Hi,
This is a thread for concert flautists, or, in other words, for people who play a concert flute.
I know that this flute forum is mostly centered about wooden, PVC, plastic, etc. flutes, but I have found a few people who do play a concert flute (besides me).
So, if you play a concert flute, post! I’d really like to know who else is out there.
Kae
P.S. If you don’t mind, tell me/us what brand you play, too. I have a Gemeinhardt.
[ This Message was edited by: Kae on 2002-04-29 20:28 ]
Hi Kae,
I also play a Gemeinhart, but with closed holes.
I am however BY NO MEANS a concert flautist!
(could never be a concert flautist because I am very “lazy” and plain “bad” I should admit it, at reading music.
I usually read music as a “decoding means”, then I learn the piece by heart and never go back to the music sheet.
I know, it is a very bad habit.
May be this is why I love irish music so much, because it is better to learn it by ear…
I have always loved the flute but I am now so involved with the keyless irish flute and whistles that my silver flute has taken “second fiddle” status.
However I will play odd keys irish tunes on my silver flute. And once in a while, I’ll feel the need to pick it back up and play A Gabriel Faure piece (berceuse), or other pieces I used to play…but I saddly feel I am forgetting all those.
There is just not enough time for playing music !!!
Otter
On 2002-04-29 21:01, Otter wrote:
Hi Kae,I also play a Gemeinhart, but with closed holes.
I am however BY NO MEANS a concert flautist!
(could never be a concert flautist because I am very “lazy” and plain “bad” I should admit it, at reading music.
I usually read music as a “decoding means”, then I learn the piece by heart and never go back to the music sheet.
I know, it is a very bad habit.
May be this is why I love irish music so much, because it is better to learn it by ear…
I have always loved the flute but I am now so involved with the keyless irish flute and whistles that my silver flute has taken “second fiddle” status.
However I will play odd keys irish tunes on my silver flute. And once in a while, I’ll feel the need to pick it back up and play A Gabriel Faure piece (berceuse), or other pieces I used to play…but I saddly feel I am forgetting all those.There is just not enough time for playing music !!!
Otter
Mine’s a closed hole, too. I guess I should have mentioned that.
I didn’t mean that the posters had to be playing a silver flute in concert. I just said “concert” to distinguish from all the other kinds of flutes discussed around here. I don’t play in any public performances either, though I wouldn’t mind doing so.
BTW, keep practicing those tunes on your silver! Don’t let yourself forget them! It’s terribly hard to go back to an instrument and have to practically learn it all over again.
Kae
I also play concert flute.
My flute is an old Gemeinhardt 3SSB, bought in about 1979 or so. It’s a wonderful old flute, and it has been with me so long I feel almost that it’s a part of me.
By the way, there is nothing at all wrong with using the printed page to learn the music, and then ceasing to use the printed score when you don’t need it anymore. In fact, it is a superior way to approach new music.
You and I and everybody have heard flutists who, when playing from the printed page, sound like a machine or a computer. Every rhythm exact, every note perfect…and the music they produce just as dead as a doorknob and about as mechanical.
When you bring the music inside you, when you turn away from the printed page because it seems less accurate than what you have in your head–at that point you have done a rare and wonderful thing. You have taken the printed page–think of it as freeze-dried concentrate music–and added the water of life to it. Something I think is too often forgotten, especially by classical flute teachers, is that every composition began not as notes on the page but as an idea caught up in the mind of the composer. It started as sound, sound he heard in his mind. The printed page is merely an attempt to capture the barest frame of that.
So don’t think of it as a bad habit. Instead, think of it as a rare and wonderful gift, to be nurtured and encouraged.
Best wishes to you, along with my deep respect.
–James
http://www.flutesite.com
Hi there!
I am from South Africa and I am a concert falutist. I have a Yamaha 671 and its a really cool, solid silver flute. It really is priceless.
What pieces do you guys play? Two of my favourite pieces which I am currently working on Sonata “undine” by Reinecke and Chaminade’s Concertino. They are really amazing pieces.
Let me know and keep well
Madeleine 
I play a concert flute too. At first it was mostly because I could’nt afford a nice wood flute, but I’ve grown used to the silver one now. I find that I can do alot with it, both with tone and volume. I can also play in any key, witch seems to be really handy at our session.
Anyway, I,ve got an Emerson 6SB. It seems to have a more mellow “American” flute voice rather than a bright one. I am very happy with it!
It’s nice to know I’m not the only one playing a concert flute.
Among the Irish, the six-holed wooden flute in the key of D is often referred to as the “concert flute”. I don’t think anyone here will be confused about what sort of flute you mean, but just be careful with the term.
Chris
Hi. I play a 20 year old Jack Moore Boehm flute, open hole. I’ve played in community orchestras, etc. for the last 20 years. I just started playing Irish flute a little over a year ago. It’s so much fun - and a lot easier to find groups to play with. Just pop in to your local session!
The Undine Sonata is so pretty - I love that one! Right now I just practice enough to keep in some sort of basic shape - I usually play through a movement of a Bach Sonata.
I agree that to use music is OK, as long as you aren’t slavishly devoted to it forever (can’t be used at an Irish performance venue!). However you learn is fine by me, as long as you end up with the tune in your head and under your fingers!
I’m not Irish, I’m living in South Africa, and to me a “concert flute” is a modern/ classical/ orchestral flute. Thats why I’m rattling on about that!!
I agree that the Undine sonata is pretty , i love it. Technically quite hard though, once you have it under your fingers its a breeze.
Unfortunately i dont seem to be able to perform without my music. wish i could though…
About the concert flute terminology:
I’m not sure it matters what we call them, the important part is that we enjoy playing them.
===brain mode on===
When I studied flute in college, I got in the habit, at the encouragement of my instructor, to be very specific when naming flutes. A modern flute is either a “Boehm-system flute” or an “orchestral flute;” all previous transverse flutes were lumped together under “simple system flute” or “old system flute,” and from there you would specify “Baroque flute” or “classical flute” or “rococo flute.” The term “concert flute” was never used.
===brain mode off=== 
Best wishes,
–James
http://www.flutesite.com
And when you’re in America, those terms almost always apply. Then again, Americans call some strange sport ‘Football’ when mostly hands are used.
Dionys
Count me in the Boehm-system camp. That and simple system actually. I have great fun on both and wouldn’t trade either. I guess that means that no matter which way you look at it, I play a concert flute
Over on the whistle board I posted about Strathspey-in-May; Sarah Allen was there with Flook and also teaching from her silver flute. In the concert she also played an alto flute very quickly and with a lot of precision - it was fun to watch.
So, here’s to the flute - whichever flavor you favor.
Erik
Hello,
I was a flute major in college, back in the late 80’s. I was the only guy in the flute section. There were 6 flute players; one also doubled on piccolo. My instrument was a Haynes, open-holed, silver flute. I really love this instrument. It still plays like the little gem that it is, but I am sorry to say that it has been relegated to mainly church play, as most of my play time has been taken up by the violin and the mandolin. -JP
I have a Takumi open holed flute which I love to bits. I do have problems playing Irish type music and can’t get the right feel…but that’s just me. Joannie Madden apparently uses a concert flute and Sarah Allen makes some wonderful sounds out of her beasty alto flute…Anyway it’s nearly as big as her and she plays it whilst waving around on one foot, anyone who has seen Flook will know what I mean.
I prefer playing classical and jazz on my flute as it’s a chromatic instrument. At the moment I am playing with a couple of people from the school where I work(keyboards, drums and flute) we play mostly old standards ‘Summertime’ ‘Georgia on My Mind’ ‘Take the A Train’ stuff like that as well as some more modern standards The Beatles ‘Yesterday’ Bossa Nova style… what a versatile tune that is! We also do some Celtic stuff which I play on my trusty whistle. We have a few gigs booked which are great fun and pays for the beer!
Dave.
Edit…I always have to edit!!
[ This Message was edited by: daveauty on 2002-05-18 13:59 ]
I have a used Emerson. Don’t play it worth a hoot, but I can stare lovingly at it with the best of them. Someday… I just tried a Jupiter and also a Demidici…whew, nice flutes.
I have a Yamaha, too, it’s open-holed. Which number is the number of the flute? There’s a number on the head, which is 925 and one on the joint on the body where the head is fitted, and that’s 385II. Whichever. I play flute in my high school band. I also play the piccolo, I have an Armstrong piccolo. I had a Gemeinhardt before, a student model, but it got stolen. Stolen from my CATHOLIC ELEMENTARY SCHOOL! Can you BELIEVE some people??? So then I got a Yamaha. It’s nice to see there are other concert flute people here, that’s very cool.
Hi there,
My modern flute is a Yamaha 581, a very nice flute, though not so nice as Madeleine’s 671. It’s been my instrument for almost 15 years: an open holed, in-line G, B-foot model with solid silver body and plated keys. My challenge was to adapt it to Irish music three years ago. I discovered that you can slide from an “A” to a “B” on an open holed flute. Also, C-natural rolls are MUCH easier and impressive on modern flute than on keyless! I still use it for many tunes in A minor, like “Star of Munster” and “Pipe on the Hob.”
Cara
[ This Message was edited by: thurlowe on 2002-05-19 15:35 ]
Hi,
I play a not very good Trevor J James. I would love a good Yamaha or Buffet, but unfortunately, I can’t afford it.
I use my flute mainly for jazz - I play very little classical, and wouldn’t describe myself as a ‘concert flautist’ at all!
Jo.
Oh no… I played the Jupiter again, and a Pearl and a Jupiter alto…is there a flute version of WhOA? I am in deep doo-doo…