New alto flute!

[PhlutePharmD]

Hello, all --

I received my new alto flute yesterday, and am absolutely, totally, in love with the sound. This is the instrument I was born to play! I am having issues, though, with its size. Does anyone have any suggestions/recommendations/whatever regarding hand position? (or whatever might help me out) It has a curved headjoint. I would say I am a thoroughly average-sized woman, who wears a size 7-1/2 glove.

I'm hoping/guessing that I can work this out with time, but if anyone has any words of wisdom, I'd appreciate it.

Thanks, all.

Kathryn

[Kshel]

I've always had a hard time holding alto flutes. I recently purchased a Thumbport for alto and it helped a lot... I was always nervous I would drop the flute so I had a death grip on it. I wound up bending the keys.

[PhlutePharmD]

Oh, a Thumbport for alto - good idea - I didn't know there was one. Thanks. I'll order one right now.

Kathryn

[goldenflute]

Congratulations on your new alto flute! I love mine. My advice is to just take it slow. As much as you'll want to play it for hours at at time initially, your arms and neck will suffer from the extra length and weight as opposed to your C flute. So expect to be a little bit sore or made sure you gradually work up to the added weight and length of it. Good luck! By the way, which brand did you buy?

[PhlutePharmD]

Thank you, Goldenflute!

I have a Pearl 201. I kind of hate to say this, but I was a teeny bit surprised that I liked it so much. In my (extremely limited) experience, I have found the Pearl sound to be a bit thin, and when I had a Pearl C flute on trial, my advisors and I all preferred the comparator (a Sonare).

Just by coincidence, I'm taking next week off, so I'll have lots of time to play with my new shiny toy. I've ordered the Thumbport, and am sure that will help.

Kathryn

[goldenflute]

I'm taking next week off, so I'll have lots of time to play with my new shiny toy

Good for you Kathryn! When I first got my alto flute, a DiMedici, I had a few days off and did the same thing ... played it constantly. Practice putting it down for a few minutes, then picking it up again to see how quickly you can find your embouchure. When playing an alto flute, the embouchure is a little more relaxed than a C flute. You will find that once you spend this time together, it becomes more and more comfortable to just pick it up and play ... without the feelings of playing a new, strange, bigger instrument. It becomes a part of you relatively quickly.

And I am so jealous that you have the whole week off!!!

[PhlutePharmD]

Yes, this idea of having a whole week off is kind of strange, since I tend to be a workaholic 7 days/week. In fact, I was supposed to start my time off today, but now it looks like it will be Monday, because I have so much to catch up on before "abandoning" my office! Anyway, starting Monday, all-alto-all-the-time - I'll check in with a (I hope good) progress report!

[psylocke24]

Congrats on your new alto flute, I know it is hard to position your arms and it will make your arms feel numb if you will play for longer hours. My advice to you is find a position that you think is comfortable to you and always practice to play with that position and get used to it.

[PhlutePharmD]

Thank you! Things are going well - so well that I might buy a bass flute!

[Zevang]

Hi, congrats on your new flute!

About positioning, I'd have not much to say, since this is a big instrument, not really for small hands. Though there is always a solution for any problem.

What I wanted to suggest to you is, as you said it has a curved headjoint, that you keep an angle of 45 degrees on the curve in relation to the horizontal in direction of your body. This facilitates holding the flute, since your chin becomes a more effective support.

[numptie]

Very nice!

I bet you're overjoyed!

[PhlutePharmD]

Yes, thanks, I still love it. The Thumbport makes things much easier, and I've been spending more time with it than I should. My teacher can tell that I've been neglecting my C flute......