  A simple model of a periodic ensemble of closely packed flux tubes sitting
atop a vertically stratified layer reveals that an incident fast wave from
below preferentially converts almost immediately to Alfv\'en waves in the flux
tubes, with kink waves restricted to at most a very few Fourier modes. This
suggests that observations of coronal kink modes in such structured systems may
greatly underestimate the net wave energy flux being transported into and
through the corona, much of which may reside in harder-to-observe Alfv\'en
waves. The processes of mode conversion/resonant absorption and Alfv\'en phase
mixing are implicated. It is suggested that the Sun's internal p-mode field --
the 5-minute oscillations -- may contribute substantially to the process by
supplying incident fast waves in the chromosphere that scatter and mode-convert
in the tube ensemble.
