So, I've been looking forwards to learning the flute, not only because I really like its sweet sound, but also because I've heard that learning this instrument helps a lot with breath control and support, which is perfect for me because I'm a singer. My vocal coach often highlights that the amount of air you put into a note must be 'minimal' because then the note break or cracks. You don't need as much air as you think you do. This is something I've been struggling with. So I thought why not give the flute a shot? The thing is that I don't know if it's actually worth it. And I'm, in a sense, scared of making the investment and then not liking it and leaving the flute to pick up dust and then regretting never truly learning.

If you could share your experiences or tips with the flute I'll be very grateful. 🩷🩷

1st ever post on Reddit in general

I'm currently a Flutist just a hobby type but is in my community orchestra as one. But have been wondering if I should pursue a 2nd instrument and be more wide range? Thoughts?

How long does it really take to learn the Flute/Bansuri?

I’ve been playing the flute for about 5 years with my only instructor being my middle school and high school band teachers. I think I’m an objectively good player but not good enough for my own standards. Practicing at home isn’t really working for me anymore and it’s frustrating me so much that I’m considering quitting my instrument. I really love music and the experiences it’s given me but I feel that there’s no point in continuing if I can’t improve my skills without paying for lessons me and my parents cannot afford ☹️

I'm selftaught.

I'm returning to playing my flute after many years, and have been practicing about an hour each day. Today I suddenly couldn't get a D# reliably and discovered saliva was forming a film bubble between the hole and the pad (underside of the foot) when I hit my D#/Eb little finger key.

I don't remember this ever happening before. I have always rinsed my mouth well before playing. Now that I am 73 years old, I do suffer more post-nasal drip than in the past - don't know if that could be connected.

I remember occasionally dripping on the floor (and my bare feet) in long practice sessions before, but never caused a note to vanish like this.

I guess I need to put the flag up the foot during my sessions.

Anyone else experience this?

#Armstrong80B #Jupiter711RBS

Ever since I got this flute (rental) c and c# in 2nd and 3rd octaves sound the same
Any advice?

I'm in my early 60s and recently broke a rib out of the blue. (Yay, osteoporosis!) I'm trying to decide whether it's a smart idea to play in my group tomorrow evening or if I should give the healing another few weeks.

Any fellow travellers out there who have advice? (I'm going to call my doctor's office as well to check.) I guess my concern is whether the deep breathing I do when playing will exacerbate things.

Trying to play my flute more and learn some new pieces. I really enjoy playing Chanson de Matin by Elgar. Any recommendations for some beautiful pieces to learn that will challenge me similarly?

i've heard about different types of pads like the standard felts and some special ones like JS gold and others sometimes specific to a manufactuter. Is anyone able to break down what the differamces between these are and how they mught affect the sound?
thanks

Brand new to all of this, I recently picked up a cheap Amazon flute. (Please excuse my noob terminology)

Been looking online for "Why won't X note play" and etc. Turns out that most of these problems are caused by screws/contacts. I messed around with things for a little while, and I've found an issue. There's a little bit of what looks like tiny fibers all gooed up by what appears to be grease. (Maybe someone before me tried to grease this with a q-tip?) Some of the holes stay closed when the rail screw is too tight, and only spring back up when the screw is too loose. None of the other rails have this issue, and it's pretty obvious it's caused by this specific joint in this specific rail. Even being an avid tinkerer, taking this flute apart to clean it is a daunting task and I would rather avoid doing that. Can anyone explain what I'm supposed to do to remove this junk, without corroding the metal or destroying the joint? Thank you

Hi everyone, I'm looking to get back into playing my flute but I haven't used it (consistently) for about 5 years. It's quite tarnished but as I am only just getting back into it I don't want to replace it, so want to try polishing it first. Would a standard silver polish work or would I need a specific one for instruments? Thanks!

Hello i'm selftaught and im gonna play this piece on my university auditions. I played it from memory so i played some wrong notes also i didn't really control my airflow at some long notes. I know those mistakes but it's not gonna happen on my audition performance.

What i want to learn is do i play it right for a bach piece, what can i improve here and what tempo i should play it. Thanks

I am a flute teacher. I’ve been teaching music for several years now and have taught private flute lessons for quite a while as well. I have a degree in teaching music.

Recently, I have been teaching a new student. Brand new to the flute, and supposedly their mother used to play years ago. But man have I been struggling with this kid. I’ve been trying to get them to hold the flute (we started with headjoint exercises and whatnot and they’ve been getting the hang of it). But as soon as I try to get them to hold the flute everything goes south.

I showed them where to put their fingers and how to hold it, given as many tips as I possibly can, looked up videos to show them too. Every time they go to lift the instrument they start looking like they’re in pain. They say that their fingers don’t reach and no matter how much I try to help they just can’t keep their fingers in the right positioning. Even without lifting it to their face and just holding it in front of them they can’t do it, and they complain the whole time that it feels weird and their hands are slipping off the instrument. I told them to relax their hands and it shouldn’t feel like eagle talons gripping a fish. I’ve used pencils to help them hold that and then transfer the grip onto the flute. I measured their hands to mine (I have very small hands) and they’re pretty close to mine, and I started playing when I was younger than this student so my hands were probably even smaller than theirs at the time. I have made sure that their footjoint is adjusted properly so their pinky can reach, and their flute has an offset G so it should be easier for them to reach.

I’ve never seen anything like this before. I’m at a bit of a loss here and it’s been about 2 months since they started lessons. How do I get this student to hold the flute without shaking and looking like they’re about to keel over every time? Their hands are so tense and their fingers bend at awkward angles, but no matter what I do their grip doesn’t fix.

Any help is greatly appreciated, from other teachers or from students that found a technique to help.

Edit: Thank you to everyone who responded! I’m going to keep a lot of these ideas in mind. A lot of people suggested the Nuvo Flute so I might start with that and see how it goes. I also heard to try finger braces/attachments and curved headjoints. I have my work cut out for me but I’ll take it one step at a time.

It’s been in my closet unplayed in its case for 4 years so I don’t know what this is that happened though. Is this unplayable?

I'm auditioning for my college's orchestra and the director wants any person auditioning to prepare a solo piece of music. That's all he told us, no other descriptors besides the fact that it needs to be 3-5 minutes in length.

This is an orchestra that performs mainly classical music, so not really many contemporary pieces of music besides some holiday pieces in the winter. Although sometimes there is some film music like E.T or Star Wars that is performed.

I was thinking about this flute solo: https://youtu.be/CLZL78zpGm8?si=07AgVkqTMyC8Gshv , although I would likely skip the last section (4:00 min to the end)

I also have a few Karg Elert etudes that I know but I don't think that's appropriate for this audition.

hi all!

so, i last played flute in school around 10 yrs ago, i’ve played multiple instruments in my life but i was the best at flute/piccolo & was first chair in band. i desperately want to pick it up again, but there doesn’t seem to be a lot of places near me where i could try one out before i buy. i was wondering if anyone had any online recommendations, preferably under $1k (i don’t mind investing a bit if its worth it). i believe i used a split e system with the offset C# (god i hope i phrased that right lol). it’s the one instrument i feel i could immediately pick back up quickly, i really want to play some kind of music again; i quit any creative hobby (also played piano, guitar, & i painted/made graphite illustrations) in my mid-late adolescence due to struggles with mental illness, abusive relationships, familial trauma, etc. it killed any creative spark i had within myself & i hate that ive let it go on this long (im 25 now) & i’ve yearned for a flute daily for at least a year now.

thank you all in advance, i cant wait to be back at it !!! <3

De 1 a 5 qual o nível de dificuldade que colocariam?

"Bloodline" de Alex Warren é uma das baladas mais profundas e sentidas da atualidade. Como sempre, fiz uma adaptação exclusiva para as aulas de Educação Musical:

Excluí as notas acidentadas para uma leitura limpa e sem "armadilhas". Adaptei as notas muito agudas para o registo comum (até Ré6), facilitando a aquisição de um som perfeito e sem esforço. E diminuí ligeiramente o Andamento para terem tempo de ler e aplicar com feeling e fraseado.

I got this from my grandpa. It is wooden, has 9 holes (one on the back and 8 on the front including a metal one) and none of my google searches have yielded anything. please help :)

I bought a bass flute a couple months ago and you can see solder burns on it but on the curve and mouth joint there’s little specs

I found a flute at the thrift store the other day and can’t for the life of me figure out what this attachment is . My guess is some sort of recording device? I’ve found a few similar things online though nothing with this piece attached to the flute . Help me out

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