Long and Rambling Introduction

jEwink · Post by **jEwink** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 11:20 am

Hi, I am diane - new to this group. New to flutes, piccolos .. NO MUSICAL BACKGROUND or talents .. NO RYTHYM .. I can't even dance !!! But I want to play the piccolo !! I am like a ferret in that I like shiney things ... I am an accountant [BORING] I sell coins and tokens on eBay [BORING] I design websites - repair computers [BORING] and buy gadgets !!

Change of life [gotta blame something for this] has led me to purchasing a sterling Armstrong [930 I think] piccolo. In my 'nest' I have a flute as well .. Which I pick up ever so often play just a hour or less because it absolutely is SO PAINFUL !!! I could maybe do better if I wasn't 99.9999% of the hour obsessing on how much my hands hurt. They are small and it feels like I am about to tear them in two .. BOTH HANDS. To make up for the fact that I can hardly balance the flute and stretch my fingers, I press HARDER on the keys . .causing MORE pain. etc etc ..

For some reason I don't have trouble getting sounds out of the flute. I must have good lungs ... Did I mention I was a smoker?? OH MY .. My doctor always say my lungs are great . .he wouldn't know that I was a smoker if I didn't SMELL!! I think he puts it nicer than that .. but regardless, that is what my non kids [grown] with kids of their own, say.

Did I mention that I tend to ramble??

Any way .. I always wanted to play the flute, I love the sound .. but life always got in my way. In school I didn't have the interest .. then came marriage and kids and family and .... Now I am 50-ish and I pulled out the flute and said "I am going to do it NOW!" Probably nobody starts with the piccolo, but I will because of the pain .. Nobody will EVER hear me play, [except my husband - animals and teacher, when I find one.] so it shouldn't really matter, right, that I will play the flute, with a piccolo???

Diane [hoping you all don't think I am nuts !! I'm not !!]

fluttiegurl · Post by **fluttiegurl** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 11:28 am

Diane,
Welcome! Don't worry, I tend to ramble.

I have had several adult students with similar stories over the years. Have your flute checked out by a tech. A simple repad may help a lot. It sounds as if your keys are not sealing.

Good luck and have fun!

jEwink · Post by **jEwink** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 11:56 am

fluttiegurl wrote:Diane,
Welcome! Don't worry, I tend to ramble.

I have had several adult students with similar stories over the years. Have your flute checked out by a tech. A simple repad may help a lot. It sounds as if your keys are not sealing.

Good luck and have fun!

No, that's not the problem. It is just that because I have such a HUGE stretch of the fingers, that all I can think of is the pain . . My fingers aren't short, but my hands are small and my arms are weak and I can't seem to balance the flute and press the keys and REACH at the same time, so I over compensate by getting a death grip on the flute. My piccolo will be here tomorrow and I will learn on the piccolo and later try the flute again. I know that is SO backwards from what everyone else does. BTW .. I don't have the "hit the hole" problem that some people do when trying to play the piccolo compared to the larger opening in the flute. Maybe I can thank smoking for that, ya think?

Also, while you are thinking about that, do you think when I find a teacher, he/she will NOT want to teach me the basics on a piccolo? Does it make a difference??

fluttiegurl · Post by **fluttiegurl** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 7:48 pm

I have taught one student on piccolo (an adult who had learned flute as a child). Though I do not recommend it for beginners, it can work fine for a student who has learned some flute. The piccolo is a completely different instrument, so even though there are a lot of similar basics, the tone production is very different. I also know several professional players who primarily play piccolo. Be sure to ask around and try to find a teacher who specializes on piccolo if possible. If not, be sure to let them know up fromt what you want. Good luck!