I just reveived a brand new keyless Hamilton in D 3 days ago.
What a powerful flute! And sweet if you want it to be… Hamilton really knows his thing!
A delight to play!
But what a spread of the left finger holes. Between the first and the third holes, there’s a difference of approximatively 6 millimeters with my Copley.
I don’t have really long fingers but never had any problem playing my Seery or my Copley. But I’m really sad to realise I just can’t play for more than 30 secondes in a row on my new baby …
Do you think I’ll get use to it?
Anyone of you has not-so-big-hands and play on a Hamilton?
The size of one’s hands doesn’t really matter, within reason. Bb flutes are much bigger in relation to normal hand size than a D flute. Plenty of women play Bb flutes-- Tara Diamond has average size hands and she plays a Bb flute exquisitely. So if your hands are of average size you’ll adapt to Hammy’s dimensions. Just take it slow and things will work out.
If you have access to one, play a Bb flute for five minutes. After that Hammy’s flute will seem like a toy. When people complain about hand-size I think of Django Reinhart.
Having trouble with your hands will go away as you get used to the stretch, as has been mentioned, but in the meantime it will help you survive the breakin period of the flute. I’m assuming this is a brand new flute, so you’re not allowed to play it too much at first, right? Well, most people have a lot of trouble with the will power to stop, but you stop anyway because of your hands. Problem solved!
Enjoy the flute…
Steven
PS: If you keep having problems, Loren is offering way too little. I’ll give you $75 for it!
I found the same thing when I first got my Hamilton, in fact I actually had to change my grip to compensate for the larger hole spacing than what I was used to. Give it a few weeks and you won’t even think about it anymore.
I don’t have big hands and have been playing a Hamilton for a year and a bit and i’m fine, just painful the first few months. I use flat"ish" fingers on the right hand for the low notes. Keep at it (obviously not much at the beginning until you break it in) and you will soon notice improvements (hopefullly ) With any new flute it’s only natural that you may be gripping it a bit tighter than is necessary which may add to the overall pain. Don’t pack it in!! Hamilton flutes may be hard to get to grips with at the start but are very rewarding when you get going.
I used to do all sorts of finger, hand and wrist stretches. I even went so far as to put wine corks inbetween my fingers to increase the stretch between them. I’ve yet to meet a flute I can’t play.
) With any new flute it’s only natural that you may be gripping it a bit tighter than is necessary which may add to the overall pain. Don’t pack it in!! Hamilton flutes may be hard to get to grips with at the start but are very rewarding when you get going.