This is a prototype of a songbook for the prehistoric 6-hole Anasazi style flutes and the old 5-hole Hopi style flutes. These flutes are much older than the plains courting flute that first appeared around the 1820's. The courting flute has undergone a renaissance in the last 25 years. Inspired by their beautiful sound, their simple design, and their ease of play, a new genation of flute makers has produced more flutes in the last 25 years than were made in the prior 150 years. In contrast, very few make flutes in the style of the prehistoric rim-blown flute of the Anasazi and Hopi. Partially this is because they are a challenging instruments to learn, but also their practice has appear to have died out. Added to this is the secretive nature that has risen amoung the Hopi in the last century.
Because of the old Hopi flute's peculiar 5-hole finger layout, it is easy to connect other examples that are dated to around 1253-1284 AD. And these show a link the 6-hole Anasazi flutes that go back at least as far as 620-670 AD.
From a design point of view, these instruments are basically a hollow cylinder with some finger holes. Recently, some flute makers have rediscovered these instruments, and begun to evolve them in similar ways that the courting flute has undergone in the last 30 years. For instance, Michael Allen is slightly adjusting the finger holes of the flutes that he makes so they are tuned to modern pitches so they can be played along with other modern instruments. Through Michael's contemporary reflection of an ancient instrument, this songbook has been made possible.
Melodies for the 5-hole flutes from 700-100 years ago:
Melodies for the Anasazi 6-hole flutes from 1,300 years ago: