Learning  to Read Native American Flute Tablature
			PG 47  The Native American Flute: Understanding the Gift" by John Vames
	"Nakai Tablature" is a system of musical notation developed by R. Carlos Nakai.  It requires learning one finger position for each note appearing on the staff.  For example, the note on the first space of the staff is played by covering all six holes.  This system works with any key flute that is properly tuned to the Native American  or pentatonic scale.To read "Nakai Tablature"  you need to understand duration just as any musician does.
			History: Tablature was a form of Pitch designation which can be traced back to the middle ages. It designated Pitch in a general way with symbols of hand movement. It did not include any means of indicating duration.   Music at the time was all religious and Vocal, sung by Monks in Monasteries. The melodies of their chants were handed down by oral tradition which meant they already knew the rhythm because it was dictated by the words.  Tablature served to refresh their memories of the melody. Also, with one Monk as the leader, it kept the group together when they sang. As Music developed it left the monastries and became secular as well as religious. It also became instrumental as well as vocal. Just as spoken language was being written down to preserve it and pass it on to future generations, so too was music. The problem with music notation though, was that there was a need for a system to indicate both pitch (how high or low a tone sounds) and duration (how long a note is sustained). It wasn't until the 12th Centure that a couple of genius' in a monastery came up with the idea of a staff to indicate pitch and note symbols to indicate duration. This invention was as important to music as the invention of the printintg press was to the written word.  It revolutionized the way music was composed, written, played and sung.
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