Long Time Musician but New to the Flute

[pied_piper]

Practicing getting a good sound on the head joint is a useful thing to do. Many teachers start beginners with just the headjoint, so go for it.

Regarding replacing the pads, there is a lot more to it than just pulling the old ones out and popping new ones back in their place. Pads have to be shimmed for proper coverage and then there are a lot of adjustments and regulation of inter-key action. I suggest getting a good book on the topic or you will quickly become very frustrated because the flute doesn't play right and you won't know if it's you or the flute. The best alternative is to get the flute repadded by a flute repair shop.

Servicing the Flute book:
https://www.jlsmithco.com/product/servi ... y-jlsmith/

[pied_piper]

Good luck!

[Soupy1957]

I was 62 when I started with the flute, and I have a background very similar to yours in guitar, and a variety of other instruments.

Let’s face it, we are in the fourth quarter of our lives and time is really of the essence now. You can’t shortcut practice so as long as you’re playing every day and focusing on the style of play that you really want to achieve, I wouldn’t get too bogged down in details.

What do I mean by “details?” Well, I read sheet music but I really much prefer improvisation, so I focus on improvisational playing. I went through all my CDs and I found various artists from various genres that had music that I wanted to play along with. Not only was this a way to learn how to play the flute, but it was also helpful in trying to determine what genre I tend to want to focus on. In my case it happens to be “smooth jazz.” I think it was Dave Valentin who said that “smooth jazz” was like cheating, and I’m paraphrasing. I have a lot of respect for Dave, God rest his soul, but I still like that form of music. I found lots of great backing tracks for smooth jazz online and it has helped me to practice long tones and work on the way I play in terms of technique.

The whole point is we have to be somewhat selective about what we focus on, because we are not 19 years old with lots of years ahead of us. I set a goal for myself, for example, in which I said that I would like to be playing on the stage of Carnegie Hall by the time I am 73. Why 73 specifically? Because that will be roughly 10 years of playing, which I think should make a good player out of me, if I really work hard! It’s not an unrealistic goal actually.

I am the kid, who at 12 years of age, climbed underneath the rope and walked up to the bridge of the Staten Island ferry, and knocked on the door and asked the captain if I could come in; he put me up on a box and had me steering the ferry! I’m not afraid to gamble on what might seem to be an unreachable goal to others.

So go for it! Clearly you have already invested some time into this. Give me a holler if you’d like to compare notes as we learn together