My Pan

Flute
Journey
someone said once “a journey
of one thousand miles begins
with one step”

alex diaz
CREDITS
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Copyrights © 2010 by [Alex Diaz]. All rights reserved, including
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to everyone who ever wanted to learn something, to
everyone who ever wanted to teach something, and to
whoever once said “When the student is ready, the
master appears”.
My deepest gratitude to everyone who make this ebook
possible
TABLE OF CONTENTS

About The Author.............................................5 Reading Music ...............................................13

About Me! My Pan Flute Journey Types Of Notes
Rests
Discovering Pan Flute........................................7
Discovering Pan Flute Pan Flute Techniques ......................................15
The Myth Of Pan Slides Or Bent Notes

Practicing Pan Flute.........................................10 The Tunes......................................................17

Blowing Notes Greensleeves
Playing Staccato Notes
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started to blow some sounds,

at first not much came out, but
I was so enthusiastic about it
that even the lowest note
sounded nice to my ears.
ABO UT T HE AUT HO R
After the time I learnt all the

About The
bits and skills I needed to do
my first songs, what I liked and
still love about the most it's the

Author
whole experience about
learning and taking up an
instrument, you don't actually
stop learning. I am very happy
nowadays to have taken up an instrument to entertain myself in the
evenings or any time I thought it conventional, what is your life

H
without a bit of music in it? That has been around 5 years since, and I
ello there, my name is Alex, I am 27, am still learning of course.
at the time I wrote this e-book and I
I want to encourage you by following the instructions and information
keep counting! that you can find valuable in this e-book slowly at your own peace.

In every page of this e-book you will see the header and footer
including links to the table of contents as well as indicating the

About Me! My Pan Flute Journey chapter and part of the book, use these links to navigate through and
find your way most conveniently.

Congratulate yourself for having taken the steps and time to decide to
I still remember the first time I took up a pan flute one morning at learn and enjoy everything about this expressive and beautiful
my home in Spain, I was so happy to open the box it came in, and

About The Author ● 5/19

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instrument.

I always wanted to write a book, so I thought this would be my better

way to express that part of me which I don't seem to include in my
own melodies.

Take the reading of this book as a journey, a journey of self-

discovering and a journey to develop your own artistic creative
endeavors and leanings, and joys.

You don't have to be a pro musician to play good, you just have to
enjoy what you play and others will discover you.

Please do not hesitate in dropping me an e-mail

admin@panflutejourney.com

for any questions regarding the content of this e-book, you can also
check out the my blog where I further post about pan flute stuff :
www.panflutejourney.com

Have a good journey.

About The Author ● 6/19

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INT R O DUCT IO N
Discovering Pan
Flute
W
hen I first heard the sound of a Pan
flute, a smile showed on my face
meaning , I had just heard a shooting
sound I had never heard before, it
reminded of the wind blowing through a
crack in far remote cave in some
unknown woodland, really the theme just
fell in place with what I was listening and
what I had always been dreaming with ,I
think really liked the sound of it, it was
from a new age relaxing music CD that I
had and I still keep, I really loved how
perfectly well this simple thing blends with
« TABLE OF CONTENT
a Rhodes piano or synthesized sounds.
I quickly felt transported to a world of calmness, mysteries, and lots
o f t h i n g s t o d i s c o v e r, a n d I a m s u r e t h i s h a s h a p p e n e d t o a n y o n e w h o
has ever attempted to play the instrument
Discovering Pan Flute
The sound of this exotic tubes has a haunting quality, a little bit
breathy and with a distinct characteristic hollow tone giving the pipes
the individual sound.
I think everyone can recognize the sound of panpipes when you hear
it.
This depends of the kind of Pan flute, as there are some variations
depending from where it comes from, also the woods being used and
the form in the construction, the number of the pipes and the range
of the Pan flute too, so, as you can see there are many aspects
involved in this wonderful instrument, and yet it’s such a simple
thing.
Pan flute is with no doubt one of the first woodwinds known to man if
not the first, because of the simplicity of it, basically it’s a set of
pipes, where each of it produces a note, (well I should say two) as
you can play flats and sharp giving you a chromatic range.
Basically the sound is produced when the air from your mouth rubs
Discovering Pan Flute ● 7/19
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and hits the edge of the pipe, thus creating vibration and a sound
which is resonated along the whole pipe, the stopper found at the
bottom, prevents the air to leak, otherwise no sound will be
produced.
And this simple mechanism is found in nearly every woodwind, a
flute, a recorder, a quena or a shakuhachi, after all a sound can be
produced when the vibrations run along a surface which in an
ultimate instance, the waves reaches our ears and we interpret it as
musical notes.
What it gives the
different pitches is the
size or length of the
surface where the waves
vibrate, the longer the
pipe the lower the sound
and the other way round, this is important for you to know as you will
notice that depending on the number of pipes found in your Pan flute
you will have a certain range of notes, and also a certain resistance
when playing.
To me, Pan flute is intimately related to nature itself, first of all
traditionally most of the pan flutes are made out of wood though I
have seen them in plastic recently in some music shops like an
instrument for kids, depending what wood is used, a different quality
is found.
Bamboo is by no other choice the preferred for many professional,
« TABLE OF CONTENT
because of the soft and clear tone it creates, it’s also very haunting
too, but there are panpipes, made from maple, cherry, pear and even
fine expensive wood like African Blackwood!.
And then when you play it, it’s like you make the tree speak, as this
quality of sound is unique due to the material used, if you don’t know
what panpipes to choose, ask the maker or make sure you know what
wood it’s been made of, so you can get an idea about what to expect,
some will sound warm and sweet, others will sound bright and light.
There are also different types of pan flutes, in Greece is called Syrinx
due to the myth or for instance a Rumanian Nai, is a pan pipe
traditionally constructed in the key of G, and it’s made out of
bamboo, the curved shaped is distinct and characteristic to it, there
are South-American panpipes which date back before the Spanish
invasion, and these are straight constructed and the edges aren’t as
soft and smooth like the European ones, you can also find a Chinese
Pan flute called Pao-Xiao, which has a curved style but done in a
semicircle with the
pipe in the center
being the longest one
giving an unusual
disposition of the
notes.
And within the south-
American panpipes
there are several
types, some of the
Discovering Pan Flute ● 8/19
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names are rondador, zampoña, siku…
A siku has two rows of pipes attached together, one set higher than
the other so you move your chin to play the other row, a rondador,
has different pipes with different lengths and it’s constructed in one
set straight…. As you can see, many styles and traditions within the
ancient ethnic music has given different features to the instruments
just like nature has different variations of the same species,
depending on where part of the Earth is found.
Panpipes were born in many cultures all over the world, different
names and shapes, but still the same instrument, you may have
heard about the myth of the God Pan, yes indeed, the name of the
pan flute derives from this myth, and Pan, the God of nature and the
forest, traditionally represented as a fawn with a
panpipes made and created by him.
Did you know that the word panic
comes from Greek?, and it also derives
from the story related to this particular
God, legend says he used to scare
lonely travelers who ventured in the
forest with his flute, a pan flute, by
doing strange sounds with it.
« TABLE OF CONTENT
The Myth Of Pan
There was a certain nymph, whose name was Syrinx, who was much
beloved by the satyrs and spirits of the wood; but she would have
none of them, but was a faithful worshiper of Artemis, and followed
the chase. You would have thought it was Artemis herself, had you
seen her in her hunting dress only that her bow was of horn and
Artemis's of silver. One day, as she was returning from the chase, Pan
met her, told her just this, and added more of the same sort. She ran
away, without stopping to hear his compliments, and he pursued till
she came to the bank of the river, where he overtook her, and she
had only time to call for help on her friends the water nymphs. They
heard and consented.
Pan threw his arms
around what he supposed
to be the form of the
nymph, and found he
embraced only a tuft of
reeds! As he breathed a
sigh, the air sounded
through the reeds, and
produced a plaintive melody. The god, charmed with the novelty and
with the sweetness of the music, said, "Thus, then, at least, you shall
be mine." And he took some of the reeds, and placing them together,
of unequal lengths, side by side; made an instrument he called
Syrinx, in honor of the nymph.
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“P A N IN MYTH PR AC T IC ING PAN FL UT E

PAN, THE GOD OF WOODS AND FIELDS, OF FLOCKS AND SHEPHERDS,
DWELT IN GROTTOS, WANDERED ON THE MOUNTAINS AND IN

Practicing Pan
VALLEYS. HE WAS FOND OF MUSIC, AND AS WE HAVE SEEN, THE
INVENTOR OF THE SYRINX, OR SHEPHERD'S PIPE, WHICH HE
HIMSELF PLAYED IN A MASTERLY MANNER”

Pan, the god of woods and fields, of flocks and shepherds, dwelt in
Flute
grottos, wandered on the mountains and in valleys, and amused
himself with the chase or in leading the dances of the nymphs. He
was fond of music, and as we have seen, the inventor of the syrinx,
or shepherd's pipe, which he himself played in a masterly manner.
Pan, like other gods who dwelt in forests, was dreaded by those
whose occupations caused them to pass through the woods by night,
for the gloom and loneliness of such scenes dispose the mind to
P racticing Pan flute can be a enjoyable
experience, the sounds you can
produce with it are haunting and relaxing,
superstitious fears. Hence sudden fright without any visible cause was the instrument is forgiving, and it's not
ascribed to Pan, and called a Panic terror.
hard to play , it's responsive.
Sylvanus and Faunus were Latin divinities, whose characteristics are
so nearly the same as those of Pan that we may safely consider them You don't have to practice every single
as the same personage under different names. day to become a master, this is a
misconception widely spread, you just
have to be constant, and above all have
fun with it, any bad habit you may have
picked up will come to review to you
naturally, it's all a process and a learning

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experience, remember to think in steps even if you play a very high b note.Now, assuming you have
understood and read those rules, you are ready to make a sound,
instead of mistakes. here is how it goes.

• Step 1.Put the pipe corresponding to the note G below your lip,
not too close not too far, just touching the lower lip, and
touching the scoop of your chin.
Blowing Notes
I will explain to you how to make a clear single note in any panpipes,
it’s like blowing on a bottle, and once you’ve learnt, you’ll never
• Step 2. Shape your lips in a flat serious expression and pull the
forget just like riding a bike.
corners to the sides, kind of like a smile but in a straight line, a
Cheshire smile let’s say, imagine you’re doing this will help you.
But first of all, there are some important things you must remember,
some sort of rules which apply to every pan flute of the world. As a
general rule , you say ta or ka, to tongue a note, to play a note with a
sharp clean attack, if you say fa or la, the note is softer, this is done
• Step 3. By saying “ta” or “pa” blow downward or if you prefer,
for articulation
put the palm of your hand in front of you, and try to direct the
air stream until you don’t feel any air, changing the angle to a
The longer the piper, the lower the note will be, thus it will require
90 degrees one basically.
more air pressure and a bigger opening from the lips, and so the
other way round with the high notes and short pipes, higher notes
require more pressure too, remember that it’s not about breathing
harder, or straining yourself, always play relaxed and natural, and it
When blowing in any woodwind instrument, try to do it by pushing
will save years of frustration and bad practice, trust me.
with your diaphragm, pushing your belly out and relaxing the
shoulders
Once you have learnt to make a sound in a pan pipe, experiment in
the other ranges, not only in the middle one, this is the easiest one,
the high range is the trickiest but the notes are the most beautiful,
the pan pipe sound is good enough so as not to sound too shrilling

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specially the top one, these are the trickiest ones, but with time you
TIPS TO REMEMBER learn them too, every pipe requires a certain amount of opening and
● Focus the airstream to the middle of the pipe of pressure from your breath, this is an important key in playing as
● Tongue is used to start notes you have to adapt yourself to every pipe as you play different notes.
● Try different syllables and use the one you think it sounds best

● After you hit your tongue at the back of your front teeth, move the tongue back

● Keep practicing even after you think you have mastered it

Playing Staccato Notes

Staccato notes are notes that are blown in a way, they sound
accented, emphasized, they’re written like this note below.
You aim to produce a clean single note and a full round sound as well,
this takes a bit of time but it’s worthy, also remember it takes little air
Staccato notes don’t sound like a
to make a clean sound, if you find yourself you’re struggling, then
normal blown note, in fact they are
you’re not blowing correctly.
meant to be played shortened and with a chiffy sound, when you play
staccatos, evenly and correctly, the note is shortened a quarter of its
You can use this line below as your first exercise
value.

In order to do that you say “tu” or “ka” or any other syllable that it
forces you to blow extra air in just one shot, tones are started with
the tongue hitting the front of the back teeth, with an staccato, try
Once you’ve learnt how to make a clear single G, congratulate
doing the same but draw back the tongue back as quick as you start
yourself for the achievement and try on the other pipes, but don’t
the note, this makes the note short ,you blow like spitting something
rush as learning something fully is real progress even if it takes
down on the pipe, if you hear it, then you know perfectly what I
years,(which it won’t be this case don’t worry!) otherwise you will
mean. Staccato is an Italian term, and it means like “stabbed” since
have to unlearn bad habits later.
the notes done in short quick attacks, whenever you see that dot on a
note you would play staccato.
One thing you will notice is that it takes a larger opening from your
lips to the lower lips, and a smaller opening to the higher notes,
Adding staccato notes to your playing is certainly a enriching way to

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your style of overall playing, now you can play in two different ways,
normally you would just blow and and do the notes all of them the
same way,you will certainly sound boring after a time, you can add
more interest to what you “say” this is like way of pronouncing
syllables in every language, in music this is called “articulation” it’s
like saying things in a different ways.
Remember these exercises are useful to learn how to play these
notes, whenever you encounter them, they will also enrich your sense
of timing, always remember to start slowly and build up tempo from
it, at your own pace, when you think you can play them with
definition, then you're ready for the next set: slurred notes.

The opposite of staccato is called “legato” another Italian term, which

R EADIN G MUSIC
means linked, so you would play the notes slurred and smooth,
whereas the staccato are separated by short time, just opposite

Reading Music
characters.

“Once you understand the theory beh ind it, it will become more familiar
to you to know what you’re really doing”

Here is some sheet music to practice along staccato notes, remember

the shorter the value the trickier it gets, but it’s worthy, you will also
enhance your sense of rhythm if you attempt to play sixteen and
eighteen notes with dots on the top:You can start playing this
exercise at a slow tempo and then build up speed from there, this is
relatively easy.
When you think you master it, you can go on to the next level, how
about playing eighteen notes or even triplets?
T here are lots of people in the world
who don't know how to read music
scores and still are wonderful musicians
and so the other way round, however
learning how to read basic music scores
will help understand and improve your
music experience not only in the context
of playing a pan flute but for playing any
kind of instrument. You can also have a
look at a musical score and quickly get an

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idea what the song will be about

1. First you look at the very left of the staff and you will see the

Types Of Notes key of the song

How notes are written on a staff play a major importance, first by
looking at them you know what know to play, how to play and for
how long to play it.
In a staff, there are symbols as well as text, all this, is just
information that you need to know before playing, but notice that I
said information, there is the knowledge you can only acquire by
playing and listening to the song again and again.
2. Then look at the two numbers appearing 4/4, 3/4,2/4, 6/8 or C
and so on.
C is another way to write 4/4 times, which is a common rhythm, the
notes are fit within the spaces and lines of the staff, every gap or line
is used for a note along the scale, and the note tells the duration of it

Here are the types of notes you may encounter and its corresponding
value:
Rests
Now have a look at these symbols:

Starting from the left: whole note (4 beats) half note (2 beats)
quarter note (1 beat) eight note (¼ beat) sixteen note (1/16
Starting from the left:
beat) and so on...

“Everyone with a bit of knowledge of music knows the re lated whole rest,half rest, quarter rest, eight rest, sixteen rest,
equ ivalence between every different note and how it fits within the
beat and rhythm.
thirty two rest.

That's it, every note has a value which fits within a given rhythm: They are called rests, which is a time in the song where no sound is
played, there are several types of rest, each one indicate a note

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value, they are counted in the same way as a note.
Once you know the names of these symbols, you may want to know
what notes you have to play if you see a score!, but don't panic, learn
slowly
You will start learning the notes on the treble clef with a simple way
everyone has used after a time it becomes second nature.
1. Remember this word: FACE
2. Also these phrase, Every Good Boy Does Fine
Or any other catchy phrase which can help memorize the notes.
Now as you probably are guessing, you can read a whole score!, all
you have to take in consideration is the position of the note which will
will tell you what note to play and how it is played along the main
beat.
Learn more reading music skills in the whole copy of this book
« TABLE OF CONTENT
PAN FL UT E T EC HN IQ UE S
Pan Flute
Techniques
P an flute like any other instruments has
its own quirks and techniques, it's no
exception, in fact there are quite a few,
pan flute is expressive by nature,
therefore you can vary the way it sounds
in some ways.
The techniques require practice like with everything, but they're easy
to master once you know the facts about them:
Here is a list of the techniques I have learnt with the years:
• Slides or Bend notes– This is used in Celtic and new age music
a lot,or any style of music and it's basically a decoration, but
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you can use it in any part along the song, as it sounds nice
when performed in the right note, it's basically a slide in the
pitch as the notes starts, to do this you tilt the pipe to cover
the hole with your mouth and play a note while at the same
time, tilt the pan flute back to normal position, this makes the
pitch go up in a slope.
Bear in mind that you don't have to learn all of them to sound like a
g o o d p l a y e r, i n f a c t w i t h w h a t y o u h a v e l e a r n t s o f a r, y o u a r e m o r e
than ready and sound good enough to p lay any song, but If you want
t o d ra w t h e m o s t o u t t h e i n s t r u m e n t , t h e n i t ' s w o r t h t o c h e c k o u t t h i s
techniques used by most pan flute players.
1. With the pipe in a tilted position, tilted so as to cover the whole
pipe, blow and and tilt the pipe slowly to normal position
2. What you hear then is a note starting from being flat to being
natural
3. You may not want to put the pipe too inclined, just 30 or 45
degrees is enough, try in all pipes and then try playing some
notes and one with a slide.
You can also bend the note by going down in pitch, or tilt the
pipe up or down to hear a wavering pitch to decorate.

4. Practice this technique but it's highly recommended to have

learnt how to play and sharps first.

Slides Or Bent Notes Here are some exercises to put into practice
After you have learnt the value of chromaticism or playing sharps and
flats, a technique called slide can be developed, it's based on the
principle of starting the note already flatted, then move the pipe to
normal position.

It's just the other way round but the effect produced is such ,that it
can be included as a new technique, use it here and there, it's more
an embellishment than other thing and it can add certain grace to
your playing, use it in blues, or in Celtic music.

You can play slide with the pitch going down, or the pitch going up, You can also learn other new techniques like playing
experiment is the key. chromatically or diaphragm vibrato,or hand vibrato all this and
more in the whole book.

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T HE T UN ES

The Tunes

A fter you have practicing and learnt

your skills with your pan flute, you
probably want to start learning some
common songs. Here are some basic
known tunes that can help you to practice
all what you have learnt, remember to
start slowly and have fun.
Some things you may want to consider before you start playing these
song

• A metronome set at a slow tempo will be a great help to you,

since you learn slowly and measure by measure.

• Take your time and don't rush even if it takes days to learn the
song, it will be worthy the effort

• Try to play songs that you can easily remember and adapt

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easily to the level you are playing I HOPE YOU HAVE ENJOYED READING THIS SAMPLE COPY OF MY
EBOOK, I WANT TO HEAR HOW IT WENT FOR YOU, SO PLEASE DO

• It's a good idea to print the page and mark down manually NOT HESITATE IN SENDING ME A QUICK E-MAIL

where you can take a breath, it's usually written with “,” admin@panflutejourney.com
symbol, called breathing mark
Mean while keep practicing and playing for fun that is how you learn,
enjoy your journey.
• Enjoy

Here is a list of the tunes

• Greensleeves
Alex
• For more tunes to play on your pan flute click here

A quick reminder!:You can have a look at more tunes to play in

whole ebook, this is a sample copy, join for free the
newsletter to receive updates and info about how to get the
whole ebook.

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Greensleeves
A famous melody originated in the medieval period, even today it's
still heard and played all around the world

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