LEARN TO PLAY PAN FLUTE – Get your feet in the door – understand how your pan flute works … information that’ll get you playing quickly and easily. The Legend ~ In ancient Greece, PAN was the god of shepherds and flocks, of mountain wilds, hunting and rustic music. He was a lover of nymphs and he used to chase after them but they commonly fled from his advances. One of the famous myths of Pan involves the origin of his flute. A nymph named Syrinx was a lovely Naiad-nymph of Arcadia, daughter of Landon, the river-god. The Naiades were fresh-water nymphs who inhabited the rivers, streams, lakes, marshes, fountains and springs of the earth. As Syrinx was returning from the hunt one day, Pan met her. To escape from his importunities, the fair nymph ran away and didn’t stop to hear his compliments. Pan pursued her until she came to her sisters who immediately changed her into a reed. When the wind blew through the reeds, it produced a plaintive melody. Pan, still infatuated, took some of the reeds, because he could not identify which reed Syrinx became. He cut seven pieces (or according to some versions, nine), joined them side by side in gradually decreasing lengths, and formed the musical instrument which he named “Syrinx”, in memory of his lost love. And henceforth Pan was seldom seen without it. The history ~ The pan flute is one of the oldest musical instruments in the world, having been in existence for more than 6000 years. It has long been popular as a folk …
