Checking for product changes
Buy Now, Pay Later
As low as
$2
/ mo
Learn more
- – 4-month term
- – No impact on credit
- – Instant approval decision
- – Secure and straightforward checkout
Ready to go? Add this product to your cart and select a plan during checkout.
Payment plans are offered through our trusted finance partners Klarna, PayTomorrow, Affirm, Afterpay, Apple Pay, and PayPal. No-credit-needed leasing options through Acima may also be available at checkout.
Learn more about financing & leasing here.
Free shipping on this product
30-day returns
Learn more
This item is eligible for return within 30 days of receipt
To qualify for a full refund, items must be returned in their original, unused condition. If an item is returned in a used, damaged, or materially different state, you may be granted a partial refund.
To initiate a return, please visit our Returns Center.
View our full returns policy here.
Availability:
In Stock.
Arrives
Wednesday, Jul 9
Recently Viewed
Features
- Key of C
- 2 piece ABS plastic body
- Open hole fingerings
- Molded flute-style lip plate
- Includes cotton carrying bag and fingering chart
Description
The Yamaha YRF-21Y Fife is played to the side like a flute but with open holes and simple fingerings like a recorder. This makes it a good way to transition recorder players or introduce new musicians to playing the flute. It can also be used to play traditional Fife music, like songs from American revolutionary War. The durable and lightweight ABS plastic body comes apart into two pieces for easy cleaning. Key of C.
Item Weight: 1.6 ounces
Product Dimensions: 13.32 x 0.82 x 0.82 inches
Domestic Shipping: Item can be shipped within U.S.
Country of Origin: Indonesia
Item model number: YRF-21Y
Is Discontinued By Manufacturer: No
Date First Available: August 7, 2005
Body Material: Plastic
Color Name: Original Version
Material Type: Plastic
Instrument Key: C
Frequently asked questions
If you place your order now, the estimated arrival date for this product is:
Wednesday, Jul 9
Yes, absolutely! You may return this product for a full refund within 30 days of receiving it.
To initiate a return, please visit our Returns Center.
View our full returns policy here.
To initiate a return, please visit our Returns Center.
View our full returns policy here.
- Klarna Financing
- Affirm Pay in 4
- Affirm Financing
- Afterpay Financing
- PayTomorrow Financing
- Financing through Apple Pay
Learn more about financing & leasing here.
Similar Products
Top Amazon Reviews
Totally fun. I've messed around on a recorder a tiny bit and wanted a cheap transverse flute so I didn't look like a second grader. For $8, I can't think of a more fun thing. Seriously, seeing a movie costs more and you can reap hours of entertainment from this little thing. Some reviewers criticized the bottom thumb hole noting that "real" fifes don't have that. Well, I'm no musical purist and I try to not be snobby, so I can't figure out how this could be a problem. I keep mine in my man-bag (purse) and pull it out whenever the mood strikes. It breaks down into two parts and is very portable even when kept together. Buy five because everyone who hears you bust a tune is going to want one and at $8/fife, anyone can afford to be a musical Santa Clause. The best $8 I've ever spent on something legal :)
...
show more
Reviewed in the United States on September 28, 2015 by George Edmondson
People who say this isn't a fife are right. It's a piccolo! I play the flute and also have a standard piccolo, and this is the same, but without keys. This instrument is very well designed and beautifully crafted, or factory made at any rate. It has a winged lipped plate, which means there is a wing shaped riser on top of the lip plate, which is nicely molded in one piece to the headjoint. The wing design is a feature you would find only on a custom flute headjoint costing well over $1000. On flute, the wing design is supposed to help players who produce an excessive amount of extra air noise in their tone. Personally, on flute, I don't like the wing for the type of tone I produce, but it looks nice, and it probably helps some people. Just the overall shape and form of this instrument is beautiful too. It is in C, and like the piccolo, sounds an octave above the flute. Unlike the three octave range of a piccolo, this instrument has only a two octave range with an extra third, so C2 to C3, C3 to C4, and C4 to E4. I haven't played it long enough, but it can probably be pushed higher. I hit a G4 on it already. I recommend using ear plugs, or at least cotton in the ears to protect your hearing if you're going up above G in the second octave anyway. This does not produce a rich sound like the flute, but is very much like the piccolo, an instrument which when played enough, can damage your hearing. Professional piccolo players have sometimes lost part of their hearing, and they know to practice with their ears protected. As a flute teacher posted here, this is the ideal starting instrument for a child of any age who wants to play the flute. Or maybe,an adult, who regrets not trying to learn the flute, should try this first. Why start on a $500+ beginner flute, when for less than $7, if you can learn to blow this after trying for a month or two, and can't put it down, then fine, step up to a flute. If you can't play it, then you've saved yourself hundreds of dollars. Before I started on flute, I bought an inexpensive pipe at a music store and probably drove my parents crazy playing it. There is a lot more linkage between this "fife" and a flute than there is a recorder and flute. Unless you play the flute or piccolo, start slowly on this, otherwise it will make you dizzy. Of course, being a flute/piccolo player, I was able to play this right away, but it is by no means easy to play. I think the flute is probably easier for a brand new beginner. Although for a child of 7, the finger stretch on this is better than flute. My one regret isn't about this instrument specifically, but I wish Yamaha would make something just like this but as big as they can make it, at least to Eb, pushing the finger stretch to that of a tenor recorder or so (which would need a key or two), because this thing would sound beautiful if it were longer. My other suggestion is to experiment with rotating the headjoint as much as you like, and see if that helps your tone, or helps you to produce a tone. Try to produce a tone with minimal tension in your lips. Some people mistakenly think that to produce a sound on the flute or piccolo you have to tighten up your mouth and raise the corners up, when in reality most top players have relatively relaxed lips, with corners of the mouth down a little bit. This is a great little instrument and easily worth $30+. Since the people on YouTube who demo this can't play it at all really, I hope to make some videos which show more of its potential.
...
show more
Reviewed in the United States on July 29, 2012 by CandidOne
My interest is music for Fife and Drum, probably Civil War era. I have another Fife (a Bb style). My experience are Drums and Percussion (I love the snare drum...) I made this purchase to attempt to teach myself some simple accompanying tunes for marches (Yankee Doodle, 1812 Quickstep, The Gerryowen (OK - that's a B I G stretch). I am trying to get some sound out of my Yamaha - to start with. Its not like a Soprano Recorder woodwind, it takes a certain embouchure ... I think like a flute. Working at home for quite some time during C O V I D sheltering, I will practice at my leisure. Instrument quality is very good, 2 piece, instructions on where the notes are (the corresponding holes). The hole for blowing is molded into an interesting shape to facilitate proper "blowing", etc. I'm looking forward to learning some basic music.
...
show more
Reviewed in the United States on December 30, 2020 by Frederick
The media could not be loaded. As several other people have stated in reviews, this is not a fife in the classical sense. It's really an inexpensive plastic piccolo (which is Italian for 'small flute.') However, if you want to play it like a fife using fife fingering, you can simply tape the top two holes and it becomes a C diatonic fife with a slightly offset bottom hole. Overall I'm extremely happy with the sound of this flute and would recommend it to anyone who wants an inexpensive, extremely portable, novel woodwind. Broken down it fits somewhat awkwardly into a back pocket or very easily into any bag, and for the price you don't have to worry about breakage or theft if you bring it around with you.
...
show more
Reviewed in the United States on January 29, 2021 by Jonathan Dodge
It's alright, and I'm glad I have it in my collection. It's a Yamaha, so of course the quality is surprising good for the price. The headjoint fits snugly. It's smooth in the hands. The notes play sweetly and it sounds nice, but it is slightly airy. It plays much better than similar instruments in this price range, but it still leaves something to be desired. The notes from F# to G sound off. The fingering is unconventional, which I'm okay with. What bothers me is that it's cumbersome for this type of instrument. Buy a fife if you want a fife because this is certainly not a fife. If you're just looking for a cheap instrument to play soprano voice, I recommend the Yamaha soprano recorder instead. If you're trying to learn piccolo or flute and think this is a good introduction to transverse flutes, think again. It's discouragingly more difficult to blow than the flute. Because I have been consistently pleased and impressed with Yamaha, it's weird to say I'm not happy with one of their products. I've never had buyer's remorse from any recorder I've bought. In fact, I love my recorders and play them every day. But even for under $10, I'd rather have bought something else than this oddity. After purchasing this, I'm still going to buy a traditional fife. Maybe I'll take this out every once in a while, or maybe not. For funsies: the headjoint is interchangeable with soprano recorder.
...
show more
Reviewed in the United States on August 9, 2014 by Kenneth Levleit