Ocarina

The ocarina is a "vessel" or closed end flute. It would be considered a wind instrument. Numerous versions of ocarinas have been around since very ancient times. The ocarina can make beautiful music with nice rhythm. There are many styles of ocarinas, like the sweet potato ocarina and inline. Different ocarinas have different hole sizes and number of holes. In current times a video game called zelda the ocarina of time has made the ocarina quite popular among children and those children who have grown into teenagers and adults. In this video game by Nintendo (R) the character Link plays his ocarina flute. There are games for Nintendo 64, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time in 1998, and The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask

Holes in an ocarina vary in size. Virtually any genre of music can be played on these vessel flutes. A skilled musician could play celtic, classical, Christian, jazz, hynns, bluegrass, hard rock, classic or acid rock, rap, traditional Irish, country western, folk music, pop, Scottish, disco, native american, Latin, Mexican, South American, African, or just any of a number of musical styles you can think of. Ocarinas can be made of a variety of materials including hardwood, clay, ceramic, pottery, plastic, other woods, glass, metal, steel, aluminum or just about any material that can be worked into a rigid shape. Skilled performers can add fancy decoration or ornamentation like cuts or rolls to make a simple melody or piece into a virtuoso masterpiece.

Some people say that versions of the modern adaptation of the sweet potato ocarina originated in Budrio which is a town near Bologna Italy. Although different ocarinas have different fingerings (hole coverings), some ocarina makers and craftsmen have made ocarina tab or tablature similar to tab used in guitar. Of course traditional notation could also be used in this new age to describe an opus of ocarina melody. These flutes are quite versatile and they can be played by an individual or a symphony. Some composers have made a score to be used to play harmonies of music. If a conductor understands counterpoint well, then he will understand how to write the scores so as the harmony will be according to modern musical theory.

Since a long time ago, from ancient to modern times, music and the arts have been an integral part of all cultures and civilizations. Some artisans make ocarinas to play in different keys of music. The possible keys would then be C C# D D# E E# F F# G G# A A# B B# as well as the flat keys in both major and minor keys. Some ocarinas are chromatic instruments and some are pentatonic only. Of course the chromatic instruments are more flexible than non-chromatic flutes as you would expect. Some fingerings are easy and some are quite complex. These wonderful works of art can have 1 one, 2 two, 3 three, 4 four, 5 five, 6 six, 7 seven, 8 eight, 9 nine, 10 ten, 11 eleven, 12 twelve, 13 thirteen, 14 fourteen or more finger holes. Some play a full octave and some less than an octave and some even play more than an octave.

The chromatic instruments can be played either as a transposing or non-transposing instrument. High school bands, for example, generally teach all non C instruments as transposing instruments for simplicity of learning. Now this would make it more difficult when trios, duos, or quartets play together since it would require transposition of the musical staff. The ocarina is an instrument. Some are high quality, some are cheap, some are worthy of a public performance concert. Some are toys only. They can be used by the professional or amateur or student musician alike to play haunting meoldies for a choir or chorus or to jam with friends. One just needs to be a learner at heart and have fingers and motivation. Then you can set the mood with your playing.

They can be played along with the guitar, piano, banjo, vocalist, tin whistle, harp, recorder, cello, violin, mandolin, bass, trumpet, accordian, viola, clarinet, horns, bells, penny whistle, bagpipes or just about any instrument you can think of...