Learning the flute and recorder. Any tips?
 

Heya guys :)

I play in a band with some of my friends and we've accumulated some instruments over time. We have several guitars, a violin, harmonicas, ukuleles, accordians, but I've been wanting to add some flute to our repertoire.

So I just bought myself a recorder and a flute. I haven't had time to play them much yet (although I have some recorder-xp from my primary school days, so I can already play "Mary had a little lamb"). What do you guys think? Is it possible to learn how to play these instruments on your own? How hard is it?

I'm not really worried about the recorder, but I figure the flute might be a little tricky. Any advice, hints, tips or tricks would be appreciated!

Add a whistler and I would love your band forever.

You need a Kazoo up in that bitch

Thanks for comments and suggestions. ;)

.. But really, are there noone on MB who plays these instruments?

The flute is about as hard as I thought it would be. That is, pretty tricky, but I can play a sort of slow B-flat scale so it's not incredibly difficult, but becoming confident with the instrument is gonna take a while.

The recorder is a little trickier than I thought, actually. On the flute, if you wanna play a note an octave higher, you change the octave by the way you blow into the instrument (I'm pretty sure). On the recorder, notes and halfnotes at different octaves have different fingerings .. so that means there's a different finger combination for every note/half-note on the recorder and that means there are 32 fingerings you should train yourself to do if you wanna know them all.

Not that it means it's a horribly difficult instrument, just a little trickier than I first thought.

Theres about 2-3 songs by the french band Air that the main riff/melody is just whistling. Its actually pretty ****ing cool.

I'm quite good at whistling actually. I've whistled on a couple of recordings. I thought maybe that would be helpful when learning the flute, at least the blowing technique .. and making a sound with it is not a problem. My girlfriend can't do it though.

Hahaha.

I just dont get whistling. I have no problem doing a tune "whistling" inward, but can make any noise on the way out :(

I'm bumping this suckah cause I'm gonna try again with the flute. Any helpful tips? Anything I should be aware of?

Noone here have any real experience with these fantastic instruments?

I'll post some reasons why to learn flute in the first place. Here's one!

^ Ah, I've always been a fan of Ian Anderson's talent on the flute.

Unfortunately I don't have much knowledge on playing/learning the flute. How have you been going with the recorder? I had to learn the recorder in primary school and have still used it occasionally in recent times for various things. It's a useful little instrument and really easy to learn! And I find many people say despite its limited range it's a good place to start if you want to get serious about flute?

Recorder isn't actually that hard until you start moving up from the base octave. Then it gets a bit tricky as you sometimes have to partially cover the hole at the back and so on. All in all, I guess it's not a very hard instrument - it's certainly easier than the flute.

I haven't been so good at practicing at any of these instruments, but I'm gonna try and make an effort again. I love flute in rock music and the recorder is obviously an underrated instrument, probably because it was forced on so many of us during our childhood. I remember the yellowed plastic one I had back then which smelled like rotten spit. However, the recorder can of course create some beautiful sounds.

Here's another good reason to learn flute!

Ok, since I've been playing classical flute for 13 years, I'll help you! The flute has a range from middle C to 3 octaves above that. Depending on the type of flute that you have, you may also be able to play the B below middle C. Some flutes can even stretch to 4 octaves! But I'm assuming that since you're a beginner, your flute has a range of 3 octaves. That's a HUGE range, one of the biggest in a concert band setting.

It is possible to learn the flute on your own but it is VERY hard because your technique needs to be precise. I've been playing all this time and still take lessons! But I also teach beginners. There are a couple of students I have who tried to learn on their own without very much success. How they were practising or what methods they were using, I don't know, but they are very competent players now.

I don't know if you can read music, but if you can I recommend buying beginner's tone books, scale books, and some simple, fun sheet music to make learning the flute more enjoyable. Books will help you in your journey. If you can't read music, that's okay too! Buy some of those books anyways, many will teach you the basics of music theory. Most of them will also have finger charts that will show you how to play each note. Beginner's charts are easy to read and follow!

Practise a little bit every day if you can, even if it's just for 30 minutes. This will help increase your lung capacity as the flute requires a lot of breath and strong lungs. Here's a little bit on practising from one of my many exercise books:

As a beginner, your tone will sound airy as you haven't developed the mouth and lung strength needed to play the instrument. Don't worry, this will come with practise! Just like your fingers are callused from guitar playing, your mouth muscles, tounge, and teeth will adapt to the flute.

When standing, your posture should be: back straight and chin level with the floor. Don't puff out your chest, instead, take deep breaths that fill your abdomen without raising your shoulders. When sitting, the same rules apply. However, if your chair has a back, sit sort of on the edge of the chair. Don't lean against the back rest!

If you have more specific questions, PM me or ask them here. I'll keep checking back to this thread.

--Melanie

Awesome! :D

Thanks Burning Down, it's really nice to get some tips and on top of that, it's nice to know I have someone I can turn to if I have any questions in the future. I'm sure something will come up .. Right now I'm still at the mary had a little lamb stage and practicing scales which I have to admit is .. dull, dull, dull. I'll take your book advice and see if that can spice up things a little. I really want to learn this instrument, but I'll admit it's been a bit boring on my own.

Here's another good reason to learn flute .. The gorgeous first track from Caravan's amazing album "For Girls Who Grow Plump in the Night" :D



There's some heavy awesome flutage action just past 3 minutes!

Glad I was able to help you! PM any questions you might have.

Here's some early Genesis, and Peter Gabriel plays some flute! The flute comes in around 3:10.

Hi, nice to see thread about flute :)

So @tore, how it goes? Do you feel some development?

I play recorders and flute also more than 10 years. The start wasn't easy but now I can't imagine my life without flute :D

One very interesting flute player is Greg Patillo - Greg Pattillo on MySpace
Some his videos...







And... bass flute :)

Advice on... flutes?
 

What kind of flute should I get? :D

Well, that depends. What level of a flute player are you? If you're just starting out, you need to get a student instrument, as they're normally a little more durable than better instruments. It's a fact of life that new musicians bang the instrument up a little.

Hey! Another flute player! I've been playing for 14 years - since I was 6!

Like bandteacher said, it depends on your skill level. The most common type of flute is the soprano flute, which is what a beginner flute player will start with. There are also piccolo, alto, bass, and contrabass flutes.

I remember using a student soprano flute (good for a beginner) that was made from a nickel-silver alloy metal. These flutes actually do not have any silver in them at all; instead it is nickel alloyed with zinc and copper (generally). Student flutes are usually silver or nickel plated. The silver won't corrode because it is glazed. It is the least expensive flute you can buy, ranging in price from $200 to $700. If you're going to buy one of these flutes, I suggest getting one that is silver plated. Nickel is very heavy, whereas silver is not.

I have two soprano flutes now. The one that I use the most is an intermediate level flute, good for a university student who has been playing for more than 5 or 6 years. My flute (and most of these flutes) is solid silver with chrome plating. The chrome plating is strictly for vanity as silver tarnishes over time. There are keys on my flute with holes in them. There are five holes in total - the thumb and pinkie keys are the only ones that do not have holes. These flutes also come with plugs that you can put in the holes, so your fingers will gradually get used to covering the holes. These flutes are fairly expensive - anywhere from $1500 to $5000. Mine cost $2500.

The other flute that I have is a fully professional flute, one that would be used in a symphony, solo performance, or recording. These are the most expensive, going from $5000 upwards. Along with the silver ones, there are ones made of gold and even platinum.

I also have an alto flute and a bass flute that I use in my flute ensemble group.

Important things to remember when you get your flute:

Never polish the flute

This may seem tempting for aesthetic purposes, but whenever you polish tarnished metal the polish lifts a thin layer off to reveal the clean metal underneath. This will seriously affect the tone of your instrument, because you are slowly shaving down the flute!

Get it maintained at least once a year

Like with a car, every time you play the flute it will get worn down. Screws will loosen, pads will get flattened, etc. So by keeping it maintained regularly, you will be lengthening the life of your flute.

That's all I can tell you for now because you didn't give me very much to go on, but if you have any more questions please do not hesitate to ask!!

Please look at these sites:

• http://www.allaboutflutes.com/home.asp
  http://www.markshep.com/flute/Finding.html

I actually will be renting a flute. (a rent to own thing) Its a student flute. I'm hoping that a broad knowledge of music theory and flute generalities as well as the ability to sight read will help me with this. A lot of the advice I've gotten has been about breathing and making sure to maintain enough air to produce a sound. I'm hoping that all of my chorus dealings will aid me in that department, as the shape of the mouth affects that, too.

:) By the way, thank you everyone.

Your thread seemed to be heading in the same direction as the old (which may contain further information useful to you, Rosepunk), so ..

Threads merged!

I like recorder 'cause it was easier to play and then you hear the ideal tone and sound, and once you master the recorder, you'll only have to add huge breaths, because flutes take air. I don't play flute, but because I play trumpet, I'm in the same band at school, so I've heard them plenty. Not to say other instruments need less effort and air support, you most certainly have breath support for any wind instrument, but something to watch out for.

I get dizzy from practicing my flute :p: Will it always be like that?

No. Your lungs will learn to hold more air the more you play.

What she said. I always got dizzy when I first started.