give them a voice.[
{{cite thesis
| author1 = Mary Jane Jones
| title = Revival and Community: The History and Practices of a Native American Flute Circle
| type = M.A.
| publisher = Kent State University, College of the Arts / School of Music
| date = August 2010
}}
]{{rp|57}}}}
== Organizations ==
Several national organizations have formed to provide support to local flute circles:
* [http://worldflutesociety.org/ WFS] — [World Flute Society](/source/World_Flute_Society) (U.S.A.)
* [http://flutetree.org/ FTF] — FluteTree Foundation (U.S.A.) (formerly RNAFF, Renaissance of the North American Flute Foundation)
* [http://jifca.com/ JIFCA] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304211347/http://jifca.com/ |date=2016-03-04 }} — Japan Indian Flute Circle Association (日本インディアンフルートサークル協会) (Japan)
A roster of registered flute circles is maintained by WFS[{{cite web
|url=http://www.rnaff.org/flute-circles-directory.html
|title=Flute Circles Directory
|work=FTF
|author=FluteTree Foundation
|year=2016
|accessdate=2016-02-18
}}]
=== Statistics ===
As of March 13, 2016, the roster of flute circles in this article listed 189 organizations in 9 countries, including flute circles in 44 States of the United States and 5 Provinces of Canada.
==== Historical ====
The chart below depicts the historical number of flute circles registered with the WFS (shown in darker blue) and its predecessor organization, the International Native American Flute Association ("INAFA") (shown in lighter blue).
The data for years prior to 2016 were gathered on March 13, 2016 from historical WFS and INAFA web pages provided by the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine).
The data for 2016 and 2017 were gathered from the live WFS web site on March 4, 2016 and January 3, 2017, respectively.
The data point for each year was taken on the first date in the year that the respective web site was updated. Data for the years 2012–2014 represents the shift in organizations from INAFA to WFS.
The data roughly agrees with the Jones thesis, which reported 115 flute circles on the INAFA roster in 2010.[{{cite web
|url=http://highspirits.com/pages/flute-circles
|title=Flute Circles in the USA / International Flute Circles
|author=Odell Borg
|year=2016
|accessdate=2016-03-12
}}]
Please note that inclusion in this list does not represent any endorsement or certification of the organization that is listed.
You may click through the link or visit the referenced roster(s) to see details for that organization:
=== Australia ===
* [http://www.fluteportal.com/flute_circles/14 Flute Dreaming Circle] (Margate, Byron Bay, Mullumbimby, and Bribie Island)
* Earthsong Flute Circle