Fifes

Fifes in the British Field Music

As early as the sixteenth century, the Swiss used the fife to provide musical interest to its drum beats, and through the seventeenth century, German, French, and British armies all used fifes as part of their field music. In Britain, the use of the fife faded in the late 17th century.

In 1745, the fife was reintroduced to the British army by a young Hanoverian who was given by his colonel to a British couterpart. ¹From this point on, the use of young boys as fifers was common.

Cuthbertson's recommendations for selecting drummers apply to fifers as well, except for the age requirement: "As their duty is not very laborious, it matters not how young they are taken, when strong enough to fill the Fife, without endangering their constitutions".²

Only the grenadier companies of British regiments were officially allowed fifers, meaning that with two drummers per companies, and ten companies, there were twenty drummers and two fifers.³ Some accounts note that despite the regulations, some regiments had from 4 to 6 fifers and twice as many drummers. In 1773, the 54th Regiment was noted to have "5 more fifers than the King's Regulations"⁴

The fife major had similar responsibilities over the fifers as the Drum-major did over the drummers. The drum major was the senior of the two. Fifers carried a brass fife case to their side.

British fife tunes are scarce, there are few scores of the tunes played with the drum beatings, but several American tunes of the era are known.

Modern fifes, as played by the 42nd

The fife can play surprisingly well with bagpipes, though it has a far greater range. (A good fife can reach 3 full octaves.) A B-flat fife, the most common, can play pipe music transposed down 4 steps. It can carry nearly as well as a bagpipe, and with its shriller tone, creates an interesting blend with the pipes.

The majority of fifes are wood, usually rosewood, though ebony and cocobolo are not uncommon. Most have six holes, which is common for most players, but some fifers, however, will play one with 10 or 11 holes. 10 or 11 hole fifes are generally two-piece and tunable, but are not historically correct as a six hole fife is.