Welcome 
to

We are a group of friends bitten by "The Spirit of the (Native American) Flute", and subsequently “infected” with a “bad” disease – “Flute Fever”, for which there is no known cure....

My name is Dan, and I am a “flute-a-holic.”  Sheree consented to marry me, and I would be nothing without her.   Sheree is also a “flute-a-holic” and did our Website.  I am writing these thoughts as a hopeless Fluter, attempting to share as much information with you as I am able.  So, as Sue and Ely say, “get your ‘A’ up there” (your ‘A’ minor flute), grab on and hold tight, because the “Journey” will be the BEST - one you will not forget.

WHY - 
LOPING WOLF seems to be “here” for three reasons: 
            [1] To play flutes and drums,
            [2] To “lope after” and support Mary Youngblood - the First Lady of the Flute, and
            [3] To acknowledge and live up to our budding image within our local society. 

WHAT - 
In the short period of time since the "Spirit of the Flute" came to us, we have learned that “The Spirit” knows no political boundaries, no nationalities, no religious affiliations, no gender, no age, no amount of hair, and no body weight.  “The Spirit” is, like, TOTALLY politically correct. 

"The Spirit of the Flute" manifests itself in the form of, what Mary Youngblood refers to as “a stick with holes in it” - a flute, whose “voice” is usually pleasant to the ear and whose “stick” is easy to play.  It is a wonderful musical instrument. 

Webster’s New World Dictionary, Third College Edition contains a great definition of “spirit” - “The life principle ... originally regarded as inherent in the breath or as infused by a deity....”  This chosen definition of “spirit” encompasses the word “breath”, as the flute is classified as a “wind” instrument.  So, after cutting and pasting together these thoughts, it could be stated that the “Spirit of the (Native American) Flute” is defined as “the Breath of the Creator, found within a stick of wood with holes in it.” 

Flute music of Mary Youngblood and John Rainer, Junior, as only two examples, reminds us of the “Breath of The Creator”.  Flute music takes us away to deep, cosmic, and very comfortable levels of emotion.  Listening to ourselves play flutes makes us feel like things are OK, that Creator chose us to channel “Its” breath - a humbling honor, to put it mildly. 

I think that is why I play the flute. 

However, it seems that none of us really had a choice.  The Spirit of the Flute came to each of us and infected us with its terminal disease.  Flute Fever makes us play because the sound of the flute appeals to us - it sounds good, and is easy to play.  And, the appeal is so strong that we cannot resist, nor can we stop. 

Because many of our flutes are tuned to a Pentatonic Scale, they are musically compatible with other players, a compatibility which makes it emotionally rewarding to play as a group.  But what embodies the “Spirit of the Flute” can best be described by simply LISTENING to someone PLAY the flute.  Therefore, we created this Invitation. 

LOCATION - 
LOPING WOLF hails from Lake of the Pines, California, off Highway 49, between Auburn and Grass Valley, about 50 miles northeast of Sacramento. 

INVITATION - 
You are invited to join LOPING WOLF - either actually, spiritually or just because you may want to be with us and play flutes and drums or simply listen.  It does not matter.  We have many levels of membership.  (LOPING WOLF also has rattles, guitars, didges (sp?), dulcimers, harps, those jingly tingly things and anything else that makes a pleasing sound.) 

We invite you to contact us via e-mail at dandi.lopingwolf@yahoo.com or through our Website at www.lopingwolf.com . 

BUT – LOPING WOLF HIGHLY recommends you contact our “Mother” organization - the “Northern California Flute Circle” (NCFC) at http://www.naflute.com/, and seriously consider joining NCFC.  Mike Oitzman heads NCFC and is LOPING WOLF’s “Flute Guru” – a fine musician, a wonderful flute instructor, and a source of unlimited information and help.  Mike’s forte, however, is his ability to organize.  Through him you will know what is going on, and who to contact for any flute-related information, events, and products. 

MARY YOUNGBLOOD - 
A single person is responsible for infecting us with “Flute Fever” - Two-Time Grammy Award winner Mary Youngblood - the First Lady of the Flute.  Mary is our Queen.  (The Brits even named a ship after her.... :-)  LOPING WOLF listens to Mary's music CONSTANTLY, but to no avail - Flute Fever is here to stay.  Mary is not curing us of "Flute Fever".  Her music simply re-infects us every time we hear her play, whether in person or on her CDs.  Please check out her site and her music at http://www.maryyoungblood.com/main.asp  

Mary is LOPING WOLF’s “Spiritual Leader”.  She has a wonderful outlook on life, personified in her music.  In real life, she is as personable as you would think - a Kindred Spirit.  We all “lope” after her whenever we can and wherever she goes.  LOPING WOLF would not exist if it were not for Mary Youngblood. 

(A “drive-by fluting” is Mary’s term for gifting a flute to a young someone who peers longingly up at you from a crowd and is obviously bitten by the Spirit of the Flute - a charitable act that happens when you least expect it.) 

A LITTLE MORE INFORMATION - 
This “flute thing” is so huge, it baffles LOPING WOLF.  Plus it is growing every day.  Most of our information we share with everybody will be found on our Web page, so please check back often at www.lopingwolf.com . 

And thanks to LOPING WOLF’s “in-house” producer, Ely, you can catch examples of our fun times on YouTube.  http://www.youtube.com/results?search_type=&search_query=busbydog&aq=f

(LOPING WOLF also has a very special Brother in the greater Seattle area http://www.youtube.com/user/vtxrider3   He has soul-reflective tunes that are not to be missed.) 

Otherwise, we found that e-mail is the easiest way for us to get you a message.  LOPING WOLF will try to identify ourselves in the “Subject” box, so you won’t think we are spamming you. 

I address notes to you within my Bcc: (blind copy) address box for two reasons -
[1] to protect your address from other people seeing it, and
[2] to fool your E-mail provider into thinking you are NOT one of 235 recipients ("Spam"). 
(Our ESP told me this was a good way to do that.  I know, I'm not too computer savvy, but, hey....) 

LOPING WOLF “WHY-LAWS?” - 
(This is my favorite legal statement.  I know they are supposed to be “By-laws”, but ... why?) 

[1] There are NO rules - only considerations. 
[2] There are NO dues - donations gladly accepted. 
[3] There is NO Board of Directors. 
[4] There are NO worries. 

FLUTE LESSONS - 
Mary Youngblood 
“Fluters” in the greater Sacramento area have an opportunity not to be missed.  If you do not know, Mary Youngblood is local.  She is the ONLY greater Sacramento personality to win two Grammys, and she lives right here in California’s state capital.  She gives flute lessons at a most reasonable rate. 
http://www.maryyoungblood.com/main.asp  
sheflute@comcast.net 

Mike Oitzman 
http://www.naflute.com/

LOPING WOLF
www.lopingwolf.com  

FLUTE SOURCES - 
There is a lot of flute information "out there":
http://www.harpsong.org/traditional.html#native
http://www.flutetree.com  

There are TONS of flute makers out there.  
See the links on our Web page.  http://www.lopingwolf.com/Links/flutemakerlinks.html  

JP Gomez 
http://www.heartsongflutes.com

Geoffrey Ellis 
http://www.earthtoneflutes.com  
www.fluteportal.com  

Russ Venable 
http://www.rvflutes.com

Stephen DeRuby 
DeRuby@sti.net  
http://www.deruby.com  

Butch and Laura Hall 
http://www.butchhallflutes.com

Brad Young 
http://www.4windflutes.homestead.com/Index.htm

LOPING WOLF is blessed with some local flute makers and suppliers - 

Manuel owns and operates “Ology” in Old Sacramento
130 K Street
Sacramento CA 95814 / (916) 444-8700
(He sold Mary her first Native American flute.) 

But we found that virtually ALL of the flute makers from whom we purchased flutes are wonderfully accessible over the Web. 

COMPATIBLE KEYS - 
LOPING WOLF’s Robin asked about what keys sound good together.  She had a neat reason: when she is playing with another person(s) in the same key, she cannot hear herself.  She figured that if she had a compatible key, she could hear herself PLUS contribute to a tune that sounds good. 

The best source of an answer we found so far is the charts on the Stellar Flutes site: 
http://www.stellarflutes.com/UNIVERSAL%20CHARTS.html  

This was the site we looked at when we determined that the keys of "G", "D" and "C" sounded good together - or "are complementary" as they say on their page. 

But we recently found that a batch of flutes in the SAME key by the SAME flute maker sound really cool together.  Wait ‘til you hear us.... 

5-FINGER OR 6-FINGER FLUTES -  
LOPING WOLF started out with 5-finger flutes, because they were a little easier to play.  But now that we are getting so good - er – I mean, “EXPERIENCED”, we see the advantages of 6-finger flutes. 

Besides, we now know that most 6-finger flutes can be played just like a 5-finger flute if you simply keep your 4th finger from the bottomed “glued” to that hole.  We can discuss this more, later, in person…. 

Also, looking at the Stellar Flutes site, again, it appears there are 17 notes "available" on the 6-finger flute tablature charts.  The 17-notes-available fact would give us more versatility in selecting songs we could play as a group, if we wanted to get "complementary" flutes in the same key.  

MODES - 
This is a large topic for another day.  Trust me. 

That's all for now.  More, later, I'm sure.  I hope you will consider joining us.  As you may be able to see below, if you are still with me, I do not mind sharing my contact information so you can get hold of me. 

Blessings, Peace 'n' Harmony Galore,  
"Mitakuye Oyasin"

-Dan 
of LOPING WOLF
The Lake of the Pines Wood Flute 'n' Drum Circle
www.lopingwolf.com   
(A Clan of NCFC - The Northern California Flute Circle)  

Sheree 'n' Dan DiCicco
10492 Gautier Drive  
Auburn CA 95602-8514
(530) 269-2638 home  
(530) 613-4197 Dan's cell

Nothing in this note was meant to offend you.
If you wish to be removed from our mailing list, simply let us know.

We are all related - more alike than we are different. 

From Terek, "Mitakuye Oyasin" is Lakota Sioux for "All My Relations."
It is a prayer of oneness and harmony with all forms of life:
other people, animals, birds, insects, trees and plants, and even rocks.
It reminds us that we are connected to these other aspects of Creation,
that we share a common kinship in the Hoop of Life.