Fluteland.com Flute Message Board

Practice it over and over again. Play it at a comfortable speed to you. Don't try to increase the speed until you are completely comfortable. It may take lots of time, but it's the only way to really master the instrument. You haven't been playing very long at all: go easy on yourself. It takes year...

I'm going to throw in a bit of food for thought here. When referencing "professional" flutes, you will often see them described as "easier to play," "easier for you to play," and so forth. I am not sure at all that I equate the quality of a flute with how easy it is to play. Sometimes the flute that...

Play long tones. As you play, listen, adjust, and improve. Practice playing slower pieces, record yourself, and listen. Try placing the recorder all the way across the room from you. Often the way the flutist hears the tone isn't the way the audience hears it. Use air and lip support to add richness...

In my experience, an intermediate flute, well padded and well-maintained, will easily outplay even a very high-end instrument that is out of adjustment or leaks. The point--sometimes the answer isn't a new flute. Sometimes the answer some loving care to the one you already play. That's not to say th...

The best way to keep silver plate looking good is don't polish it, at least not with a polishing cloth or a polishing compound. Silver polish actually removes metal--so everytime you polish, the plating gets that much thinner. You can actually break through to base metal pretty easily on some flutes...

I cannot flutter-tongue either...I am tongue-tied (literally, it's called an ankylotic tongue). Rolling the R is also impossible for me, but I can roll a D...not a skill that helps in flute playing though. There is a technique I sometimes use which involves a rapid flutter of the throat muscles, lik...

I started playing flute when I was 11. I'm almost 40...but there was a LONG period, about ten years, early 20's to early 30's, when I had no interest at all in playing flute or anything else, and basically didn't touch the instrument except to play a few melodies off of movies, things of that nature...

Yes. I recently just aquired a renaissance Rafi model tenor in D. I also play the recorder in both C and F. I am wanting to purchase a baroque model next. I am a fan of the early music (medieval, renaissance, baroque) and just into the classical but not very into the later and lodern classical too ...

My main instrument these days is a blackwood 6-key made by Hammy Hamilton.

I also play a Gemeinhardt 3SSB made in the late 70's, a Baroque flute by Sweet, and polymer flutes by Michael Cronnolly and Desi Seery.

--James

There have actually been flutes made that go lower than the B-flat. I believe I once saw a picture of a man playing a German flute that went all the way down to G. However, it seems to me an alto flute is the way to go if you love the dark resonance of the lowest notes and really want to play down t...

Cool...you've got your flute! :) Here's a downloadable fingering chart, and I think it's got a pretty good illustration of finger placement as well, so this oughta take care of your #1 and #2 questions: http://www.markshep.com/flute/Fingers.html Basic posture is the same as for Irish flute. I like t...

I wouldn't think the dent should make for any trouble as long as it's small.

The nick could, though. If it's sharp at all, it could irritate or even cut the lip. You might want to steer clear of that one.

Best wishes,

--James

Say, your not from Chiff&Fipple, are you? The James with the awesome flute website? Just checked your profile. You probably already knew all that stuff about me. :lol: Good to see ya! I just found this forum a few days ago, been doing some catch-up reading before I posted. Looks like a really nice ...

Hi Claiken! Simple system flutes are the kind that were played before Boehm invented the modern flute in 1847. They include the Baroque traverso, the 8-key flute, the German flute (which was sometimes outfitted with 13 or more keys), and the modern Irish flute. These flutes all share a common herita...

Hi, I'm new to the boards, and I was wondering how many other flutists here play both Boehm-system and simple-system flutes, as I do?

Nice boards, I'm enjoying reading the posts and all the good advice that's been given here.

--James