While the modern American idea of the fife is almost entirely connected to Colonial America and The Spirit of ’76, and conjures up the image of someone singing Yankee Doodle and lighting off fireworks, the instrument itself goes all the way back to medieval Europe, where it was a common instrument available to all classes of society, and frequently used for everyday music. Those roots grew throughout Europe into North America, where they influenced music throughout the American colonies, including the music of American slaves, and other types of American folk music. For our purposes here, we’ll examine the use of the fife as a martial music.
Primarily, the fife is a signaling instrument. Since there were no technological means of communication in the 1770’s, soldiers used other methods of relaying orders in battle. This meant that musical instruments were integral to the success of various battles. Because of the loud, piercing volume, fifes and drums would signal various commands during battle, such as fire, advance, and retreat – and even day-to-day signaling within camp, such as when to wake up or go to bed, or when it was time to eat.
Fife and drum corps still exist today, especially in the northeastern United States. Throughout New England, there are countless fife and drum corps that carry on these traditions from centuries ago. Some groups focus specifically on reenactments, and some focus more on the musical performance aspect. Most groups have a uniform of some type, which could range anywhere from day-to-day period clothing to any level of replica military uniform.
6-hole vs. 10-hole
Most modern fifes have either 6 or 10 finger holes. Similar to Irish whistles, 6-hole fifes are primarily diatonic instruments, easily offering 1 or 2 major and minor keys, but anything more than that gets fairly complicated with the use of cross-fingerings and half-holing.
10-hole fifes offer one hole for every finger (including each thumb and pinky), which help attain more access to chromatics and accidentals. These extra holes allow for notes like F-natural, G-sharp, B-flat, and E-flat with ease, but having 10 holes does increase the level of difficulty quite a bit, especially if you’re coming from a Boehm-system flute background.
Welcome to the Upside Down
In order to play a G-sharp on a Boehm system flute, you would use fingers 1-2-3 on your left hand, plus the addition of the left pinky. However, on a 10-hole fife, 1-2-3-pinky would get you a G-natural! This is because of the mechanics of a Boehm-system flute. It’s important to remember that on a Boehm flute, when you add the pinky, you’re actually hitting a lever that uncovers a hole. The default state for that tone hole is to be covered, and when you press the lever, it opens the hole. On a 10-hole fife, when you put your pinky down, you’re covering the hole. So, 1-2-3-pinky is a G-sharp on a Boehm flute and a G-natural on a 10-hole fife, while 1-2-3 is a G-natural on a Boehm flute and a G-sharp on a 10-hole fife. Understanding this can be quite mind bending!
The same concept is true with E-flat. Adding your right hand pinky on a flute opens a hole, whereas adding your right hand pinky on a 10-hole fife closes one.
The two thumb keys on a 10-hole fife primarily affect B-flat (in the left hand) and F-natural (in the right hand). If you look at the mechanics of a Boehm-system flute, you’ll notice that when you play an A, you’re actually closing two tone holes. When you play a B-flat (especially with “1 and 1” fingering), only one of those tone holes gets closed. Same thing with the right hand – when you play an F-natural, you’re closing two. When you play F-sharp, the first of those two keys stays down, raising the pitch a half step. On the 10-hole fife, your thumb replaces that mechanism and changes the pitch by a half step. Play an A, and then left your left thumb, and you’ll get a B-flat. Play an E, and then left your right thumb, and you’ll get an F-natural.
Modern Examples
Two high level groups that carry on these traditions today are both based on the east coast of the United States. Based out of Massachusetts, the Middlesex County Volunteers Fifes & Drums are one of America’s premiere fife and drum corps, and have performed all over the world. Here is a clip of Tom Cox playing with MCV at the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo in 2018:
And perhaps the crème de la crème of fife and drum tradition in America is the United States Army Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps. Serving as the official ceremonial escort to the President, the Old Guard literally carries on the traditions that were established in the American Revolution. These full-time field musicians travel the globe performing for high level ceremonies, such as Presidential inaugurations, and entertain foreign dignitaries and the general public alike. Here is a clip from their YouTube channel: