Full Answer
What is Fife and drum music?
Fife and drum music is a branch of country Blues that has survived from the 19th Century in a few remote rural districts of northern Mississippi. With modest home-made instruments and a simple structure, it is neverthless a joyful music, made for dancing and sharing with friends and neighbours, from a time when time itself was the only luxury.
What are fife drum heads made of?
The drum heads used are usually made of lamb or calf skin, or plastic drum heads made by many drum manufacturers. Unlike in the British corps, the single tenor drum is not customarily used in American fife and drum ensembles. A fife and drum corps from the American Civil War.
What is ancient fife and drum corps?
A Fife and Drum Corps is a musical ensemble that consists of flutes or fifes and drums. In the United States, fife and drum corps specializing in colonial period impressions with wooden fifes and wooden rope tension snare drums and bass drums are known as Ancient Fife and Drum Corps. These ensembles originated as at type of military field music.
Why is the Fife and drum so important to the military?
Before radios, phones, or drones, the unique frequencies of the fife and drum were chosen for their ability to carry over long distances and cut through the fury of combat. “To Arms” was a general alarm, used when the army was surprised.
What is a fife used for?
A fife /ˈfaɪf/ is a small, high-pitched, transverse aerophone, that is similar to the piccolo. The fife originated in medieval Europe and is often used in Fife and Drum Corps, military units, and marching bands. Someone who plays the fife is called a fifer.
What is a fife?
: a small transverse flute with six to eight finger holes and usually no keys.
What is a fife and drum corps Why were they important on the battlefield?
A fife and drum corps is a musical military unit consisting of a fife, a type of flute, and a snare drum in most cases. This unit is commonly used to signal battlefield formations, advances, and attacks, as well as to provide music for the troops as they march.
Is there a difference between a fife and a flute?
The fife, most accurately described, is any cylindrically bored transverse flute, usually in one piece (but sometimes two), usually somewhat longer than the piccolo and having only six fingerholes with no keys.
Where did fife and drum originate?
SwitzerlandThe first time that they were used together in a form which we would recognize as "fife & drum" was in Switzerland. The Swiss had won their freedom in 1291, and had become famous for the bravery and excellence of their military.
What does a fife look like?
A fife is a musical instrument that looks like a very small flute. Fifes are usually made of wood, rather than metal, and are common in military marching bands. A fife is much more high-pitched than a flute—it's also louder and more shrill sounding.
What instruments are in a Fife and Drum Corps?
INSTUMENTATION - There are three musical instruments used in the corps: the fife, the snare drum and the bass drum.
Why did they have drummers in war?
Military drummers have played a crucial role in warfare throughout history. Soldiers marched to battle to the sound of the drums and used the beat to regulate the loading and re-loading of their weapons during the battle. Drummers were also used to raise morale during the fight.
What kind of musical instrument is a fife?
flutefife, small transverse (side-blown) flute with six finger holes and a narrow cylindrical bore that produces a high pitch and shrill tone. The modern fife, pitched to the A♭ above middle C, is about 15.5 inches (39 cm) long and often has an added E♭ hole covered by a key. Its compass is about two octaves.
Whats the difference between a fife and a tin whistle?
The fife is among the oldest flutes that still get some use, and the fingerings are identical to the tin whistle (a.k.a. pennywhistle, Irish whistle). It has six holes operated by three fingers of each hand. All closed plays a low D, and picking one up at a time from the bottom results in a D major scale.
Is a fife different than a piccolo?
Like the piccolo and flute, the fife is a transverse instrument. It's loud and piercing, but not in the same way that a piccolo is. Because the fife has a much smaller bore than the piccolo, it has a very different tone quality.
What is the difference between a fife and a Picolo?
One of the easiest differences to spot between the piccolo vs. fife is the structure. A piccolo has keys, while most fifes simply have holes. This applies to cheap fifes, like the Yamaha fife, and other models.
What is a fife and drum corps?
A Fife and Drum Corps is a musical ensemble consisting of fifes and drums. In the United States of America, fife and drum corps specializing in colonial period impressions using fifes, rope tension snare drums, and (sometimes) rope tension bass drums are known as Ancient Fife and Drum Corps. Many of these ensembles originated from a type ...
What is the only remaining Fife and Drum Corps?
The only remaining Fife and Drum Corps in the American Military is the Fife and Drum Corps of the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment ( The Old Guard), a ceremonial Army unit based out of Ft. Myer, Virginia, raised in 1960. Modern non-military Fife and Drum Corps are organizations with volunteer or paid performers.
What is the drum major's preparatory command to move a British Army band?
To this day, the drum major's preparatory command to move a British Army band is, "Band and Drums..." . This is referring back to the segregation of the fifes and drums as a separate entity from a military band. The Fort Henry Guard Fife and Drum Corps. Fifes have always been an infantry musical instrument.
What is a fife?
A fife is a woodwind instrument in the transverse flute family, which sounds an octave above the written music and has 6 tone holes (some have 10 or 11 tone holes for added chromatics ). Most fifes are wood - blackwood, grenadilla, rosewood, mopane, pink-ivory and other dense woods are superior; maple and persimmon are inferior, but often used, particularly as entry-level instruments. Some corps have used metal fifes. In Civil War corps, bugles are sometimes part of the instrumentation.
How do drums create visual effects?
Visual effects may be created by flourishes of the drum sticks; for example, bass drummers may swing the beaters in a flourish while the snare drummers roll (or when the beating leaves sufficient time to flourish).
What are tenor drums made of?
The drum heads used are usually made of lamb or calf skin, or plastic drum heads made by many drum manufacturers. Unlike in the British corps, the single tenor drum is not customarily used in American fife and drum ensembles.
What drums did the soldiers use in the war?
The infantry used side drums (snare/field, long drum/tenor drum and the bass drum). When detached to the companies, the drummers used only the side drums.
Where is Fife and Drums from?
Fife and drum music is a branch of country Blues that has survived from the 19th Century in a few remote rural districts of northern Mississippi. With modest home-made instruments and a simple structure, it is neverthless a joyful music, made for dancing and sharing with friends and neighbours, from a time when time itself was the only luxury.
What is the origin of fife and drum music?
One known source of fife and drum music is the European military. The two instruments were used together to synchronise marching and lighten the spirits of the troops by the Swiss Army in the 1400s, ...
What is a talking drum?
A ‘talking drum’ has the beats correspond to the syllables in speech, and with two snares and a bass drum, they could talk across each other. The cane-flute is an almost universal instrument, easily made from handy materials, and the five or six-hole fife is generally used.
Who played the fife in the band Sid Hemphill?
This joyful music was first heard outside its community in 1942 when Alan Lomax recorded the fife of Sid Hemphill and drummer Lucius Smith in Tate County. Sid’s grand-daughter, Jessie Mae later became a noted boogie-playing Blueswoman, but she often found time to play drums in his band.
What instruments did the Confederate soldiers use during the Revolutionary War?
During the Revolutionary War, almost every Company on both sides would use the fife and drum. It was deeply embedded in Military practice, and during the Civil War, on the Confederate side there were some instances of slave musicians performing the duty.
Overview
A Fife and Drum Corps is a musical ensemble consisting of fifes and drums. In the United States of America, fife and drum corps specializing in colonial period impressions using fifes, rope tension snare drums, and (sometimes) rope tension bass drums are known as Ancient Fife and Drum Corps. Many of these ensembles originated from a type of military field music.
History
Fifes are an ancient wind instrument that have evolved over the centuries. The original form was small and bore six finger-holes, but later versions may have various sizes and numbers of holes. While ancient fifes were one-piece and therefor not easily tuned, modern fifes are two pieces connected by a joint made from either metal or cork. Modern 10-hole and 11-hole fifes are chromatic, thu…
Instrumentation
A fife is a woodwind instrument in the transverse flute family, which sounds an octave above the written music and has 6 tone holes (some have 10 or 11 tone holes for added chromatics). Most fifes are wood - blackwood, grenadilla, rosewood, mopane, pink-ivory and other dense woods are superior; maple and persimmon are inferior, but often used, particularly as entry-level instruments. Some corps have used metal fifes. In Civil War corps, bugles are sometimes part of the instrume…
Performance
The drums are beaten using two sticks. Visual effects may be created by flourishes of the drum sticks; for example, bass drummers may swing the beaters in a flourish while the snare drummers roll (or when the beating leaves sufficient time to flourish).
Songs are chosen based on a number of criteria, and can include both historic…
Repertoire
• 10th Battalion H.L.I. crossing the Rhine
• Ah, ca ira
• 1812
• All Take Tea
• American Patriot
See also
• Basler drum
• Carnival of Basel
• Corps of drums
• Fife and drum blues
• Fort Henry Guard
Notes
1. ^ Clarke, James (2011), Connecticut's Fife & Drum Tradition, Wesleyan University Press, ISBN 978-0-8195-7141-0
2. ^ Defensie, Ministerie van (2017-11-01). "Tamboers en Pijpers van het Korps Mariniers - Militaire muziek - Defensie.nl". www.defensie.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 2020-06-11.
3. ^ Sweet, Ralph (1981). The Fifer's Delight. Enfield, CT: Ralph Sweet.
External links
• Colonial Musketeers Junior Fife and Drum
• Colonial Williamsburg Fifes and Drums
• The Company of Fifers and Drummers
• The Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps