Greetings (Introduction)

[GreySatyr]

Waning, I'm a complete novice and idiot so hi there.



To get to the point, I have longed to play the flute for several years and finally I've broken down and I bought a whistle and a traditional simple system flute in the key of D (keyless), I've had it for only a few days and within the first fifteen minutes I was able to get a sound out of it. As of now I don't play it much because I am going through the break in phase and so I practice with the whistle and I also try to play guitar. So far I've made several sounds and for a brief moment when the moon aligned with Jupiter last night I was able to make a good sound and then it was gone just like that but I expected as much. Ha! My tuner says that my notes are all a half step sharp so I just tune the flute accordingly but I'm wondering if it is my embouchure that causes the sharpness. Should I even worry about it at this stage? I don't know. Anywho, I love playing it and I hope that within two years to be able to play it in public, haha. I also must note that before doing in research I purchased a cheap flute out of pure excitement and its definitely not the best but I find that it's decent and then again I don't know much BUT it looks like a "lark in the morning" flute, fully lined head joint, tunable, three piece, rosewood (YES, rosewood) I've seen a guy on YouTube play something VERY similiar and he also said it was a decent beginner flute so there ya go...

The road is rough and rocky but this man will endure for the love of the flute and my fluture!

[pied_piper]

It's possible that you may not be covering enough of the hole with your lower lip. If so, the pitch will be sharp. Try covering a bit more of the hole and see if that helps. It's also possible that the flute may not be tuned to A440. With cheap flutes, you can't be sure. If you know someone who is a good flutist, have him/her try it to see if they can play it on pitch.

[GreySatyr]

Thank you, I will try that!

Do you have anymore advice for a complete beginner? I don't know any other flute players and I'm too broke to afford a teacher. I know a lot of classical players frown on this BUT I'm more of a folk music guy anyways although I do greatly respect classical. I know most guys will think I'm wrong for even attempting to be a self taught fluter but I don't have the option to be taught and I'm sure the first flute player on earth never paid for a teacher either. ;P

Also keep in mind that I'm playing a simple system Irish flute. I've made sure that the cork was placed correctly. 17.3mm away from the middle of the mouth hole so I don't think that is the problem. Like I said, I will try the advice that you gave me.