My daughter wants to learn to play the flute. However with the cost of lessons and the price of the instrument it is very expensive. I have found some cheaper flutes, but I am afraid the quality may not be any good. Has anyone ever heard of Weimar, Lazarro, or Sky. If you have what is your opinion of these?

Stay away from any of those. Those will probably be very very bad quality flutes. More than likely they will end up breaking very fast, and it will probably be hard to find someone that would work on one of those instruments as the metal would not stay in adjustment as its so cheap.

I'd look for a used Yamaha (very reliable, sturdy student flute), Pearl (very good as well), or even Gemeindhardt or Armstrong are better than those that you listed.

The ones I listed (and there are many more that others might list) will be much more worth your money than those very cheap brands.

I've been playing on a Gemeindhardt for almost 4 years my student flute was a 22sp with the gold lip plate...Gemeindhardt have really good flutes for beginners and there easy to play...I've heard that yamaha is good also but i have never played one...i have played on a buffet,emerson,and armstrong I still prefer Gemeindhardt
You can go to woodwindandbrass.com and you can rent to own a flute as low as $15 a month

I agree with Micron, Yamaha, Pearl or Jupiter are much easier for students to play throughout the range...not to mention more responsive

Yep, I would say Yamaha. If you want a used one for cheap, I have one. PM me.

Well I learned on a Armstrong flute and then went to a different brand and found that I favored the Armstrong. When I learned how to play the Armstrong and it was a breeze to play on. If I was in your position I would get an Armstrong.

An Armstrong should be a decent, inexpensive and repairable student flute. I learned on an Armstrong 104, and it lasted from 5th grade through all of high school, with some adjustments and pad replacement here and there.

The pitch on the Armstrong was great. The responsiveness of the headjoint was not. When I first tried other flutes, I was frankly amazed at the response I could get.

The problem with the really cheap new flutes is that they are very, very hard to repair (if you can get someone to do it in the first place) because the metal used for the key mechanisms is very soft. The metal will bend and then the flute is out of adjustment again, often with nothing other than normal playing. So many technicians refuse to work on them- they don't want a reputation for doing poor quality work, they want a repair to be effective. Those techs who can effect a repair can spend exhorbitant amounts of time (and expense) fighting to make it finally work. So in essence, these 'cheap' flutes will be much costlier in the long run, because after paying for ineffective repairs, you will have to replace the cheapo flute with the name brand flute you should have bought in the first place!

I like the student Yamaha, Trevor James, Pearl and Jupiter flutes. Armstrong and Emerson should be ok. Gemeinhardts are quite common, and though they are MUCH, MUCH better than, say a Sky, their pitch and their headjoints can hold a student back.

Best possible scenario- buy a rebuilt/overhauled Yamaha from Kara or another reputable/guaranteed flute dealer. In 4 or 5 years when the flutist is ready for an upgrade, you can replace the stock headjoint with a Yamaha EC (used, you might get one for $400) or another nice professional headjoint, and you'll have an 'upgrade' flute that out-plays most $1500 to $2500 upgrade flutes on the market.

the bet thing to do would be to go to a music shop with your daughter and get her to try all the flutes that are student model, then go home and look on the internet for the flute she liked to best and get the best price you can for it. Just stay away from te brands that haven't been mentioned here- so look at, buffet, jupiter, yamaha, geimenhardt, pearl, armtrong and trevor james. They are the ones that most people recommend. I dont play on any of these i play on and x.g flute but they are hard to come by and probally not the best flute in the world. though i do like the tone on a trevor james tj10x

I've tryed a yamaha before but it was banged up so i couldn't really judge the quality of the instrument...and Having a beginner pick there instrument is somewhat of a mistake..because they are just going to go for the prettiest , shinnyest instruments the store has and if you never played the flute before how are you going to test it out if you don't even know how to blow into it...you can also ask a flute teacher...cause my 22sp cost $1200 and i could of got one for like $300-$400 and i totally got ripped off cause the guy told my mom that this is a good price for this flute.

I just wanted to second Alieanne's rant.
A local, Mom-and-Pop music store pays rent and wages to staff a music store and have student instruments available. Most also have a resident repair tech. You might end up in a position where you need an adjustment or a pad replaced, right before some performance, and I guarantee that Mom and Pop will be much happier to repair your flute without (having to!) charge you a lot if you buy it from Mom and Pop.

My local music store will do their best to get close to an internet-type price. They may end up 10% more, but they are there to make sure the flute plays well as soon as it is in your hands. If you simply open a box that the UPS guy just brought, the flute might need some minor adjustments before it plays well.

And often if you buy the instrument from Mom-and-Pop, they will guarantee or repair it for a year or two- right there at the local store, no shipping the flute off and not seeing it for two weeks.

It is extremely rude to go into a store, try out a few flutes, and go home to order one for $25 less than the store has it. You have just used the store- staff, rent, capital for inventory- and are not paying for it.

I had a Weimar for my first flute... it lasted about 1 week and broke. stay away from them! I would suggest a Jupiter or Yamaha.

I agree with Annie and Tibbiecow, if you find a better deal, see if they will match the price..

Also, what if you get a better price from the internet then the flute arrives and has problems? Will you take it to the local store to have it fixed? As someone who has worked in retail, I would remember, and wouldn't want to fix it...so if it arrives and needs work you need to shell out the money and take it to a good flute tech..