Choosing the Right Flute For Your Skills?
We help you match your music, skill and budget to a suitable flute.
Whether you are just starting out, wanting to upgrade your current instrument or shopping as a new player or student, purchasing a flute can be daunting. We aim to assist your by providing selection criteria for a flute that will meet your need
Flutes Under $200
Selecting a flute can be a difficult process particularly if it is your first flute or for a beginner. Of prime consideration for many is the cost and the likelihood that they will continue to play the flute.
Whilst cost is important, you should also consider the quality of the flute to be purchased.
Flutes $200 - $500
This is the range I recommend to parents when looking for a flute for their children. The quality is much better than the cheaper flutes, and therefore your flute will last much longer.
They are also normally easier to play as a result of the materials that are used in manufacture.
Flutes over $500
Higher quality flutes do cost more, however they do last longer. They also have a crisper, cleaner sound and therefore give a more rewarding experience to the flutist.
Suited to an intermediate player rather than a beginner who may not continue to play the flute.
Yamaha YFL-222 Student Flute
We have found the Yamaha YFL-222 to be one of the best flutes for students and intermediate players alike.
The Yamaha YFL-222 flute is great for beginners and intermediate players who may be looking for their next instrument in their journey as a flutist.
Yamaha are renown for their high quality musical instruments and the YFL-222 student flute maintains that high quality. Precision craftmanship makes for a fantastic sounding flute
Jean Paul USA FL-220
This Jean Paul flute is designed specifically for beginner and intermediate players, making it is easy to play. This ease in playing can be attributed to the closed-hole system of the flute, which is easier for beginners to handle.
The keys are also power-forged, ensuring durability and peace of mind for the student. Aside from that, the embouchure or liplate is designed to be student-friendly so that even beginner flutists can begin to play with intonations.
As well as its student-friendliness, the Jean Paul USA FL-220 also has plenty of aesthetic looks.
Eastar EFL-1 C
The Eastar EFL-1 is a good flute for a beginner. Its nickel plated construction makes it hard wearing.
As a beginner, you’ll be happy to know that there are a few affordable starter flutes available.
The Eastar EFL-1 C flute is just one example of a cheaper flute designed for someone starting out learning the flute. Considering all the accessories that come with your flute, you get value for every dollar that you spend.
Glory Closed Hole C Flute
If you’re a beginner or intermediate flutist and are interested in a flute that delivers quality sound without the high price tag, then check out the Glory closed hole C flute.
The Glory closed hole C flute is an excellent investment. It is one of the few cheaper flutes that can match what other pricier instruments can offer.
It offers high-quality performance for a fraction of the price of mainstream quality flutes.
Mendini Closed Hole C Flute
One of the more affordable yet highly-reliable options you can go for is the Mendini by Cecilio premium closed hole C flute.
With this flute, not only do you get the instrument itself but you also get a series of accessories to boot. This increases the value of your investment, by including all the necessary extras to take care of your new instrument.
This is particularly important if you’re looking for a flute that’s ideal for a beginner or intermediate-level musician.
History of the modern-day flute
The modern flute, as we know it was designed in 1846 by Theobald Boehm. After experimenting with different types of metal, he began making flutes from silver around 1847. The metal flutes were constructed in 3 parts, a tapered head joint, a cylindrical body, and large tone holes covered by keys.
It wasn’t until the early 20th century that the metal flutes began to replace wood or bamboo flutes as the instrument preferred by musicians.
The basic components of a flute
Modern flutes have three main parts: The headjoint, the body, and the footjoint.
Headjoint
This is the part of the flute that touches the musicians mouth and has no keys. The headjoint, also contains a tuning cork. The tuning cork is designed to seal the end on the flute to ensure that air flows through the instrument to produce sound. This tuning cork may be adjusted to alter the intonation of the flute. When cleaning your flute, the tuning cork must be handled with care.
If the cork becomes damaged it will result in an inconsistent or airy sound. If damaged it will need to be replaced.
The head joint also contains the lip-plate. This is also called the embouchure plate. The musician rests his lower lip on the lip-plate to play the flute.
Tip for beginners, a curved lip-plate is easier to blow than a straight lip-plate.
The headjoint also contains the blow hole, also known as the mouth hole. The blow hole is where the musician blows air into in order to produce sound. It can either be oval shaped or a rounded rectangle. A larger mouth hole favors low notes while a small mouth hole favors high notes.
The headjoint may be upgraded to improve the overall tone and quality of your flute. When selecting your first flute it would be wise to buy one that can easily upgrade the headjoint.
The Body
This is the middle section of the flute and also the largest part of the flute. The body connects the headjoint and footjoint. This is also where the main mechanisms, that control the majority of the keys are found.
The keys are pressed by a musician in order to produce a certain pitch. It is important that the key pads and springs are in good condition to produce the proper quality of sound.
Note: The key springs are very finely adjusted and should be handled with great care.
The body also has the tuning slide and tenons, these are used primarily to tune the flute.
Footjoint
This is the shortest part of the flute. It also contains a few keys. The little finger on the right hand plays all of the keys on the footjoint.
The foot joint has a rod, which must be aligned with the center of the keys in the body of the flute.
On an advanced flute there will be additional keys to extend the range. These additional keys enable the player to extend the bottom of the range. There may also be a gizmo key that makes it easier to produce a high C note with clarity.
7 key tips to consider when choosing your flute.
- Research the various brands available
- Avoid choosing a flute that is TOO cheap
- Choose a beginner or student flute for your first flute
- Choose a traditional or standard flute for your first instrument
- Select the correct size – use a curved headjoint for smaller children
- Think ahead – choose a flute you can upgrade
- Remember good brands hold their value
Uses for a flute
Flutes are often used in jazz and pop music, as well as more traditional pieces such as chamber, orchestral and even marching bands.
The flute is a very versatile musical instrument, it can played solo or with other instruments.
It has the highest voice in the woodwind family of instruments. The name might be a little confusing since not all flutes are made of wood, but the flute is designated as a woodwind instrument due to the way it produces sound.
Beginner versus intermediate and professional flutes
Many people when purchasing their first flute will select a beginner’s instrument, and then be tempted to choose the cheapest model. This is understandable as you may not be sure if you will continue to learn and play the flute. This however may not be the smartest choice.
By selecting a cheaper or lower quality beginner’s flute, it is more likely that you will become frustrated and therefore more likely to give up.
Take time to compare brands, prices and also important are customer reviews. Look for a model that balances price with good quality sound and ease of playing.
Higher quality flutes generally are easier to play and have a better quality sound. This results in a much more pleasant experience for the person learning to play the flute.
Beginner and student flutes
Getting started with the flute can be hard for young children and students with small hands. To assist younger and smaller students some beginner models have curved headjoints. This allows the student to play the flute without over reaching. As a result the flute will be easier to play small or young flutists.
A beginner’s flute will usually have plateau or closed holes on the keys. Making the flute easier to play.
The sound of a flute does not come out of the end, as is commonly thought, therefore these closed keys will affect the sound of the flute. As their skills improve many flutists will upgrade to an open-holed flute because of their improved tone and control over the intonation.
Beginner and student flutes will most likely be made out of a nickel and silver alloy which it is far more durable than silver alone.
Some people have allergies to silver or nickel and should opt for the type plating they can safely handle.
Transitioning to a better quality flute.
Upgrading to a better-quality flute with open-hole keys can prove difficult for some.
To ease the transition to a new or upgraded flute, many flutists make use of key plugs that can be inserted into the hole of the flute. Whilst they do make the flute easier to play, they do prohibit the flute from resonating at its full potential.
As your skill level improves these plugs can be removed and do not cause any damage to the instrument.
Inline vs. offset G keys
Flutes come with either an inline or offset G key. Although only one key is shifted slightly to the left, the entire playing position of the hand is altered greatly.
There are professionals that play both models and swear that one allows for quicker trills than the other but it comes down to whichever position is more comfortable for the player.
Upgrading Your Flute
Upgrade the Headjoint or the Lip plate
When it comes time to think about upgrading your current flute, the first place to start is to upgrade or replace the headjoint. This is a relatively inexpensive way to achieve a new level of sound from the original instrument.I strongly recommend that when making your purchase of your first flute that you select one that is easy to upgrade with a new headjoint.
Purchasing an upgraded or better headjoint will dramatically improve the intonation and the responsiveness of the flute.
This option is ideal for players who are not yet ready to advance to a new flute, or advanced players who want to take it to their playing to the next level while keeping their current body.
Lip plate
Another way to alter the tone of your flute is by changing the metal of the lip plate. Altering any metal used on the flute will alter the tone.
Not all flutes are made of the traditional silver or nickel base metals. Many of the professional flutists play on either rose gold or traditional gold flutes which have a different timbre entirely.
Having a gold lip plate is an affordable and wonderful way to achieve that richer, warmer tone of the gold flute
Upgrade the footjoint
Upgrading the footjoint is another way that you can achieve improvements on your current flute.
On some footjoints a third key is added on advanced models allowing the range to be extended down to a low B.