Greetings all…
This is my first post on the Flute Forum, but I have been over on the Whistle side for some time. For awhile now I’ve been listening to clips of Flute music and have grown quite fond of the tone and versatility of this instrument.
I have been reading old posts, trying to educate myself before actually buying a flute to begin learning. I still am torn between a couple of directions to go and was wondering if some of you veteran ‘fluters’ could provide some advise.
First some backround…
I have been playing Whistle from the A to high D keys for about 3 years now and both Soprano and Alto Recorders for about 2 years. musically, I enjoy both Irish trad type of music and Classical tunes which I use the Recorder for mostly. I would like to be able to play in multiple keys with the Flute but have ruled out Boeme system or multi keyed flutes because the cost is way out of my means.
Now here’s my question… I was torn between buying a Baroque one key flute such as the Aulos grenser or the Sweetheart traverso in maple. (love your clip James, by the way) Or… buying a Dixon 3 Pc or sweetheart Irish Flute. I would really prefer the traverso to the Irish keyless mainly because of the ease of playing in multiple keys but I have two main concerns which might push me towards the Irish keyless flute. These are…
I have small hands (I have a hard time with my Generation Bb whistle sometimes) and with all of the posts mentioning the Aulos or sweetheart baroque Flutes, nobody has mentioned the ergonomics of the hole spacing on those models.
Does the smaller embouchure hole on the Traversos make it harder for a beginner to learn how to get a tone out of the thing.
For both of the concerns which I mentioned, the Dixon, Sweetheart or casey Burns etc… would make it easier to learn on, I am just afraid I might not like being limited on the number of keys which I could easily play in.
If you guys (or ladies) out there have any suggestions or advise it would be most welcome…
Thanks
My two cents…if you are truly committed to playing both classical and Irish with one flute, you should probably go with a baroque model. From my experience, the keyless Irish flute is not well equipped for chromatic music (hence the original 19th century models had keys to make them chromatic).
Regarding the small embouchure hole, you’d have to adjust and develop your embouchure to whatever flute you buy; I don’t think the size of the emb hole makes that much difference in the long run.
A caution–if you want to play flute in a session and be heard, the baroque flute may be too quiet if competing with a box, a banjo, 3 violins, guitars…I think you get my point.
In the end, if you want to do justice to both genres, you’ll probably have one flute for trad and one for classical.
Thanks Jason. Actually volume is not really an issue for me as I just play for my own enjoyment. I probably will wind up buying two Flutes eventually, but it will take a while to save up enough $$$ for that. I’m more concerned with the first stages.
Is there any one out there who could comment on the hole spacing on the barooque Flutes?
Welcome to the flute forum. I wouldn’t rule out the Boehm concert flute if you want to play in multiple keys and are concerned about finger stretches. A good used concert flute can usually be purchased online for $100. For $150 I bought a new Chinese concert open-holed flute with a C foot. I play it every day, and for my money it plays as well as the Yamaha student flute that I used to own that cost over a thousand dollars new. However, I don’t recommend the concert flute for folk music. Some sort of simple-system flute seems to work best for that for most people.
I am very impressed with my matte Aulos Grenser. I got mine from Chas. But Chas seems to prefer the Sweetheart traverso made of cherry, that I traded him. So I guess you could say they are both good traversos. Here’s a link to a new Aulos (at the best price): http://www.wwbw.com/Rhythm-Band-Flauto-Traverso-Baroque-Flutes-i49023.music
Unfortunately, my Aulos is out on loan currently, so I can not measure the finger spread for you. But I’ve got short fat fingers and find the hole spacing on par with most Irish flutes.
Here’s a picture of the Aulos with a McGee Metzler and a Healy.
If you have problems with the finger spread on a Bb whistle, you are going to have real prolems with the D flute! Or is it that you fingers are simply “skinny” and have trouble covering the holes?
If it’s skinny fingers you have, then I would definately recommend you start on a traverso!
As per embouchures, the small traverso embouchure will be a bit harder to learn. But will make the transition to a larger embouchure easy! However, going from a large embouchure hole to a small one later, will likely cause you some grief.
Just my impressions and opinions, others will vary!
Thanks for the replies. I had considered a used Boeme Flute, but I tend to be drawn to simple instruments with long histories to them. Boeme Flutes are just too mechanically complex and “modern” to appeal to me. That’s just my own bias I realize. The picture of the Aulos next to the two Irish Flutes is interesting. One thing I notice is that the holes are very evenly spaced on the Aulos. I have noticed that I have an easier time with fingering holes when they are evenly spaced like that.
I guess I should research this also, but does one use a ‘piper’s’ grip with Flute as in low whistles? It seems like one could have a harder time holding the Flute without that extra support point on the end of the fipple like on a whistle.
Here’s a link to a new Aulos (at the best price): 
If you have problems with the finger spread on a Bb whistle, you are going to have real prolems with the D flute! Or is it that you fingers are simply “skinny” and have trouble covering the holes?