If you are in doubt, have the local flute expert play it for you to get a better idea of what it's capable of in the right hands. Or bring along a friend who plays alto flute.

Thanks Plekto -

I have to make a 4 hour journey to the next city to find a shop which carries decent flutes.

This is going to sound awful, but I am Billy-no-mates when it comes to friends playing the flute. Everyone else I know, plays the piano; their violin; their guitar; their banjo, or their hi-fi.

That's the problem about living in a parochial or rural area. In fact, the only time I have ever heard anyone play alto flute here .... is me. So no matter how bad I am on the alto flute, I am still the best there is here lol.


Which isn't very

Numptie I take alto flute lessons online from this person:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXBDhbIEDsU

You can book 1/2 hr lessons for $40 from her website. I think it would be money well spent to get you started.

Wow - thanks for the link Chris!

I'm not into jazz music at all, so it's lovely hearing her work. I like her youtube clip, talking about the nature of art too. She seems like a really pleasant and knowledgeable person.

How do you find video learning? My problem is my broadband is too slow, and I don't have a speaker/mic set up nor a video on my computer. I'm thinking of upgrading, since it's cheaper to upgrade the computer than move (even bigger headache).

I've never really imagined video learning for me, but maybe it is the answer.

Can I ask how many lessons you've had and what your experience of them is? I'm petrified that of 30 minutes, 25 of those minutes will be broadband lag ....!

I've had 4 lessons I think. It cost me $35 for a web cam and the mike. I have 2 about 2 MB of transfer rate, not very fast but works OK. I was using it with 1 Mb before. Just set up your free Skype account and check it all out before you sign up for lessons. I don't play jazz, but wanted to learn how to play by ear and she seemed like a good teacher for it. She was also the principal flute for the Monterey Bay Symphony so is a very good classical teacher I'm sure.

nuts. my computer speed isn't great. I can't even watch the Youtube link of the Guo flute you linked in the other thread, without it stuttering.

Think I need to buy a new computer first. Then, I won't have anything left for lessons lol.

The last time I had a piano teacher, she used to tell me how marvellous I was! I was so chuffed, and felt I was truly making progress! I was learning exponentially difficult things and really pushing the limits! Then on the way in to a lesson, I heard her tell a short little 5 year old: "marvellous! absolutely marvellous!"

Every bloddy student was marvellous according to her lol.

The stuttering on the youtube wouldn't be because of your computer, it would because of your internet connection. You might be able to upgrade to a faster connection for a small amount of money.

When you try to watch a you tube video, if when you have watched it once and return to the start and watch it again, does it still stutter. If not then you have found a solution to the stutter and the previous poster is correct, it is just the down load speed. If it still stutters then I am afraid that your original guess is correct.

Hope that helps

Thanks guys.

It's definitely my computer.

My screen has a few lines running across it - of dead pixels

It is about 6 years old. It has been great though.

Back to alto flutes - I'm nearly dead set on getting the black nickel Trevor James alto performer flute. It doesn't feature much, apart from the TJ James advertorial on you tube, although I've hear one being played, they all sound the same for the first 10 seconds when played. The harder wearing black nickel plating is really attractive...as is the kind of vintage patina it develops over time.

http://www.trevorjames.com/top10vid.cgi?castid=88



The guy has a really gormless expression but the alto flute comes across very well. I like the penetration of this one - less mellow maybe?

It would be good if you could try that one and the Performer Series at the same time, and try different models of each.

Hi Chris,

Of the Trevor James alto flutes - I've tried:

1). The silver plated Performer Series (new demo)
2). The silver plated Masters Series (old x10 years or so)
3). the solid silver Recital 2 (expensive ouch)


There was no black nickel alto version in the shops I've tried. I've tried hunting around, and my own local flute shop
tried to see if Trevor James would loan them one for me to demo (no luck). Like a black swan, the black alto flute is the most elusive!

I didn't manage well with the Recital 2 (Michael Allen headjoint). It's clearly designed for someone like King Arthur who can pull a sword out of a stone, or blow a note without hissing and buzzing like a numptie. When I got a good note out of it, it was GOOD! But I couldn't get more than about 4 good notes in a sequence before running out of breathe.

As it is, I'm happy with the Performer series. If the Masters' series were serviced/checked, I wouldn't mind one of those, but I guess most of the Masters' are rather old now...

I guess what I meant was that several identical TJ Performer Series flutes could sound somewhat different from each other. While this probably isn't as much of an issue with machine cut headjoints, it appears to be with hand cut headjoints. If the older flute has been well maintained and parts aren't worn out, I don't see a reason not to buy one. You will save a fair amount of money that you can spend to get the flute playing as you want it, say with a new headjoint that you really like.

Thanks Chris. I didn't think of that.

I did the internet thing (unfortunately no alto flutes ever come up for sale here second-hand! It may be that there are just not that many players around or that they love theirs and hold on to them.


Well I've waited long enough for an alto flute now! I've settled on the Trevor James Performer series - it seems to offer everything I need and the easy blowing. I hear what people say about student flutes being somewhat lifeless with intonation and tone colour but I think at the level where I'm at, I'd be happy to get an even sound from different octaves -let alone tone colour and then change the head joint later (once I find an affordable upgrade!)


PS - how is your cheap unbranded alto flute then? You're incredibly brave (or foolhardy lol) - going by my experience, I don't think I've the nerve to go down this path again. Incidentally, I found someone who has used the DC Pro Series flutes (these are similar to the chinese unbranded flutes, but maybe, better quality control). He was very optimistic about these as a student flute - saying that the quality was pretty good for an unbranded flute costing about 1/2 of a normal flute. Maintenance and leakiness - needs more vigilance in purchasing, but they come with good guarantees. The second-hand alto flute market is probably more of a gamble....!

Well I didn't buy a flute, just the wooden headjoint and I'm pleased with it after one day of using it. I bought it for celtic music that is always written in the lower 2 octaves and the headjoint is easy to blow and reasonably in tune. I have to get it sized to make it fit properly so wil know better after that. I would consider one of their wooden flutes for traditional celtic music.

Yay!

Well I did buy a flute - an alto flute!

I must say I prefer the lower two octaves anyhow. I like the deep tones of the lowest octave - why does this seem to be avoided mostly in classical music? It's the middle octave that seems to get most airplay in the pieces I have.

Are you playing mostly reels and jigs? Or would you have a better reference book for Irish music? Most of the music I have is very short melody stuff barely covering 1 page of A4 music. I bought a Balkan music book and it is the same, barely covering little ditties more than 2 minutes of play.