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Across TBUK, there are many musicians and from time to time we’d like to share these hidden talents here. This month, the spotlight is on our Interim MLRO, Steven Newton’s Native American flute – below is some of his words.
“Many of you will not have heard of the Native American flute. It’s a courting flute that the Native American men would play to a lady in the hope that she would accept him as a spouse. It has a very melancholic and relaxing sound and in the modern world is often used for meditation and stress relief.
Several years ago I decided that I wanted to learn to play the Native American flute and so some 14 years ago I started to teach myself. At that time I could not read music and so learnt to play by ear. In fact these days although I can read a little bit of music now I still prefer to compose by ear.
Within a week I had mastered the scale of the flute. Within a month I was making some reasonable tunes and leaping forward to one year later and I cut my first album which was called Painted Faces. I cannot say that I have mastered the flute but that the flute has mastered me.
The type of music that I play can sometimes be considered to be world music or new age because I don’t stick to the genre of Native American style music but also to Asian and Arabic influences. During my career I have spent several years visiting Southeast Asia, the Middle East and parts of Europe including Turkey.
Native American flutes can be tuned to different styles and tones, so I have quite a large collection of flutes. In fact, I actually forget how many I have but I would guess around about 40 in number.
My music has received some attention from international awards, and I am the holder of four Global Music Awards silver medals. Additionally, my music has been played at funerals weddings and on a local TV series as their opening and closing music.
These days when I get time I play for my own pleasure, for friends and family, and on special requests. When the need arises or the urge drives me I go to the studio and create a single which might be buzzing around my head and needs to come out in some musical format.
If you have an interest in my music then you can find me on all major music platforms including Spotify, apple, Amazon, and of course youtube.”
Some of the links are below for your information.
Click for spotify
Click for youtube