Artley C foot

[tao4mind]

Been looking for a flute for my step grand daughter. She started playing a clarinet at five years old with her mother. Now that she is twelve and plays like Benny Goodman she wants to learn the flute and piccolo. She has progressed from Benny to Ian Anderson music and claims grandpa needs to get her a flute so she can get a college music scholarship. Better then an X Box game I guess. Found this old silver Artley C foot in a brown leather case with old brass corners for $60.00 and was re-padded last year the lady said. Came with three flute books and a fingering chart. Are these old silver Artley flutes any good? Figured the three books were worth $60 bucks? All polished up nice and no dings, but does have a couple scratches. Will this be good enough to learn on or so old it's obsolete?

[pied_piper]

An Artley flute might be OK to start with IF it is in good condition. $60 is cheap for a flute if it is in playing condition, but to determine that, it really needs to be inspected and played by a repair tech or a qualified flutist. However, a $60 flute will not likely be suitable for her to "get a college music scholarship". For playing at that level, a college music student needs a much better flute.

[tao4mind]

A flute is a different animal then the clarinet. To learn the flute after seven years playing clarinet with her mother seems confusing to me. Seriously the girl can make you cry when she plays that professional wood clarinet at age twelve; but she insists she needs a portfolio of instruments to get a college scholarship. The flute is number two on her long list. Totally understand once she learns the fingering "grandpa" will be looking for a powell or haynes flute encrusted with gold and personally signed by Ian Anderson. Hoping this $60.00 flute will give me a running start to what is next?

[fluteguy18]

Most music scholarships are awarded based on skill demonstrated through an audition on a single instrument. They are seldom awarded because the auditioning candidate plays a multitude of instruments.This is because as a student goes through a music program, they focus on a single instrument. Most students end up learning multiple instruments simply because they want to learn them. Music Education majors have to learn all of the instruments as part of their degree program, but only to a very basic level. But across the spectrum of music degrees, they all require a focus on a single specific instrument of the musician's choice.

If she's serious about getting a music scholarship, she would be best served by having private lessons on a single instrument and practicing that single instrument for several hours a day, every day. Unless she's a prodigious, 'one out of a million musicians' musician, pursuing several instruments for the sake of scholarship will probably work against her. Scholarships are competitive and are won by expertise. If she's just wanting to play flute for fun, then go right ahead.

As for the flute you're mentioning... if a flute scholarship is her goal, then I don't recommend it. The flute you start on establishes playing style and habits. These strengths and weaknesses will only be magnified by a better instrument. If serious playing is her goal, then she needs to start on a better instrument. If you're wanting a running start, it's best to put on a decent pair of sneakers instead of flip flops. She needs to be looking at something like a student level Pearl, Yamaha, or Jupiter. Then when the day comes to get a higher end flute, you should have her try them all first. At that price point it would be like buying a house sight unseen. Those kind of flutes are brands like Burkart, Powell, Miyazawa, Muramatsu, Nagahara, Haynes, Altus, Sankyo, Brannen, Pearl Handmades, Williams, Tom Green, John Lunn, Arista, Emmanuel, etc.

[pied_piper]

To add to fluteguy18's comments, he is right. For an undergraduate music performance degree, the player majors in a single instrument. Typically, a woodwind player will not expand to add other instruments until they get into a masters or doctoral degree program. The only exception to that is for jazz performers. In a jazz ensemble, the sax players often double on flute and/or clarinet, but the study of other instruments is generally not part of the formal undergraduate music performance degree curriculum. In a music education curriculum where someone is studying to be a school instrumental music teacher, they will study all of the instruments and receive instruction on each instrument for part of a semester.

To get back to the $60 flute, you might get lucky and the flute will play just fine for her to start learning to play flute. But don't be surprised if you have to spend that much or more to get it into good playing condition. Again, the prudent course of action would be to have the flute inspected by a repair tech or proficient flutist who can determine exactly how "play ready" it is and tell you if it needs any work. Granted, for $60, there is not a lot of risk, but you should be prepared to spend more, if the instrument needs any work.

In the interest of full disclosure, I should mention that I am a former band director and a part-time musical instrument repair tech. I have seen a lot of new students become discouraged and give up playing solely because they had an instrument that didn't play well. Learning a new instrument is hard enough without the added challenge of a poorly playing instrument.

[tao4mind]

Will run it to the music store tech and get his opinion. She has a music teacher ever since she surpassed her mothers ability. He loaned her a flute over vacation but she had to give it back and did not figure it out in two weeks. Seems the teacher is being surpassed too and suggesting multiple instuments? Girl is twelve and plays an Amati professional clarinet and reads music like a letter. She claims she will learn the flute, the piccolo and saxophone before she can drive a car.