Flute & Friends

Flutes

Through years of teaching, I have found certain brand of flutes to be more reliable in general. If you are flute shopping and not sure what to buy, you cannot go wrong with the recommendations below:

1) For comfort and to avoid injuries, I recommend always choosing a flute with an offset G key.

2) For young beginners, it is also important to choose a flute with holes that are covered. Open holes are not important until students progress to a more advanced level of playing.

Jupiter 313S Pridigy Curved Head Flute

This special flute is made for very young student to accomodate their small size. A curved headjoint allows for a comfortable reach and keys extentions aid small hands to reach the keys. Although this flute is smaller then the standard modern C flute, it is a real flute and plays beautifully!

Yamaha Student Model YFL 221

Any model Yamaha flute is an extremely reliable flute. I recommend the 221 because it is the most basic model and serves a beginner student very well. This flute in particular has an offset G key for comfort. Yamahas are solid and have a particually unique and consistent tone quality. If you are looking to invest more for quality, buy a Yamaha. They also have a higher resale value and last a lifetime.

Gemeienhardt Student Model

Gemeinhardt offers a wide selection of student model flutes and tends to be less expensive then Yamaha. This flute offers reliability and consistency to the student and is an excellent choice for a first flute.

If you are an intermediate or advanced player looking to upgrade your flute, I would recommend the higher number Yamaha models or the Japanese brand Miyazawa. Open holes flutes are also important at this stage for gaining a beautiful and consistent tone. The quality of the metal also contributes to beauty and originality of the flute sound, so it is important to look for a solid silver flute for example.

All the above flutes can be found at www.fluteworld.com