If you are in the market for a new flute, this is just a guide to help you find a good working instrument to meet your needs.
Disclaimer: I do not receive any compensation for recommending any products listed below!
Student Model Flute (Beginner – Second Year/Middle School):
- Use a music store/company to rent a flute with the option to put money toward purchasing the instrument or upgrading.
- Needs to have “plateau keys” (closed hole), C-Foot, Off-Set G (especially for small fingers)
- Good to have split-e mechanism, silver head joint and body
- Price Range to buy: depends on if used or not ($200 to $1600)
Step-Up Model Flute (Third year – Graduating high school)
- If you know that you will play in college, then I recommend skipping the step-up and buying a professional model instead.
- You can usually purchase these with a payment plan through a music store or with a personal loan if needed.
- Some stores will put the money you have spent renting a student model toward the purchase of a step-up model.
- Needs to have French open-hole keys, B-Foot, Off-Set G, Split-E Mechanism, Silver Body and Head-joint.
- Good to have Pin-less Mechanism, Drawn tone-holes, pointed key arms, C# Trill Key, D# Roller Key, Silver Mechanism. (Some of these features may only be available on professional models)
- Price Range: $1000 - $6000 or higher depending on brand
Professional Model Flute (College music major – Professional flute player)
- You can usually purchase these with a payment plan through a music store or with a personal loan if needed.
- Some stores will put the money you have spent renting a student/step-up model toward the purchase of a professional model.
- Many options, but the works include: French open-hole keys, B-Foot, Off-Set G, Split-E Mechanism, Pin-less Mechanism, Silver Mechanism, Drawn tone-holes, pointed key arms, C# Trill Key, D# Roller Key.
- It is most important for you to try out many different brands and styles before you purchase a professional model flute.
- Price Range: $2500 - $30000 or higher
Brands to Trust
This list is not inclusive and has exceptions, but flute teachers recommend these consistently across the country.
- Yamaha - very consistent in their product quality, easy to play and rarely need repairs when cared for properly.
- Pearl - great quality for a lower price point, especially on their step-up and professional quality flutes and the extra add on features. Rarely need repairs when cared for properly. My flute is a Pearl PF-795 “Elegante”
- Jupiter/DiMedici – good quality for a lower price point
- Azumi – makes a student model that plays more like a step-up model but is expensive
- Emerson – My first flute was a ten-year-old Emerson student model. It was built like a tank (had one spring repair in 5 years), but it also sounded like a tank (stiff and took a lot of air support). Good for a young student who may be accident prone.
- Gemeinhardt and Armstrong - good, but there are many mixed reviews on these stating that they require frequent repairs and can be stiff to blow. I had a step-up Armstrong that had a beautiful low rich sound, but it was a little stiffer for fast/high playing.
- Altus – Good instruments, but the student models have needed leak repairs often in my experience.
- Trevor James – I have tried one of these and found it to have a slow mechanism and slightly stuffy for their price point. Could have been a “lemon” though.
- Haynes, Miyazawa, Muramatsu, Powell, Sanyko – on the expensive end, but great quality instruments and highly coveted in the flute world.
How to figure out which flute is best for you?
- Know your budget and try flute brands in that price range.
- It is always best to try out many flutes, even several of the same model to find the one that responds, sounds, and feels the best for you.
- Try the instruments without looking at them (blind testing is best).
- Sometimes the instrument could be a “lemon” and have a manufacturing error, and will not play as well as others of the same make and model.
- Low, Middle, and High Resisters in that order (use your Tone Book)
- Scales
- Articulation and Releases (staccato, accents, tenuto, soft tonguing, slurring, and tapering)
- Play two pieces or excerpts (something slow and expressive and something technical)
- Try playing soft and loud
- Ask yourself: “Which flute was the easiest to play?”
- I would be happy to help you by listening to you play various flutes and looking at and playing them myself to inspect quality!
Where to Shop!
- I highly recommend looking at www.fluteworld.com or www.wwbw.com or http://www.flute4u.com/store/Instruments/
- Local music stores may be able to order a few different brands that you are interested in and have them available for you to try.
- Check with many different local music stores including to see who may offer the best price or financing if needed.
- You may be able to get different stores to compete for your business.
- Some stores may also offer a maintenance plan or step-up programs.
What About Piccolo?
- If your middle school band director recommends that you get a piccolo...If you are interested in pursuing music in high school and/or college...If you want to play an instrument you can hear in marching band :) ....then you should buy a piccolo!
- Usually students will look into buying a piccolo one or two years after you start playing the flute or when they are in high school.
- Brands:
- Pearl PFP-105E (with high wave head-joint) - my personal favorite and reasonably priced
- Gemeinhardt - makes some less expensive student models
- Yamaha - They just make consistent and reasonably priced instruments
I also recommend looking at the following websites for the experienced opinions of other flute teachers.
https://www.justflutes.com/blog/7-tips-on-choosing-a-beginner-flute/#gref
http://jennifercluff.blogspot.com/2007/01/why-some-flute-brands-and-not-others.html
http://www.jennifercluff.com/buying.htm
http://www.markshep.com/flute/Finding.html
http://www.flute4u.com/store/Instruments/
www.jennifercluff.com/piccolo.htm#articles