Hi, so I'm in a pep band and I'm trying to extend my range cause piccolos are way too expensive. I can get Eb7 out consistently but E is more hit or miss. I'm trying to get to F7 so that I can play most of the tune an octave or two up. Does anyone have any tip.

I recently started playing again after not touching my flute for 15 years and it is in definite need of a tune up. I’ll call my repair shop in the morning, but just wondering if anyone can give me a rough idea of how long a COA takes. Is a week or two reasonable? Just wondering if I’m likely to get it back before Christmas or not.

I just recently got my flute re-padded. I have had it since 2008 I think and this is the first time I paid for a full re-pad. It's a Gemeinhardt limited edition with a solid silver body and headjoint and silver plated mechanism (I know it's not the best flute but it's mine). It plays much better now but I was annoyed to see two new scratches on the headjoint (They said they would buff that out for me). When I got done practicing I swabbed it out like I always do and when I took the cloth out it looked like it was covered in glitter. I looked closer and it appeared to be a bunch of metal shavings of various sizes. There was something else too that looked like loose cotton fibers. I was just wondering if this was normal for a re-pad job. Any input would be appreciated.

A few weeks ago I posted about how I just got my flute and wanted to learn jazz standards. It’s been 3 weeks maybe? And I’ve learned my main fingerings and already learned 2 songs, Naima by John Coltrane and My Favorite Things, and am working on I Want To Talk About You by Billy Eckstein. I just can’t put this damn thing down. The way it feels to hold, the vibrations of low notes, the sounds of the keys, everything is just perfect about this instrument. I honestly think that avoiding tutorials for songs and just learning by ear or reading them is what has gotten me as far as I have with this thing. I’ve already performed Naima twice and I’m hoping to perform many more times on flute.

What fingering is better? I’ve been playing the bottom one forever- would it be better to relearn the top or just stick with the bottom fingering?

looking to get my self something for the holidays

Hello, im a beginner flute :)

I was wondering if someone could explain to me how flute embouchure works because all the analogys I've been told today are hard for me to understand. I just want to know what to do n stuff.

I do play both clarinet and oboe so if anyone can help me make connections I think that would help too :)

Also, do I have to change my air? Can my air be too much air?? I understand fingerings and notes n stuff I just really need help making noises :)

Very tempted to buy a cheap bass flute from china ( https://www.ebay.com/itm/335079133854?hash=item4e0445d29e:g:wRkAAOSwMtZj54gP&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAA4M5f5y4Xl%2FLOBvW848VTgu4yWw88y4HWjK64uRpCskUJSuPonib6mRy6JKJUGrxq%2BxnDIRu%2FSkRYAbNNT2Mg%2Ft%2FgF7muZaAp0AgmDHR%2FCSufEdKXu%2BZOvHEzJcog8mipL2CAHcRUImuv%2FnfHXSWBiaLxy2HyS2kHZtjQ%2BVfL%2BBciHUnA77FMDFd%2BEzF7y9uFiW0tKv7DLKkg3dxkLK54QFEQq4qswT38lxRUDQddoBkQA02BvyXskOHVcf1g%2BTh2gtZtynP98iiBEICQV%2FezLNKXRoHql9whPtsRIJtwEb18%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR-6M8N-IYw ), but assume they are just awful to play. Does anybody have any experience with these instruments?

Hi so i was just thinking that people usually say that they want to upgrade and many say that they felt like their instrument was hindering them. So i want to know when/if you felt that and what did you do. Did you stick with your instrument or did you switch it?

She had a revision a month ago. This is the first time this has happened to me, there was too much condensation and it slipped out of my hands and came apart. it has no scratches or anything. should I take it back to the flute tech ?

I've seem to notice that every time I play the rising section of the chromatic scale, very specifically the high D, D sharp, E, F ..., My fingers blank out at the transition between D and D sharp. Its like they just wont move during that moment. I have to do a little reset and only then can I continue. Ive tried loosening my grip but they just feel dead and sluggish. This has been a problem for me for a while. I'm a bit of a newbie so im sorry if this seems silly. Any advice is appreciated.

This rubber piece is coming off, what should I do?

Hello all!

I am 16 and have wanted to play in an orchestra for quite a while. I already play piano and pipe organ, two instruments which don't appear much in the orchesta unless you are the soloist or in Mahler 8. I have decided to learn flute because of it's wide orchestral application. I don't have a huge budget, £500 would be my limit. I have been looking at the Yamaha YFL - 221. Is this a good beginner flute? I am open to other recommendations within my budget if anyone has any suggestions.

Thanks.

Between the shops out there that offer tools for flute repair, which shop is the most reliable (US-wise) in your past experience?

I’ve come across 3 shops:

1. JL Smith (most reputable to my knowledge)
2. Ferree’s (has cheaper alternatives that still seem to work)
3. MusicMedic (cheapest but least specialised)

I’ve bought from Ferree’s before and they are good on a budget compared to JL Smith. Though I’d prefer JL Smith’s, however, their tools command a premium that I can’t justify for my usage at this point.

MusicMedic on the other hand, seems to be the worst of the three and seems to be more aligned for band shops.

I love Gamelon and am no where that I can get one and know nothing about them- can anyone recommend a reputable dealer and maybe wtf I need to order to do 'typical' flute playing whit it?

Thanks

I've been playing for some time and gotten down on how to get a good tone but sometimes out of random, the first few notes I play sound very full of spit. It typically wanes after I place a bit more but it's very disastrous in auditions where it's prolonged, especially on scales.

Hi there - I used to have strong skills in flute (years of private studies, regular performances, competitions, etc.). but I let it go for about 15 years, only playing for fun at home every couple years or less.

I was asked to do a solo in a performance I'm in (a choir) and I have worked soooo hard, overall it's sounding great, I have my tone back, technical stuff, etc. Practicing at home it sounds just fine.

BUT whenever I go to play with the choir and accompanist and percussion, I blow some cracked notes, or like a "squeak." It's humiliating and demoralizing. I have never, ever had that problem, I didn't actually know it was a thing until I started reading about it.

I can't even replicate it at home, my nerves must be forcing me to align things incorrectly, or blow too hard for certain notes...but only in public???

Does anyone have any tips for this/similar experiences? I mean, I guess the performances this weekend will be *ok* but so far I have not played with the choir without cracking or squealing notes so I'm very apprehensive. We're out of practices (I wish there had been more) Sigh...Thanks for anything you can provide.

Edit: Using the various suggestions, I figured out how to replicate the problem and try to work on it. If I have either a metronome or a recorded livestream of one of our choir practices playing with a computer speaker, and then I put one headphone in a play something like the movie Alien or a loud orchestra/choir combo, and THEN play the flute, it replicates the situation for me - I can't concentrate (because of nerves in public but at home because of too many sounds), and I can't hear myself very well. Yes I know this is extreme and a little crazy.

It started making me have those same cracking issues, so it seems to be related to not being able to hear myself, and then nerves. I'm practicing like that over and over, and I am hoping it will work.

My first concert is tomorrow (Friday), and then there are two more over the weekend. Thank you so much for your help! I'll let you know how it goes.

Does anyone else get headaches after practicing? For what it's worth I do have reduced lung capacity. I do breathing exercises daily to increase lung capacity and take breaks during practice, and the headaches have reduced, but they occasionally still happen.(I am on a preventative for chronic headaches but they were a thing before I started playing the flute.) I get migraines too as I had migraines before I took up flute not because of flute.

And is there anyone else here who plays flute with reduced lung capacity? I don't have Asthma. What I have is like COPD but I don't meet the official diagnostic criteria for COPD as I've never smoked, been around chemicals, etc, although I know you don't have to be around those things to get a diagnosis of it. Basically my lungs were underdeveloped due to very premature birth, so my alveoli were damaged by the ventilator.

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Hello everyone!

Say I found a very beautiful recorder online made of wood however it was listed as used (potentially played before to being open box)

How would I disinfect it before playing it?

Thank you!

Does anyone use this glue for flute repairs? Is it any good?

https://preview.redd.it/4lu0enbr3b4c1.png?width=1070&format=png&auto=webp&s=daca4127e40849913f15866f603cbf8eb0142619

I was wondering about the following things:

How much it would cost to get a solidly well-made, standard C flute as an adult beginner? What makes would be recommmended? I would be looking to buy one flute from which I would not have to upgrade, as I am a clarinetist who also plays saxophone.

What supplies would I need and what are the best recommended method and study books, including a comprehensive listing of graded repertoire?

What are some good resources about the history and design / evolution of the flute up to and including modern times ( books and other formats ; I especially like to have good books on musical topics that I can reliably use as reference materials , for example ). I like to know about an instrument's important performers as well

Is there a particularly good fingering chart that is comprehensive and shows examples of passages where more difficult fingerings listed are best used?

I trust I do not ask too much, but I aim to include several questions in one posting, for the sake of thoroughness. I am a university music graduate who learns quickly, so I am not daunted by scholarly yet accessible material.

Yours, Richard -- with abundant advance thanks.

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does anyone know of any flute ensembles with 7 flutes? i’m in top band at my high school and we can have one alto and one bass part if needed. we also have piccolo.

This is the place to promote yourself! Whether it's a performance you are proud of, offering teaching, or anything else flute related.

Doing some research to help my sister who will be going into her freshman year of college. She needs to upgrade her flute (she also needs a decent piccolo that can sway from metal to composite head joint, recommendations wanted!)

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So far Ive found a gemeinhardt M3 Open Hole with a solid silver head joint, and a trevor james cantabile #7124S open hole. Are either of these worthy of college play?

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Been debating learning the flute. I’m just not sure how much of a time sink it would be.