Fife: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A fife is a small transverse flute, pitched to B flat. There are six holes and no keys. Without keys, the fife has a rather limited range, usually played in the keys of D, G or A. 1863 regulations allowed recruiters to enlist those, “such as the recruits as are found to possess a natural talent for music, to be instructed on the fife, bugle, and drum, and other military instruments...care should be taken to enlist those only who have a natural talent for music." Young musicians were trained at Governor’s Island in New York. George Bruce served as Principal Instructor at Governor’s Island. Bruce, along with Daniel Decatur Emmett, the composer of Dixie, authored The Drummer's and Fifer’s Guide. Their guide became the standard for military musicians. Many of the fifers were young boys, age twelve to sixteen. Most fifers would have been accompanied by drummers.

Materials, dates and provenance

• associated date: 1861 - 1865
• Object Name: Fife
• Measurements: overall: 16 3/4 in x 3/4 in x 3/4 in; 42.545 cm x 1.905 cm x 1.905 cm
• related event: Civil War
• related event: Civil War and Reconstruction
• ID Number: AF.67943M
• catalog number: 67943M
• accession number: 246767
• Data Source: National Museum of American History

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of American History through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed.